Helix Piercing – Pictures, Pain, Infection, Care and Aftercare

Want to hang a cute little earring onto your lobes? If you are going for a Helix Piercing, take a look at how to go about it because little knowledge about ear perforation can be risky for you.

What is Helix Piercing?

Picture 1 – Helix Piercing Diagram
Source – blogspot

Helix Piercing refers to the act of perforating the helix or upper ear cartilage. Ear perforation is generally done to insert a piece of jewelry. Women as well as many men love to wear jewelries on their ears. In Helix Piercing upper ear cartilage is perforated to make wearing jewelry items possible.

Body piercing has been in practice since ancient times. The act of perforating ear lobes, helix, nose and septum was highly popular among members of ancient Mayan, Aztec and Inca civilizations. The tradition can be still observed in Western countries as well as in countries like Tibet, India and Nepal. Ear piercing is very popular among women in many countries of the world. It is mainly done to wear jewelries.

Helix Piercing Procedure

The Helix Piercing process is quite similar to other types of body perforation. A small hollow needle is sterilized and used to pierce the cartilage of the ear. A small piece of jewelry is then slipped through the hole.

Does Helix Piercing Hurt?

The process can hurt you quite a bit depending on how much pain you can bear. After Helix Piercing bleeding occurs in the pierced area. All traces of blood need to be cleaned after perforation.

Helix Piercing Advice

Picture 2 – Helix Piercing Piercing
Souce – runnersworld

If you are interested in piercing your ears, you must consider these advices.

Go to a good piecing studio with experienced professionals. A professional piercer has the required expertise to carry out the task well and there will be minimum chances of any risk. Make an appointment with the studio and turn up on the exact time. In a busy studio, professionals can get engaged with other customers.

Pull your hair back and tie into a ponytail so that the hair strands do not interfere with the piercing. Helix Piercing for guys is easier, especially for those with short hair.

Tell the piercer the exact spot of piercing. This will help the person make a perforation exactly where you need it. If needed, ask the piercer to mark the spot to avoid confusions.

Make sure that the piercer uses a sterilized needle. Ask the person to ensure that all safety standards are being maintained. If you find the ambience dirty and doubt the cleanliness of the equipments, try another studio. As it is said, safety comes first.

As the Helix Piercing needle moves through your ear, you will experience some pain. But it is important that you bear it and it will pass away in a moment. Be as still as possible or you may land up with a great injury to your ear.

Once the perforation is done, the piercer will clean out all traces of blood from the punctured area.

Helix Piercing Aftercare

Following a piercing session, you must take complete care of your ear. After helix piercing care is essential. Without aftercare, you can suffer from a swelling and infection in the area. This may cause great pain and discomfort apart from other health complications. You should go for a sea salt soak twice a day to clean the region. Add ½ tsp salt into a glass of warm water. Soak a cotton ball with a little of this solution and clean the perforated area.

If the salt water solution causes irritation, you may wash the region with warm water and a mild soap. You can consult the piercer about a gentle soap brand for you. You can also use saline solutions like Blaire or H2Ocean for cleaning.

Wash your piercing thoroughly with warm water to do away with any crusties. It is advisable not to use cotton balls, cotton buds or a q-tip as small fibers can enter the piercing and cause irritation if not taken away immediately.

How To Avoid Helix Piercing Risks

Once piercing is done, you should try and protect your ear from any kind of injury. You should follow these steps to prevent all helix piercing dangers.

• Avoid touching the area with unclean hands. Dirt, dust or grime can give rise to infections in the region.
• Keep the pierced area away from unclean water. Avoid swimming in open pools or lakes that are filled with impure water.
• Do not use make ups or any other beauty product on the area until it heals completely. Beauty products contain certain substances that can cause allergy to the region.
• Avoid using Betadine, Tea Tree Oil, Alcohol Swabs or Hydrogen Peroxide to clean the perforated area. Such substances can act as irritants and cause great discomfort.
• In cases of helix piercing earrings should best be left in the perforated area. Taking it away will close the gap and prevent drainage of the Helix Piercing lump arising in the area. After Helix Piercing jewelry should be cleaned and then inserted into the hole again.

How Long For Helix Piercing To Heal?

For Helix Piercing healing time usually takes 6-12 months. But recovery can also be faster and in many sufferers, it takes only 2 months for complete healing. In Helix Piercing time of recovery also depends a lot on the amount of care after perforation. With regular cleaning and avoidance of injuries, the recovery can be much faster. Helix Piercing pain usually goes away in 6-8 weeks. Helix Piercing swelling takes about 2-3 weeks to subside.

Is Helix Piercing Dangerous?

Helix Piercing does not involve any danger as such. However, improper handling and absence of aftercare can be dangerous for the health of your just pierced ear. Injury to the skin, application of potentially irritating substances on the sensitive skin and use of cartilage guns can be serious for your ear. There may also be other Helix Piercing problems like infections, allergies and irritations.

Helix Piercing With Gun

Some studios use Helix Piercing guns for perforation. The practice is not recommended by health experts. A piercing gun can cause sudden shock to the ear and shatter your cartilage. This can disfigure and cause permanent damage to the ear. It can also result in ear infection.

Helix Piercing Pictures

Want to check how a pierced helix looks like? Take a look at these Helix Piercing images. You will get an idea about the process with these Helix Piercing diagrams.

Picture 3 – Helix Piercing Photo
Source – wikimedia

Picture 4 – Forward Helix Piercing
Source – blogspot

Helix Piercing Infection

In Helix Piercing infected ear is quite common if proper care is not taken. If the perforation is carried out by an inexperienced hand or if the pierced area gets dirty, infection can occur. But infection can arise even after proper aftercare.

An infected ear can appear red and swollen. It can be painful and highly discomforting. Extreme cases of infection can result in pus-filled Helix Piercing bumps. Infection, which is one of the major helix piercing complications, is often caused by parasitic bacteria such as Staphylococcus Aureus. If left untreated, a Pseudomonas Aeruginosa infection can result in permanent disfiguration of the ear.

Helix Piercing is a safe and easy process if you carry it out from a good piercing parlor. An expert hand can make the process as painless and uncomplicated as possible. It is best to use the services of a reputed studio to avoid any injuries or health complications from Helix Piercing.

Helix Piercing Video

Here is a video if you want to know more about the procedure.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helix_piercing

http://www.ehow.com/how_2105790_get-helix-piercing.html

https://www.primehealthchannel.com/cartilage-piercing-information-types-infection-and-healing.html

http://www.wisegeek.com/how-can-i-care-for-an-infected-body-piercing.htm

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/helix-piercing.html