Cartilage Piercing Bump: Keloid, Infection, Treatment, And More

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What Is This Bump on My Cartilage Piercing and What Should I Do?

Medically reviewed by Cynthia Taylor Chavoustie, MPAS, PA-C — Written by Corinne O'Keefe Osborn — Updated on June 25, 2025

Infection
Change your jewelry
Cleaning your piercing
Saline or sea salt soak
Chamomile compress
See your piercer

You can develop bumps and scars from a piercing. Treatment can depend on the cause but may include regularly cleaning the piercing site and jewelry and using jewelry made of certain materials.

Cartilage piercings heal more slowly than earlobe piercings and are prone to irritation. In the first few days after getting your piercing, you may notice a bump or general swelling around the jewelry.

You may also experience:

redness
bleeding
bruising
mild pain

As your cartilage piercing begins to heal, it’s normal to experience:

discoloration
itching
oozing of a whitish-yellow fluid
crust on and around your jewelry

Cartilage piercings typically take anywhere from 4 to 12 months to heal completely. They heal from the outside in, which means that it may look healed on the outside long before the healing process is actually complete.

Unfortunately, bumps are relatively common with cartilage piercings. They can form soon after your initial piercing or long after it’s truly healed.

If you still have a bump after the initial swelling subsides, it may be:

a pustule — a blister or pimple that contains pus
a granuloma — a lesion that occurs about 6 weeks after a piercing
a hypertrophic scar — a type of thick scar that can develop on the piercing site
a keloid — a scarlike benign tumor that can grow beyond the piercing site

Piercing bumps can be caused by allergies, genetics, poor aftercare, or just bad luck. With treatment, they may disappear completely.

When to get immediate medical attention

Although minor swelling and redness are typical, more severe symptoms could be a sign of infection.

See your piercer or a doctor right away if you’re experiencing:

uncomfortable pain or swelling
unusually thick or smelly discharge
yellow, green, or gray discharge
fever
chills
nausea
vomiting
dizziness

Although you may want to, you shouldn’t remove your jewelry until your symptoms subside. If you take your jewelry out while symptoms are present, it may result in a painful abscess.

If you aren’t experiencing severe symptoms, you may be able to use the following methods to treat your cartilage bump at home.

Change your jewelry.

Contact dermatitis, an allergic skin reaction, can cause piercing bumps. Many people are allergic to certain metals. Nickel allergies are particularly common. Many cheaper metals contain nickel alloys.

If you have a metal allergy, you may experience:

intense itchiness
skin that’s tender to the touch
redness or rash around the piercing
a hole that appears larger than the jewelry

The only way to correct this is to swap out your jewelry for something hypoallergenic.

If your piercing is less than a year old — or if you aren’t sure whether it’s completely healed — see your piercer. They can verify an allergy and safely insert a new piece of jewelry.

If you’ve had your piercing for a year or more, it should be safe to change the jewelry at home.

You should switch to something made with:

18- or 24-karat gold
implant-grade stainless steel
implant-grade titanium
niobium

Clean your piercing.

It’s important to clean your piercing two to three times daily during the healing process. Even if your piercing appears healed, you should still clean it every day for at least 3 to 6 months.

Before touching your piercing for any reason, including cleaning, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water. Dry your hands with a paper towel, then clean your piercing.

You should use a fragrance-free antimicrobial soap — or your piercer’s recommended cleanser — to clean your piercing and the surrounding area.

Avoid using:

benzalkonium chloride (BZK)
iodopovidone (Betadine)
chlorhexidine (Hibiclens)
rubbing alcohol
hydrogen peroxide

After you cleanse, thoroughly rinse the area. Any remaining soap can cause irritation.

Dry your ear by gently patting it with a paper towel. Cloth towels can be contaminated with bacteria and are more likely to snag your earring.

Cleanse with a saline or sea salt soak.

Saline and sea salt soaks work by washing away harmful bacteria that can lead to infection. They also wash away dead cells and other debris that build up around the piercing and form hypertrophic scars.

If you don’t want to buy saline, you can make your own using sea salt and water.

You can make your solution by adding ¼ teaspoon of fine sea salt to 8 ounces of warm water. Avoid using larger crystals as they don’t dissolve well in water and can be abrasive on your skin.

To soak your ear:

Fill a mug to the brim with saline or sea salt solution.
Tilt your head downward and hold your ear underwater. You can also dip a paper towel in the saline and apply it to your ear.
Soak for 5 minutes.
Use a clean piece of paper to gently pat the area dry.

Use a chamomile compress

Chamomile is known for its powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. A warm chamomile compress can help transfer these healing properties while increasing blood flow to the cartilage.

To make a warm chamomile compress:

Wash your hands.
Place a bag of chamomile tea in warm water and allow it to steep for 4 to 6 minutes.
Apply the tea bag to the piercing for 5 to 10 minutes. You may need to refresh the tea bag with warm water every couple of minutes.
After you’re done, rinse your piercing and pat it dry with a paper towel.

You can alternate between a sea salt or saline soak and applying a chamomile compress. Just be aware: You shouldn’t use chamomile if you have a ragweed allergy.

When to see your piercer

Some piercing bumps clear up within a few days of improving your cleaning regime, but others can take much longer. Hypertrophic scars can take weeks or months to fully disappear, while keloids may need to be removed by a healthcare professional.

If you aren’t seeing improvement, talk with your piercer. They are the best person to assess your symptoms and advise you on any next steps.

How we reviewed this article:

SourcesHistoryHealthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We only use quality, credible sources to ensure content accuracy and integrity. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

Body piercing. (2022).https://youngwomenshealth.org/guides/body-piercing/
Body piercing troubleshooting. (2020).https://safepiercing.org/troubleshooting/
Infected piercings. (2023).https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/infected-piercings/
Srivastava JK, et al. (2010). Chamomile: A herbal medicine of the past with a bright future.https://www.spandidos-publications.com/mmr/3/6/895
Suggested aftercare for body piercings. (2020).https://safepiercing.org/aftercare/
Thyssen JP, et al. (2009). Metal allergy: A review on exposures, penetration, genetics, prevalence, and clinical implications.https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/tx9002726

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Medically reviewed by Cynthia Taylor Chavoustie, MPAS, PA-C — Written by Corinne O'Keefe Osborn — Updated on June 25, 2025

Cartilage Piercing Bump: Keloid, Infection, Treatment, And More

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When to get immediate medical attention

Change your jewelry.

Clean your piercing.

Cleanse with a saline or sea salt soak.

Use a chamomile compress

When to see your piercer

How we reviewed this article:

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