Last August I got an auricle piercing and it still hasn't healed. I'm not sure if it's how it was done, how I was told to care for it, or something else I did, but even now that I've had it out for about 2 months, it's still a tiny bit tender, and that part of my cartilage is now wider than on my other ear.

I had it done at some place in the mall and they used a gun with a typical stainless steel stud. My step sister said she went there once and had an issue, but I got my first and second lobes done there and had no issue. I was told to care for it with antiseptic (which I rarely used) and to turn it every so often? I also used a salt soak, as advised by a few friends. I stupidly got it done on the same side that my bangs are on, so I bumped it a lot, caught my hair on it, and even snagged a few hair ties on it, but it never bled or anything.

It actually seemed to be doing perfectly fine until I changed it, which if I remember correctly was after 7 months. I put in a cheaper earring, but once it got a little swollen, I went right back to only stainless steel and white gold earrings. I tried taking it out whenever I was sleeping so that I wouldn't accidentally sleep on that side, I tried not wearing a back on it, so it wouldn't put too much pressure on it or something. Finally I got fed up and took it out completely. Most of the swelling has gone down, but as I said, it's still tender and it's not totally obvious it's been pierced, just if you touch it and like, cuffs don't fit on that ear...

So yeah, what went wrong, what can I do, and is it ever going to be back to normal?

Originally posted by evalution don't get pierced with a gun. there are many reasons this is a bad idea, including an inability to sterilize, improper piercing equipment (not a needle at all, even), etc. low quality jewelry is low quality. it will not help an angry piercing. taking the back off probably didn't help, either. i would suggest not putting things on it, like cuffs, and not touching it while it is healing. is it warm to the touch and is there any discharge?

I'm never getting pierced with a gun again. I know now that they should only really be used for lobe piercings, and I only want the two I already have.

I don't mess with it. In fact, I forget about it most of the time, unless I scratch it or something. It's not warm and there has only been one instance of discharge which was quite a few months ago and went away overnight with one salt soak. It's just a little sensitive and there's like teeny tiny bit of swelling which I assume is not actually swelling, but damage to the cartilage or something.

Thing is, I want to get my outer conch done on my other ear (by a real professional this time) but I'm afraid the same thing will happen and I'll be wasting my money again.

Guns aren't good to be used for any piercings, not even lobes, for the reasons already outlined.

With your piercing, it was a cartilage piercing. They are notoriously hard or slow to heal. Can take up to a year even if treated well, definitely longer if you were swapping jewellery in and out of it. I have 3 helix piercings that only in the last few months have started to settle and I have had them since August last year. The other thing is, as with all piercings, you should leave them alone. Don't spin them or play with them. Two things, one, you are irritating the piercing site so it will take longer to heal, and two, you run the risk of introducing infection if your hands aren't clean.
Once your ear has settled there should be no reason why you can't get it repierced. But do yourself a favour, go to a proper piercers and get it done there next time. Not some place that tries to fire a blunt piece of metal through you with a gun used on hundreds (thousands?) of people before you that can't be cleaned properly.