advice for healing a conch piercing?

i got my conch (and shen men) pierced last thursday (12th sept), and although i have a few cartilage piercings, it’s been some years since i last got one.

my piercings don’t typically swell too much, so i still have plenty of bar space at the back of my ear (they’re both flat backs), but if they do swell, it’s usually right after i’ve cleaned it with plain water as warm as i can stand (this was the advice given to me, n i’ve healed almost ten other piercings with this method), before it goes back down after a hour or so. i have been taking as much ibuprofen as is safe to do so, but today, they’re just not doing the job, n after i cleaned both piercings, my ear has been throbbing.

now, despite having several piercings n tattoos, i am a bit of wimp, so this may just be me overreacting, but i feel like the pain is getting worse? i know that soreness n tenderness is normal for new piercings, especially with mine only being four days old, but today is definitely the worse that the pain has been so far. i am unsure if i’m just suffering a tad more bc i’m healing two piercings at once, but my conch definitely feels more tender out of the two. is this possibly just a delayed reaction to my ear having two needles shoved through it?

any advice/insight will be greatly appreciated, thank you!

i got my conch (and shen men) pierced last thursday (12th sept), and although i have a few cartilage piercings, it’s been some years since i last got one.

my piercings don’t typically swell too much, so i still have plenty of bar space at the back of my ear (they’re both flat backs), but if they do swell, it’s usually right after i’ve cleaned it with plain water as warm as i can stand (this was the advice given to me, n i’ve healed almost ten other piercings with this method), before it goes back down after a hour or so. i have been taking as much ibuprofen as is safe to do so, but today, they’re just not doing the job, n after i cleaned both piercings, my ear has been throbbing.

now, despite having several piercings n tattoos, i am a bit of wimp, so this may just be me overreacting, but i feel like the pain is getting worse? i know that soreness n tenderness is normal for new piercings, especially with mine only being four days old, but today is definitely the worse that the pain has been so far. i am unsure if i’m just suffering a tad more bc i’m healing two piercings at once, but my conch definitely feels more tender out of the two. is this possibly just a delayed reaction to my ear having two needles shoved through it?

any advice/insight will be greatly appreciated, thank you!