Ear piercing infection?
 

I got my ear cartilage pierced this past Saturday. Everything went fine but today I woke up and saw this crusty black stuff around the piercing (sorry, I know that's gross!). Is this normal?

I had that and it was dried blood I think. I kept cleaning it with salt water and it's always been fine.

I could be wrong :/ If you're worried and it's causing you pain maybe go to the doctors or the place you got your ear pierced? x

Have you been cleaning it regularly?
Is it extreamly painful? New piercings are always painful, but at this time it should be more of a dull ache rather than extream pain.
Did you get it pierced at a reputable piercer? (It's quite important to go to places that follow the strict hygiene rules surrounding piercings and a lot of back street shops don't do this.)

Piercings often secrete liquid when they're healing. The black might be blood. What could have happened is you've slept/knocked it in your sleep and angered the piercing a bit.
Clean it thougherly and give it some time to calm down. If you're still not happy with it you can always go down to your local chemist/pharmacy and ask him what he thinks.

Yeah, it is just a dull ache. And I do think I bumped it last night.
And yes, the piercer is great, I know him and he uses very sterile equipment. :)
Thank you, I am a bit paranoid of getting an infection! I'll just keep an eye on it and hope it clears up.

sounds like dried blood. ive had a lot of piercings and i always got that. make sure you are cleaning it as instructed and wash your hands before touching it. try to leave it alone unless you are cleaning it.

Yeah, sounds normal to me for that stage of a piercing and that you've just slept on it/ caught it in the night which has caused it to bleed a small amount. If you continue to clean it as advised by your piercr then it should be fine. Try not to play with it or turn it around or anything as some may advise as that irritates the tissue further, makes it less likely to heal and also makes it more likely to bleed. As well as that, try not to touch the bar/ ring mch and if you do make sure you keep that clean too as you want to keep the levels of bacteria around the piercing as low as possible.