Helix piercing continues to hurt after a year... is this normal?

I have a friend who got a belly piercing about a year ago and she says it still hurts when it gets hit. I asked her if it was normal, she says it is but I still think its a small infection that a few antibiotics will fix. Possibly you got the same issue, got a small infection making it take really long to heal. Recommend you go to the doctor just to get antibiotics. Hope this helps.

P.s. if its an infection your lucky it didn’t get bad, some people get really bad infections because they don’t take care of there piercing when they first get them.

@flash74686 I had mine pierced with a needle and had the same problem. I finally took it out after about 2 years because the pain wasn’t worth it.
If I were you I’d remove it. If it hasn’t healed by now it isn’t going to.
I went and got my nose pierced instead.

Mine did the same thing. I believe it was done with a needle. About a year after I had it done, I noticed a bump there. It was a keloid and I had to have the ring cut out by a doctor. Needless to say, I never got it redone. Something similar happened to my belly button ring. It never stopped hurting and developed an infection that wouldn’t go away, so I took that sucker out, too. I didn’t have my nose ring for longer than a month or so before I took it out, but it never gave me pain. That stupid spiral thing in my nostril was annoying as hell, though, so I’m glad it’s gone. I always wanted a tongue piercing, but never had the guts.

I’m over piercings. Hell, I hardly put anything in my lobe piercings. How things have changed since high school. I’d love a second tattoo, though.

My daughter is a professional piercer. I will ask her about this when I see her this morning.

No, that’s not normal. You got a bad piercing. The same thing happened to me on my right upper ear, and I finally had to remove it after dealing with pain and a giant knot that grew around it.

I had my left ear pierced in the same location a while later, at Claire’s (a girly jewelry and whatnot type store) and I’ve never had a problem with this one.

My daughter said several things about this. Once again, she is a professional piercer.
She dislikes the gun. She uses needles. She said a piercing on a helix should be done with a needle that is a larger gauge than the post for the jewelry you will use.
A helix piercing doesn’t have the advantage of blood vessels that can help the piercing with nutrients and help the healing.
A lot of the trouble may be the after care the piercing received. Don’t use alcohol or hydrogen peroxide, and don’t twist the jewelry. And consult with your piercer when you have any trouble like this.

I had my cartilage pierced by gun, and the pain was intense for at least six months. (Later, of course, I learned that you should never get it pierced with a gun.) Even years later, the pain never entirely went away. I finally took the damn thing out this year.

My opinion is if a piercing hurts or is overly sensitive let it close up. Or, if it won’t close still stop using it. Sounds like that is what you are going to do, hopefully that cures the problem. You might want to use antibiotic ointment on it while it heals, just in case there is a small infection, and it will help prevent a scar. I have a mini small normal piercing/hole in my earlobe that I use about once every 5 years and it is always open. Maybe cartilage heals over even if it has been a year since it is similar to bone?