Most piercing aftercare advice is either folklore or overkill. This is the short version, and it is the same for every placement on the ear.
The whole routine
Rinse with sterile saline twice a day. That is it. Let the shower run over it, pat dry with a clean paper towel — not a bath towel, which holds bacteria and catches on jewellery.
Do not turn or twist the jewellery. That advice is decades out of date; it tears the tissue that is trying to close.
Do not use alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, tea tree oil, or antibacterial soap. They kill the cells doing the healing along with everything else.
What actually causes problems
Almost every complication comes from one of four things: sleeping on it, knocking it, changing the jewellery too early, or wearing the wrong material. Not from insufficient cleaning.
A travel pillow with your ear through the hole solves the first one and is worth more than any product you can buy.
Bumps
An irritation bump is not an infection. It usually means the jewellery is being knocked, is the wrong length, or is under pressure from sleeping. Fix the cause and the bump settles.
Signs that need a doctor rather than a piercer: spreading redness, heat, swelling that worsens after the first week, green or yellow discharge, or fever.
Downsizing
Your first piece is deliberately longer than the final one, to leave room for swelling. Once that swelling settles — usually four to twelve weeks depending on placement — it should be swapped for a shorter post.
Leaving a long post in permanently means it catches on everything. Downsizing too early means it embeds. Have your piercer make the call, not the internet.
How long
A lobe closes in two to three months. Cartilage takes six to twelve, and a snug can take eighteen. Those numbers are not padding — cartilage has a poor blood supply, and blood is what does the healing.
A piercing that looks fine at three months is often not finished underneath.