Piercing the upper ear is more dangerous than you might think.
There are more upper ear piercings now than ever but there are also more serious ear infections. Infections can be found in approximately ten percent of upper ear cartilage piercings. Some upper ear piercing infections are worse than others. An infection of the ear tissue around the cartilage is called perichondritis," It is an inflammation and possible chronic infection) of the perichondrium. Chronic infection of the cartridge can lead to ear collapse and plastic surgery may need to be performed to restore the ear.
The most common kind of infection of upper ear piercings is a bacteria called Pseudomonas aeruginosa. It is an extremely hard bacteria to kill. It can live in diesel fuel and even in the disinfectant solution benzalkonium chloride which is used by some piercing salons. New York public health officials identified an outbreak of pseudomonas in Rochester, NY in 2003 caused by ineffective disinfectant solution. Psuedomonas aeruginosa infections can be treated with a combination of antibiotics and make take several weeks to heal because there is not much blood flow to the cartilage to bring antibiotics to the infection and to carry away debris as it heals. Some scarring or deformation of the upper ear lobe may result.
Another even more serious infection is called MRSA. MRSA is Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. Staph infections have been around since the dawn of mankind but recently one really bad one, or "super bug" has emerged that is resistant to the antibiotic methicillin. This staph bacteria can infect an open wound such as a piercing or can be introduced by poorly disinfected needles or jewelry.
If your upper ear piercing is swollen it is most likely infected. If you wait too long before seeking medical help a worse case scenario can happen where you may lose ear tissue. Go to your doctor immediately, do not wait thinking it will get better. When it comes to bacterial infections, bacteria multiply exponentially. In other words they double, quadruple, and so on rapidly. Hours can mean the difference between getting an infection under control or not and this is especially true with upper ear cartridge piercing infections.