Apocalyptic Kitten

Infections are generally accompanied by pain so it’s unlikely that it’s an infection. It is possible but it doesn’t sound like a full blown infection to me. You have to understand that cartilage piercings can take anywhere from 6 months to a year to fully heal and minor complications are incredibly common with cartilage piercings during the healing period.
If you are currently wearing a hoop in your still healing piercings, I recommend going in to your professional piercer and having them change it for a stainless steel, titanium, or niobium stud. CBRs and CBBs have a much greater range of movement. This movement can damage the healing tissue and create blockages in the piercing canal which can lead to minor irritation, infection, uncomfortable or unattractive scar tissue, or abscessing.
If you are already wearing a stud, then just keep up with your aftercare. Do twice daily sea salt soaks with 1/4tsp non-iodized sea salt to 1cup hot water. Do NOT touch or play with the jewelry, try to keep your hair away from the piercing and do your best to not sleep on the side with your piercing. The natural oils from your hands and hair can be severe irritants to your piercing and the pressure from sleeping on the side of the piercing can cause scar tissue or blockages.
Keep up with aftercare and keep an eye on your piercing. If you notice increased swelling, pain, warmth or redness around the jewelry, or green/grey/yellow pus then you may have an infection. Seek professional help in that situation from your professional piercer. They will recommend the best course of action from there. If you see no change in 2 weeks again, speak to your professional piercer, you may have a metal allergy, minor infection, or possibly some tearing. I can be more specific without examining the piercing personally. For now follow my advice and if there’s anything else I can do, let me know! Hope this helps!

I am so sorry this took me so long to reply to. My laptop got trashed and I’ve been working full-time so I’m a little backed up when it comes to tumblr haha
Anyways, I hope this answer isn’t coming too late to be helpful. Swelling with a new piercing is entirely normal. When you a first pierced it should be with a longer then average bar to accommodate the swelling period. Typically the first 3-5 days are the worst for swelling but intermittent periods of swelling can continue for the first few weeks of healing.
Without the longer jewelry to leave space for healing, a blockage can occur in the fresh piercing canal, generally resulting in an infection or abscess. When the naturally occurring lymph discharge cannot escape it can become infectious over time or bubble up into an abscess which can be quite painful, unattractive, infectious and dangerous if not drained properly.
I don’t think your piercer gave you an improper length of bar but rather, they gave you a length that will accommodate the average amount of swelling. You have probably just experienced slightly more then average swelling. I recommend going in to see your professional piercer and explaining the situation. When they se your level of swelling, they will provide you with longer bar for your swelling. However do NOT attempt to change the jewelry yourself. You could damage the freshly healing tissue.
Once your jewelry has been changed by your piercer to a longer titanium, niobium, or stainless steel bar; just keep up with your aftercare. Your sea salt soaks are essential right now. You may already have some draining issues due to the smaller jewelry. The soaks will dissolve and clear out any blockages, keeping your piercing happy any healthy. Hope this helps :).