I got a conch done in February last year. It's been feeling nicely healed the past few months. I had some issues with irritation bumps, but in February this year I downsized the labret at the shop I had it done and the bump went away.
I have been really wanting a hoop and ordered one online using the sizing the piercer recommended (14g and 11mm diameter). I had some issues putting it in. Already removing the labret I had caused some irritation because it's externally threaded. It seems like the hoop is too snug, but I'm not sure if that could be caused by swelling from irritating it and if it could fit better if the swelling went down?
My second issue is finding jewellry that fits. It seems there is very little jewellry with 14g. It seems most of what I can get from online (that ships from within my country) is 16g or smaller. Is it possible to downsize the gauge?
Update: Thanks for your input. Put back in the old labret. Spent over an hour trying to open the hoop. Ear is now very annoyed and I suspect a lot of healing has been undone.