I was going to say it might be a healing issue. I've had my lip pierced four times. One took a year to heal, a couple took 6 months and one took weeks.. all in the same location with the same jewelry and care! It could also be something with the actual piece of jewelry (perhaps a scratch that is harboring bacteria, 316L instead of 316LVM, amount of nickel, etc). Trying titanium couldn't hurt though! Surgical stainless steel is generally very safe but titanium contains no nickel, is more readily accepted by the body and the lighter weight might help!