I used tea tree oil on my first nipple piercing and it was fine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_tree_oil#Medicinal_use is worth a read. Basically, keeping it clean is the key (as with any other wound). Piercings, naturally, take longer to heal than an ordinary would since there is a foreign body present that your immune system will do its best to get rid of. The only way a piercing will take is if it is easier for the body to heal round it than push it out. With cartilage it is basically impossible to reject, but its also a difficult place to heal.
Everything else sounds like the piercer was competent and applied appropriate sterilisation techniques, so its really just a case of getting on with it and not to let up on the cleaning routine and doing what you can to avoid introducing foreign material while it heals. Keeping the hair back is good, partly as its a natural harbour for airborne bacteria and things like soot particles and partly because every time you catch it it will cause more trauma to the wound and increase the healing time.
And dont pick the scabs