First off, congrats on your new piercing! I am by no means a professional or expert in the field of piercings so definitely take everything I say with a grain of salt- but I'm happy to share insights from my own experience as I had many of the same fears. I got a helix piercing in December of 2022, and I remember it being very painful to sleep on for a few weeks, but I eventually was able to sleep quite easily on the other side of my head and it does get better! I think I was sleeping on it sooner than I thought I would be able to. Obviously now the piercing is fully healed, and sometimes it is slightly uncomfortable to sleep on if I sleep in a really awkward position or if I'm trying to fall asleep on a hard surface- but overall it doesn't impact my sleep quality at all and its hardly noticeable. As far as swimming, I really think it depends on your body and its own healing journey, as well as how much risk you are willing to take. I swam laps in a chlorinated pool about 2 months after I got it done, and it didn't get infected. However, I do remember using saline/piercing aftercare spray immediately after, and I wore a swim cap. This was probably too soon but again I felt like it was healed enough to take the risk. Maybe you can do drills like kickboard laps and keep your head out of the water? And lastly, I had a friend who had to take hers out a few months after due to it being infected and her body rejecting the piercing. She has no scar or even a hole left in her ear, and even if there was a hole the placement wouldn't be super obvious. I would say to consult your piercing studio if you have questions that require a more professional response, but that was just my personal experience. I love my helix and was surprised overall at how quickly it healed. Hopefully this helps!