How to tell if my piercing has an abscess?

my navel was infected for like a month and a half and only getting worse. puss was coming out of the piercing but after a while it wasn't as much, so i squeezed as much out as i could and like an idiot i took the piercing out and after like 30 minutes i couldn't even get the ring back in. i don't think it entirely closed but it shrunk, then i cleaned the holes with sea salt and left it alone...this morning it looks a lot more closed up, there is no way i can get the ring back in now, but the part the bar went through feels kind of hard but the redness of the holes is going away. it doesn't hurt now and it didn't hurt while i had the piercing in, the hole was just red and some puss came out. so i think i have an abscess...and i know your not supposed to take it out but i really had to for other reasons too. does this sound like it was infected or just irritated...and does it sound like i have an abscess now? if so what do i do about it D: