A new ear piercing is an open wound that can take several weeks to fully heal. During that time, any bacteria that enter the wound can lead to infection. Taking good care of your piercing is key to preventing infection.
An ear piercing is a hole through your earlobe or the cartilage in your middle or upper ear. Ear piercing infections may be red, swollen, sore, warm, itchy or tender. Sometimes, piercings ooze blood or white, yellow or green pus.
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A new piercing is an open wound that can take several weeks to fully heal. During that time, any bacteria that enter the wound can lead to infection.
Why Does My Ear Piercing Keep Getting Infected?
Your upper ear is cartilage, a thick, stiff tissue with less blood flow. Piercings in your upper ear are more likely to become infected, and infections in your upper ear are sometimes serious.
Millions of people get their ears pierced every year, and most of them have no serious complications. Mild irritation and infections are common, however, for new piercings. In most cases, infections aren’t serious and clear up quickly.
Some pain and redness are part of the normal healing process for pierced ears. It can be easy to confuse those with signs of infection.
How To Treat Infected Piercings: 6 Expert & Medical Tips
If there’s a bump on the back of the ear piercing, it’s not necessarily infected. Small bumps called granulomas can sometimes form around the piercing. These bumps are trapped fluid that you can treat by compressing them with warm water.
If bacteria get into a new piercing, it can lead to infection. You may expose your new piercing to harmful bacteria by:
Many things can increase your risk of getting an infection from an ear piercing. Certain health conditions can affect your body’s immune system and your ability to fight infection. These conditions include:
Is Your Piercing Infected
Upper ear piercings are more likely to get infected. Left untreated, these infections can lead to a condition known as perichondritis. An infection can also spread into your body (systemic infection).
If you see signs of an infected cartilage piercing, you should contact a healthcare provider. The provider can assess the severity of the infection.
A healthcare provider can tell you what to do for an infected ear piercing. They may recommend a variety of treatments to help heal an infected ear piercing. Ear piercing infection treatment may include:
How To Tell If Your Piercing Is Infected
With good care, most infections clear up within a few days. If your infected ear piercing isn’t improving, you should see a healthcare provider.
Getting your ears pierced is most often a safe, simple procedure. Be sure to go to an experienced piercer who practices proper hygiene. Keep your new piercings clean, and don’t remove your earrings until your piercings have healed completely. Be patient — by preventing an infection now, you can enjoy your healthy piercings for years to come.
Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. PolicyA piercing is an open wound that requires time and care to heal. Cartilage piercings typically take longer to heal and are more prone to infection than earlobe piercings. Even when a person follows the aftercare instructions, infections may still occur.
Piercing Infection: 4 Ways To Heal Fast Infected Ear, Nose Piercing
An infected ear piercing can also develop years after a person got the original piercing. Usually, the infections are minor, and people can treat them at home without complications.
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Touching the piercing too often with dirty hands or not cleaning the area can lead to infections. Also, earrings that are too tight may not allow the wound to breathe and heal.
In this article, learn about the symptoms of an infected ear piercing, as well as the treatment options, and how to prevent infections in the future.
Piercing Aftercare: How To Care For Your Piercing
The first step to avoid infection is to go to a professional for a piercing rather than piercing the ear at home.
For piercings that are not on the earlobe, needles are safer than using a piercing gun. Hygiene is equally important for both piercing methods, and aftercare protocols are the same.
It is vital to follow the piercer’s aftercare instructions carefully. Clean the ears twice a day with sterile saline water or the rinse provided by the piercer.
How To Treat Infected Piercings
To treat an infection in an old piercing, people should clean the earring and both sides of the ear with saline solution, and handing it with clean hands.
If signs or symptoms of infection happen often, people should consider buying only hypoallergenic jewelry, as they may be reacting to the earrings.
If a new piercing is infected, it is best not to remove the earring. Removing the piercing can allow the wound to close, trapping the infection within the skin. For this reason, it is advisable not to remove an earring from an infected ear unless advised by a doctor or professional piercer.
Home Remedies To Heal Infected Piercings
Once the wound has healed — usually after 2 to 3 months in the case of earlobe piercing or longer in cartilage piercings — a person can safely remove an earring.
When getting a new earring, it is crucial that people have this done by a professional piercer with excellent hygiene practices. Also, they must always follow the aftercare instructions carefully until the wound has healed.
Most infected ear piercings can be treated at home and will improve within a few days, although, in some cases, antibiotics may be necessary. If symptoms do not improve, the infection spreads, or there are other symptoms, a person should speak to a doctor.
The Signs Of An Ear Piercing Infection And How To Treat It
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Karen L. Hudson is a tattoo artist and contributing writer for . She has been an amateur artist as a hobby since grade school, and served a 12 month tattoo apprenticeship in a tattoo studio.
Blair Murphy-Rose, MD is a board-certified dermatologist in New York who specializes in leading-edge facial rejuvenation techniques. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology, the American Society of Dermatologic Surgery and the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery. She is a Castle + Connolly Top Doctor and Super Doctor of NY 2021-2023.
Helix Piercing: Pain, Healing, Jewelry
When you have an infected piercing, your first thought might be to take your jewelry out. While that might seem like the best thing to do, it's best to leave this to your doctor. If your piercing is actually infected, and you remove the jewelry on your own, you may spread the bacteria. Instead, see a dermatologist, who will likely swab the area for a culture and start a course of topical and/or oral antibiotics to treat the infected skin piercing. Your derm will likely also want to monitor the area for potential abscess formation throughout your treatment plan. To learn more, we spoke to two dermatologists, Y. Claire Chang and Alicia Zalka.
Mild infections can be treated easily enough at home. If it's just a little irritated, slightly red or warm, you can try a few things to clear it up on your own:
The first thing is to determine if your piercing is actually infected. A piercing may be infected if you notice redness, swelling, pain or tenderness, warmth, crusting, and yellow drainage around the piercing site, says Chang. More severe infections can lead to spreading redness/swelling, fevers, chills, and swollen lymph nodes.
Infected Ear Piercing
My experience is that bellybutton piercings are the ones most at risk for infections. The second most common would be nose piercings, says Zalka.
If you have a nickel sensitivity, you may not be able to handle jewelry made of nickel-laden metals. It’s best to see your dermatologist or other health care provider as an infection can be mistaken for an allergic reaction and vice versa, says Zalka. Some people react to the metal in the piercing object. This can happen to those with a nickel allergy. Silver, gold, and steel may still have small amounts of nickel in them; enough to bother someone who's very sensitive. In this case, niobium or titanium jewelry may be necessary. You may also have allergic reactions to other kinds of metals, even if they don't contain nickel. Always consider the jewelry first if you're having a problem, and have it changed to a high-quality metal if you think that could be
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