A 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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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Home Remedies To Heal Infected Piercings
You can clean your infected ear piercing with a saltwater rinse. Don’t remove the piercing or use alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, or antibiotic ointments. See a doctor if it doesn’t get better, or the earring is stuck.
When you get your ears pierced — whether at a tattoo parlor or a kiosk in the mall — you should receive instructions on preventing infection. The vendor should also assure you they only use sterile tools and hygienic practices.
But if the protocol isn’t followed, or if you don’t carefully follow the post-piercing care instructions, an infection can occur. You can usually treat a minor piercing infection of the earlobe fairly easily and without complications.
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A piercing is essentially an open wound. An earlobe piercing usually takes six to eight weeks to heal. Cartilage piercings, which take place on the harder part of your ear, generally take longer to heal and can be more prone to infection. There are several ways your ear piercing can get infected.
Any bacteria left to fester can quickly turn into an infection. If you touch your piercing with dirty hands or instruments, you can introduce an infection. If the earrings are on too tightly, not allowing room for the wound to breathe and heal, an infection can develop. A piercing can also get infected if there’s too much handling of the piercing or the post of the earring is rough.
An infection can also occur if unsterile instruments were used, if the person piercing your ears didn’t use gloves, or if the posts themselves weren’t sterile.
What To Do If Your Ear Piercing Gets Infected
As long as your infection is minor, you may be able to take care of it at home. If you’ve had a cartilage piercing and it seems infected, seek medical treatment. These types of infections are harder to treat and may require oral antibiotics. Significant infections of the cartilage can require hospitalization.
After the infection appears to have cleared, continue this cleaning regimen twice a day until the piercing is totally healed. Remember, an earlobe piercing can take six to eight weeks to heal. Routine care is important during that time.
Usually, a minor infection of an ear piercing can be treated successfully at home. But if any of the following symptoms occur, seek medical attention:
How To Prevent Ear Piercing Infections
To avoid infection, have your ears pierced by a professional. Don’t do it at home. Be sure to ask about their infection prevention protocol. Also ask if their tools are sterile. Confirm that the earrings they use come out of a new, sterile package.
After you get the piercing, clean your ears twice a day with the rinse provided or sterile saline. Don’t turn your jewelry, as this can create trauma to the skin and cause infection. You can clean around the piercing without removing the earring.
Getting your ears pierced should involve a few moments of pain in exchange for the chance to dress up your earlobes and have some fun. When an infection strikes, treating it promptly ensures faster healing with fewer complications.
Signs Of An Ear Piercing Infection & How To Treat An Infected Cartilage Or Ear Bump In Draper, Ut
Has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. We avoid using tertiary references. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.But more often than not, any discomfort is down to irritation or an allergic reaction rather than an infection. And it’s important you know the difference so you can get the treatment you need. So, with that in mind, here’s how to identify what’s wrong with your piercing and how you treat each one.
Infections are caused by bacteria and other contaminating substances getting into the wound. This can mostly be avoided by following basic hygiene rules and using a trusted piercer. The tissue surrounding an infected piercing will become swollen, red, painful and hot when you touch it. It’s likely it will also have a discharge that’s dark yellow or green in colour. It may also appear slightly bloody or smell unpleasant. In short, it will look pretty gross.
If you experience any discharge that is light in colour without any of the pain, swelling or redness, don’t worry. This is just natural sebum which is normal and healthy.
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If you do think your piercing is infected, you should go and see a doctor as a precaution as they may wish to prescribe you antibiotics depending on how serious the infection is. They may also suggest that you bathe your ear in hot, salty water as it can soothe the pain and encourage it to heal faster.
Just like infections, an irritated piercing can cause pain, swelling and redness. But it shouldn’t cause the horrible discharge that comes with an infection. Other symptoms of irritation include a solid (non-fluid filled) lump around the hole or some slight peeling.
There are countless ways that a piercing can become irritated but they more or less have one thing in common: physical trauma. This could be anything from accidentally knocking it with your hairbrush, overcleaning it, playing with it, sleeping on it or anything else that would put pressure on your piercing.
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If you can find out what’s caused the irritation and stop doing it, chances are the symptoms will disappear on their own. Although again a warm salt water soak will help soothe the pain. Just don't over do it!
Allergic reactions are caused when your body rejects something. In this case it could be the metal used in your piercing or something in the cleaning solution you’re using. You can identify an allergic reaction by a rash, itchiness and redness. And if it’s an allergic reaction to the metal, the skin might pull away from the jewellery. The symptoms will also appear very soon after being pierced rather than a few days later.
You are more likely to experience an allergic reaction to metals like gold and silver than you are with hypoallergenic materials like surgical steel. Which is why we recommend always getting pierced with implant grade titanium
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