You believe this shit? my ear was all fine, sea salt soaks, vitamin e, dr. bronners...go to the dells, neglected it for 2 days, come back to illinois, allergies kick in, ear gets infected, pull out the plug, ear tears, bleeds, puss, and now i am earring-less, making sure i dont get a fever, making sure it stays clean while draining it, and now im downsizing to a 10...sounds great huh? anyone else have this issue?
no, but ive heard of that happening. you should have been cleaning it 2 or 3 times a day with rubbing alcohol or special cleaner that they sometimes have where they pierce your ears.
i'd say it got infected because of the dells... the water there can get really nasty... you should have probably been washing it while you were there...
Never ever use rubbing alcohol. That said, the best thing to do with an infection is just keep it clean... which also involves NOT cleaning it too much. The more you touch it, the more irritated it gets, and the more chances you create for bacteria from your hands, etc. Find an unscented antibacterial soap (I really like Olay, but Dial or something similar is cheaper and just as good) and clean it twice a day... if you're keeping your jewelry out, use something like Polysporin, Neospirin, whatever... they say never to use that stuff on new piercings - that's because it builds up and the piercing can't get air. If you aren't wearing jewelry right now, it's good to use some kind of mild ointment because it keeps a good barrier from bacteria, etc.
sea salt soaks are your very best friend. are you sure its an infection though? you need to have all the signs like swelling, extreme pain, heat, and pus (not lymph which is perfectly normal and can seem like pus when your piercing is irritated). it could just be pissed off, it happenes to mine sometimes especially when i knock them or something. if its just swollen and crusty and mildly painful i wouldnt worry too much. if you did tear it, your right to downsize and soak the hell out of it with really warm salty water. same if its infected. if it is infected then you need to see a docter cause that shit can get serious, you should have antibiotics. if not then id skip the soap and just do sss and chamomile tea bags (they feel amazing and destroy swelling) untill they are better. wait a long ass time before you stretch again.
im just going to let it close, it was infected, it was red, hot, swollen as hell, and then i took out the peircing, and there was a little tear, not near the fistula, but underneath the peircing, so i was like, fuck this, im just going to let it close up. It's scabby, not crusty anymore. I am just going to start again on my left ear, which brings up another question. Can i dermal punch to a 2g? or should i get it pierced and have them stretch it with the peircing to a 2g? and would that even be possible?
you could get dermal puched, but remember that that will remove quite a bit of skin. one ear will be fatter than the other and you might have trouble stretched big if thats what you want. you can have it pierced and immediatly tapered. my piercer will go as high as 4g, 2g on the right person, just talk to your piercer about it. i recently had one of my lobes pierced at 10g and tapered straight to 8g and hardly felt it. that would prolly be the way to go for you, id do 6g or maybe 4g and just stretch it when its healed.
NO RUBBING ALCOHOL. and id avoid any "special cleaner" given by a piercer if they advise rubbing alcohol.. I wouldnt recommend punching to 2ga. Pierce and taper to 2ga is a bit heavy too, but definately possible. Personally id recommend scalpelling it. That might not appeal to you however, or there might not be anyone in your area to do it.
I'm not too comfortable going with a scapel,but I read that it hurts a lot less then dermal punching, I think I am going to go with the peirce and taper. I would get it pierced at like a 10, and taper to a 6, just so it isn't as bad as a jump, but that wouldn't really matter because there is no fistula yet right? scapeling sounds ok, but im just more comfortable doing it the old fashioned way, pierce and taper..sounds easy
10 to 6 isnt too bad fresh.. would recommended minimise the tapering as much as possible. would much prefer the extra pain coming with an 8ga needle than the extra tapering. or could push for 4 if youre ballsey starting at 8.. but yes. scalpelling will be much less painful than that. not sure on punching.. only punch ive had was through my conch and that was pretty easy
I could go from a 10 to an 8, or just go with a piercing of an 8 to a 6, i dont want to go to a 4, because i only want to stretch to a 0, so i want to still have sometime on my own to stretch
