Ear Piercing: normal reaction or signs of infection?

I recently had my ear pierced, and was dumb enough to think that i could remove/reinsert the stud as i wanted, causing the skin to slightly heal then be re-broken several times in the following few days.

its now about 5 days since piercing, and the lobe is a slight red and swelled somewhat. is this just the ear reacting/healing, or is this a sign of infection?

 

A sign of infection is a severely swollen, hard, hot, throbbing red piercing site, with green or yellow discharge.

It's more than likely just irritated. Wash it once a day with unscented antibacterial liquid hand soap, and soak it twice a day for about ten minutes in a saline solution - 1/8tsp sea salt in a cup of warm water.

What kind of jewelry do you have in it?

 

My nose and cartilage piercings got infected..if it does get worse put tea tree oil on it with a qtip for a couple days...it'll go away pretty quick!

 

it was likely irritation. i ceased using peroxide to "clean" the area and started leaving the piercing in for 6-10 hrs at a time, rotating irregularily.

the swelling is down and the lobe is almost a completely normal flesh colour. Im using both a cheap gem stud (gold plated i think) and a safety pin to maintain the hole. (the pin is used during the day so as to allow more breathing space then the very short stud)

 

THAT. Is why yr ear is fucked up.

DON'T use peroxide, it overcleans and further irritates the area.
DON'T take the piercing out, FOR ANY REASON. Especially infection. How do you think it will EVER heal if it's perpetually undergoing new trauma?
DON'T rotate the piercing. You risk dragging dried particulate matter back into the open wound, and can cause infection.
DON'T use any kind of cheap material on a fresh wound [SAFETY PIN?! Are you 14?]. The metal will irritate yr skin to no end. I've had my ears pierced since I was two, and were I to put a safety pin in them, I'd have lobes the size of grapes by the end of the day.

Do yrself a favor, and run up to the mall, get yrself an 18g CBR, looks like this.



Make sure it's surgical steel or titanium. Boil it. Leave it in the water until yr ready to put it in. Wash yr hands really good, wash the area really good, insert, follow with salt soak. The bead may be a little tricky to get back in, but once you do, it's not going anywhere.

 

I could never get those to work ^ that single bead is too difficult for me for some reason, haah. i've always had to use the one with two ends.

 

don't take it out, thats the worst thing you could do, i left mine in for 6 weeks, but even that isn't long enough, 10 weeks is more like it.

 

i got a stainless steel labret for it and have been fiddling with it a few times a day

the hole is totally healed and looks great after only two weeks sinch making it with a safety pin and quickly advancing to a 12 gauge stud.

however, if i remove the stud for 1-2 hours and try to replace it, the skin at both entrences will have healed to about a ~14gauge (i only tested this twice tho)

there is no pain/annoyance anymore when changing shirts or lying on that side of my body to sleep, and it looks like a sucess

 

Don't take it out, you RETARD.

Don't try to stretch a fresh piercing, either.

In other words, QUIT FUCKING WITH IT. Leave it alone. Don't rotate it. Don't change the jewelry. Don't put peroxide on it.

Why the fuck would you think CONSTANTLY fucking with a fresh wound would be GOOD for it?

Put the jewelry in. Wash it with soap once a day. That's it. You're apparently too inept to be able to do a salt soak.

 

Hahahah!

Yeah man you gotta let that shit fuckin heal. I know new piercings are really exciting and what not, but you can't keep fucking with it or it's never gonna heal!

 

i get fidgity when bored and will pick at anything on my body that irritates me (i have a history of maintaining scabs for excessively long). luckily my ear hasnt gone apeshit on me yet...