Very sore ear piercing, help please?

Knee-Vee

I got my ear pierced last week, about half way up the rim. It was fine at the time, hardly swelled at all. Just today though my ear has been feeling very warm and where the piercing is is throbbing and stinging.

I have been cleaning it with salt and water, at least once a day. This morning i didn't have time to let the water cool down so it was still quite warm while I was using it, and my ear has been sore since, and quite swollen in comparison. What do I do?

Also. I wear glasses. Could that be a problem while this is healing?

Will

glasses shouldnt irritate your piercing as long as it isnt directly in contact with it. do you sleep on it? that could be the main reason why its acting up. do you have a picture we could see, could be many factors.

keep cleaning it anyway. use boiled water too, some people think warm water does the trick but its better when its boiled

Oryx

Try not to touch it at all unless your cleaning it. Have you had piercings with that type of stud before? (Im thinking metal allergy)

Cupcake_Crisis

also maybe try cleanin it more than once a day!! 3 times is what i normally aim for!

Gauge

It's different for everyone, but 3 times a day is pushing it

truthinwords

Cupcake_Crisis wrote: »

also maybe try cleanin it more than once a day!! 3 times is what i normally aim for!

I'm not an expert by any means but if thats 3 times a day is with seline that's gotta irritate the piercing.

xtruthx

seamus

truthinwords wrote: »

I'm not an expert by any means but if thats 3 times a day is with seline that's gotta irritate the piercing.

Nah. It won't irritate the piercing, but if he's using a lot of water, really soaking the piercing, then he may be preventing the creation of a scab, which will really leave it tender and raw.

Sleeping on the piercing can be a real pain. I can remember having piercings ache for days because I slept heavily on it one night.

Knee-Vee

KtK wrote: »

Try not to touch it at all unless your cleaning it. Have you had piercings with that type of stud before? (Im thinking metal allergy)

When I was younger my friends used to give me really cute girly earrings as presents and yeah, my ears swelled and produced fluidy discharge from them, but I had completely forgotten about it because I so rarely wore girly anything.

I've got my nose pierced and my earlobes and never had this problem.

I cleaned it again about 2 hours ago and it isn't burning as much any more, which basically means that it still feels very warm but doesn't hurt so much. Also the horrible tight feeling has abated a bit. There was a small amount of discharge when I cleaned it, and cleaning really stung, but it is bearable now. So I put a tiny bit of lavender oil on the skin around the ring, not on the piercing itself.

Most of my ear is red and swollen, and earlier on the whole thing was throbbing. Now it's just the piercing site.

I tried calling the mobile number Snakebite gave me and it just rang out. Should I leave it to the morning and see how things are then?

Will

if it stings dilute down your salt water solution, shouldnt sting. dont put ay oils on it either, it will just irritate it. if it doesnt calm down in a day or two head into your piercing studio and get em to have a peek at it

cazzy

Salt and water is a bit odd to be cleaning it with . Is that what you were told ?

Did you try surgical spirits to clean it with as this will kill all germs and doesnt need cooling down.

truthinwords

I thought seline was pretty much the standard cleaning solution

Knee-Vee

cazzy wrote: »

Salt and water is a bit odd to be cleaning it with . Is that what you were told ?

Did you try surgical spirits to clean it with as this will kill all germs and doesnt need cooling down.

Yup, was told salt and boiled water cooled to blood temperature. Actually was specifically told to avoid surgical spirits, alcohol and antiseptics like dettol or TCP.

Soundman

cazzy wrote: »

Did you try surgical spirits to clean it with as this will kill all germs and doesnt need cooling down.

Christ almighty! Don't bloody use that stuff on a piercing!

Surgical Spirits (or Methanol):

Methanol may be absorbed across the skin and can result in systemic toxicity. Methanol is also irritating to skin and may cause dry skin and redness.

Star Lord

Knee-Vee wrote: »

Yup, was told salt and boiled water cooled to blood temperature. Actually was specifically told to avoid surgical spirits, alcohol and antiseptics like dettol or TCP.

Are you using normal salt or sea salt?

Knee-Vee

Ran out of sea salt so I used table salt yesterday. Does that make a big difference?

This morning it's much better. I didn't thrash around in my sleep last night, so I think some fluid drained out. The swelling has gone down quite a bit and my ear doesn't hurt at all or feel warm.

Purple Person

Hi, I'm a piercer at wildcat, Just thought I should let you know that yes, it does make a big difference if you use table salt instead of sea salt. Table salt is bleached and treated with chemicals to make it bright white, sea salt is a natural untreated salt. If you use table salt you will essentially give yourself salt burns.
Don't use any oils, tea tree oil, surgical spirit, tcp, Dettol, savlon etc, anything like that will clog up the hole or kill off the new skin cells that are forming.
Best thing to do is not sleep on it and not touch it. You shouldn't get a 'scab' on it but the lymph should dry to a crust around the jewellery. this is a good sign, it means the piercing is healing inside. If you are moving the jewellery you could be pushing bits of dried lymph into the piercing which will irritate it alot.
It's cartilage though so it can be quite tender for 10 days or so after piercing. I generally advise cleaning twice a day, morning and night. Any more than that can irritate the piercing. Avoid hair products and the such getting on it and keep your hair away from it.
I hope this helps.

MizzLolly

Try not to panic. You should be fine. It's still early days so a lil discomfort is normal. Cartilage piercings tend to take longer to heal. Mine hurt like HELL for a few days but settled down after a while. Try cooled down water that has been bolied and try not to touch it. Also if you have long hair keep it tied back, it bloody hurts when u don't!!

Knee-Vee

Purple Person wrote: »

Hi, I'm a piercer at wildcat, Just thought I should let you know that yes, it does make a big difference if you use table salt instead of sea salt. Table salt is bleached and treated with chemicals to make it bright white, sea salt is a natural untreated salt. If you use table salt you will essentially give yourself salt burns.
Don't use any oils, tea tree oil, surgical spirit, tcp, Dettol, savlon etc, anything like that will clog up the hole or kill off the new skin cells that are forming.
Best thing to do is not sleep on it and not touch it. You shouldn't get a 'scab' on it but the lymph should dry to a crust around the jewellery. this is a good sign, it means the piercing is healing inside. If you are moving the jewellery you could be pushing bits of dried lymph into the piercing which will irritate it alot.
It's cartilage though so it can be quite tender for 10 days or so after piercing. I generally advise cleaning twice a day, morning and night. Any more than that can irritate the piercing. Avoid hair products and the such getting on it and keep your hair away from it.
I hope this helps.

Thanks a million! It has been a lot better these last few days, and it moved easily when I was cleaning it this evening (with table salt, got some yesterday)

There has been a crust every time I've gone to clean it, and I've been soaking that with a cotton ball and then using a cotton bud also dipped in the salt water to wipe off the softened crust. Is that ok?

SplashBack

Knee-Vee wrote: »

Thanks a million! It has been a lot better these last few days, and it moved easily when I was cleaning it this evening (with table salt, got some yesterday)

There has been a crust every time I've gone to clean it, and I've been soaking that with a cotton ball and then using a cotton bud also dipped in the salt water to wipe off the softened crust. Is that ok?

That should be ok but don't rub too hard, let the solution penetrate and soften the crust so it comes away easily. Oh and I hope you meant sea salt?

Purple Person

Yeah I hope you mean Sea salt too!
The warm sea salt solution should help to ease the lymph off easier if it's dabbed on with a cotton bud first and then removed once it has softened up a little with a seperate cotton bud. I always use cotton buds but thats because I find the fibres from cotton wool balls etc get wrapped around the jewellery and then get stuck around the jewellery and new lymph forming gets all caked up and manky with the fibres in it.:)
If you have any further problems pop up to me in Wildcat, top floor of St Stephens green.

Knee-Vee

Yes, I mean sea salt!

It's now only the tiniest bit sore (just when I clean it) and a little swollen around the back of my ear, but I think that's going to be gone soon as it's been getting smaller every day. Been as gentle as I can with it though, because the swelling and the burning and pain was so very scary.

I didn't realise that table salt was bleached! I'm not even putting that in my food any more after hearing that!

DragonflyFeri

I just got a piercing not even a week old and I think I slept on it wrong/too long, now it's suuuuper tender and red. I keep turning it hoping to dislodge any crusts that might have formed, but I haven't had any crusts at all. I don't know if this is a cause for concern...It's not my first piercing in the outer most part of my ear either. I've got two there one right above the other and the top one doesn't bother me at all but the second one is tender.

It might have also been due to the hairdresser who kept tugging on it the other day which really irritated it at the time but after a few hours it was fine,then the next day it was a little tender and red, and now it's suuuuper tender and I know I shouldn't sleep on it or touch it too much, so all I've been doing is turning it. I also had a two hour intensive dance class and I was aware of it throughout most of the class and that NEVER happens, no matter how painful something is. I usually throw in all my focus and concentration into it so for me to be aware of the throbbing and inflammation should say something.

But I'm also thinking it might be due to the previous piercing I had in that area more than a year ago, almost a year and a half now, I had it done and had no problems with it until I changed earrings and it got infected (god knows how, I soaked it in alcohol and let it air dry before using it) and had to take it out due to the milky green pus that had leaked from it and to make matters worse, but the time my doctor said I could put it back in, it was healed...that was epically disappointing...but there isn't any bumps or any scar tissue (which I didn't want which was why I waited a year and half) when I got it repierced.

I know I wrote a lot, but I'm kind of worried because I don't want to get it done AGAIN. Speaking of which I was kinda jumpy when I got it done again, perhaps because I was worried about infections, but I didn't move too much and all had gone well...and the funny thing is all this happens to the lower piercing not the higher one...

Star Lord

Could be anything irritating it, even your hair or anything you use in/on your hair.

Stick to sea-salt soaks and see if that helps

Chuchoter

I got my helix pierced back in February and its still sore to touch and sleep on. I got it done with a gun (stupid, I know). Will it eventually stop being sore?

t4k30

Dude you have an ear infection. Simple as.... You have all the symptoms. Use (dilute) Detol and hopefully it'll stop the infection locally. If its already gotten into your system and is bad you'll probably have to see a doctor. A small course of anti biotocs will do the trick !