Need help .... infected pierced ear

[lovebeingamom]

We just passed the 7 week mark with newly pierced ears ... AND NO INFECTIONS, until today.

Any advice/suggestions on how to clean/treat the infected ear lobe? TIA!

[MamaMolly]

I think you are supposed to keep the earring in and swap it a couple of times a day with the cleaner. When I had my ears done we were told to use rubbing alcohol but I don't know if that is still the case. I think you can also put antibiotic cream like Neosporin on it to speed up the healing. Hope it clears up soon!

[Andi98989]

I remember having to take my earing out, wipe it down with rubbing alcohol, rub my ear with rubbing alcohol, and putting the earring back in.

[baymom]

DD had the same problem over summer and I made the mistake of removing her earring to clean her ear and then not putting the earring back in right away--I wanted it to 'dry' out. I had to then force her earring in two days later and it bled and was very painful for her. I was advised by the Dr to NOT have it close up and re-pierce it. The Dr. later told me that I should have just put it back in immediately after cleaning or even left the earring in. Take a cotton ball and saturate it with the cleaning solution and squeeze it onto the earring and get it nice and wet. Then, rotate the earring a couple of times. Then, just wait... Hope it get's better soon!

[calv]

depends on the infection. most likely good cleaning and then once it dries a bit add neosporin to it. hopefully it wont get worse {{{{{}}}}}

[lovebeingamom]

Thank you everyone. I just found an article online which says to use the rubbing alcohol and bacitracin on the post and reinsert the earring.

I removed DD earring from the infected ear already, cleaned it out and reinserted earring.

She is still wearing the original earrings which pierced her ears ... does that make a difference I wonder? Since we have passed the 6 week mark, but still have to wear post earrings all the time for the first 6 months, should we look into purchasing a new pair that are NOT the starter set? Thoughts?

[Andi98989]

I wore my starter set pretty exclusively for a long time after I got mine pierced. After that, I wore some simple little gold earrings - hoops, balls, etc.... Quite a while later - and once I was good at taking care of my ears and earrings - I moved on to the "cheap" fun earrings that most kids wear. Once I did that, it became apparent that I had a nickel sensitivity.

[caleymama]

When DDs' earring holes have been infected (infrequently, but it has happened a time or two in one ear or the other), I've always left the earring in and swabbed around it front and back with the original cleaning solution and then applied Neosporin or Bacitracin to the front and back. Knock on wood but we've never had any major issues and it always clears up very quickly. Done the same for myself when it's happened. For myself and now for DD1, since ours have been pierced longer (mine 20 yrs, LOL, and hers almost 2 years), I will take the earring out and re-insert it w/ ointment on the post after cleaning. I do make sure to put it back in right away, though.

[lovebeingamom]

I wore my starter set pretty exclusively for a long time after I got mine pierced. After that, I wore some simple little gold earrings - hoops, balls, etc.... Quite a while later - and once I was good at taking care of my ears and earrings - I moved on to the "cheap" fun earrings that most kids wear. Once I did that, it became apparent that I had a nickel sensitivity.

Which is exactly what I am afraid of.

DH and I thought she could wear the starter set for some time. They should be ok removing to treat for the infection and put back in, right?

I think when we do decide to move on from starter earrings - we will continue with the 14k white gold posts - just in case. I too am thinking just simple gold/white gold balls ... no hoops for a while, and definitely not the *fun* earrings for some time to come!

What about the sterling silver posts? Are those hypoallergenic???

[lovebeingamom]

When DDs' earring holes have been infected (infrequently, but it has happened a time or two in one ear or the other), I've always left the earring in and swabbed around it front and back with the original cleaning solution and then applied Neosporin or Bacitracin to the front and back. Knock on wood but we've never had any major issues and it always clears up very quickly. Done the same for myself when it's happened. For myself and now for DD1, since ours have been pierced longer (mine 20 yrs, LOL, and hers almost 2 years), I will take the earring out and re-insert it w/ ointment on the post after cleaning. I do make sure to put it back in right away, though.

So Caleymama ... is DD1 still wearing her original starter earrings from 2 years ago?

Also we have finished using the original cleaning solution that we received when DD got her ears pierced. Therefore, I am wondering if I should use the same procedure using rubbing alcohol this time?????

[Tondi G]

Which is exactly what I am afraid of.

DH and I thought she could wear the starter set for some time. They should be ok removing to treat for the infection and put back in, right?

I think when we do decide to move on from starter earrings - we will continue with the 14k white gold posts - just in case. I too am thinking just simple gold/white gold balls ... no hoops for a while, and definitely not the *fun* earrings for some time to come!

What about the sterling silver posts? Are those hypoallergenic???

Sterling silver is not hypoallergenic. Surgical steel or gold are your best bet!

[gummibear]

if you don't mind the discomfort, try ginger.

Remove earring, clean area, cut a piece of ginger the size of an earring post. It should be spongey - squeeze it down and insert in hole. Inflammation should die within an hour and stay down.

It hurts, but it works. Insertion itself hurts but the ginger also stings a bit. It stops once it heals.

Source: personal experience. My mum pierced ears in Vietnam, old-school style (sewing needle). My dad forbid her from piercing mine. So I'd get them pierced at the mall (without parental permission), get infected, my dad would make me take them out so they'd close up, and I'd do it again later. And later. And later. And later. I reacted to anything lower than 18k. Only when my mum stepped in the last time did I get over the infection successfully. When DS was born she gave me a nice set of diamond studs that I wear 24/7.

Apparently the best time to pierce a child's ears is within the first few days of a baby's life, because then it's painless.

[gummibear]

Also, be careful about the small ball earrings. One of my piercing attempts involved a set of these. Basically my ear became so swollen the ear absorbed the front of the earring and closed over it. First it was there for me to twist, one car ride nap later it was gone. Several hours later the other ball "fell off" too. I didn't get prompt care cuz we were on a day trip and I didn't really understand what had happened. I thought I just needed help pulling the back off when we got home.

Removing those earrings was more painful than shoving an entire root of ginger somewhere unpleasant. There were army pliars involved.

I highly recommend sticking with earrings with a large front, especially if infection's a concern.

Clean the area well - the Chinese believe keloids (which often occur on the ears) arise from bacterial or fungal infections.

[caleymama]

So Caleymama ... is DD1 still wearing her original starter earrings from 2 years ago?

No, she has several different pairs of gold studs and one pair of small gold hoops. No issues changing between the original pair and those pairs. She can wear sterling silver now (only recently have we tried it) but like I said, it's been almost 2 years. We just put a new pair (gold) in DD2's ears and so far so good.


Also we have finished using the original cleaning solution that we received when DD got her ears pierced. Therefore, I am wondering if I should use the same procedure using rubbing alcohol this time?????

The solution we have is Benzalkonium Chloride, but to be honest I cleaned DD2's ears pretty infrequently. We did 2x a day at first, but after maybe 2 weeks we were lucky to remember 2x a week. We did make sure she twisted them a couple times a day all along, though. Not sure how rubbing alcohol would compare. Plain warm water on a q-tip works pretty well and is soothing, followed by some ointment.

[dcmom2b3]

Also, be careful about the small ball earrings. One of my piercing attempts involved a set of these. Basically my ear became so swollen the ear absorbed the front of the earring and closed over it. First it was there for me to twist, one car ride nap later it was gone. Several hours later the other ball "fell off" too. I didn't get prompt care cuz we were on a day trip and I didn't really understand what had happened. I thought I just needed help pulling the back off when we got home.

Removing those earrings was more painful than shoving an entire root of ginger somewhere unpleasant. There were army pliars involved.

I highly recommend sticking with earrings with a large front, especially if infection's a concern.

Clean the area well - the Chinese believe keloids (which often occur on the ears) arise from bacterial or fungal infections.

:yeahthat:

The disappearing earring happened to me too, but with a small star-shaped earring. The resulting keloid had to be surgically excised (twice), and now my right ear lobe looks like something you'd see on an girl gang member who'd lost an earring-snatching fight.

Though rubbing alcohol seems to be the universal suggestion, I'd consider hydrogen peroxide to clean the ear, thinking that the bubbles would dig out more of the junk?