A focus on daith piercing healing, time taken, the pain level, any infections, the aftercare as well as the pictures.
daith piercing picture
Daith Piercing Healing Time
A daith piercing is a body part that is located just above the tragus and the piercings always appears very similar. It is a piercing through a very thick section of cartilage that does make the piercing itself appear to be much more dramatic. But the fact is, there is minimal or even no pain with these piercings, and the aesthetic reward is certainly worth any discomfort.
The daith piercing healing process may be a bit longer and very complicated than most other piercings. Daith piercings are magnet for dirt and germs that are around us. And it also needs more attention just because it is a larger wound than a thin cartilage piercing. It is imperative that you might keep it clean and strictly follow the doctor’s aftercare instructions.
As with all ear piercings, it is also recommend that an individual avoids contact with makeup, hairspray, and perfumes; you should also change the pillowcase every other day and cleanse the ear after talking on the phone or wearing earphones, earmuffs, etc. for a faster daith piercing healing.
As with all cartilage piercings, in a perfect world it should only take about 6 weeks to heal, but most of the people encounter some kind of problem(s) along the way. Those setbacks make most cartilage piercings actually take 3-6 months to finally heal completely. It just takes persistence and patience to get to that point. Don’t give up if you experience any problems – they’ll eventually disappear.
Before deciding to pierce the upper portion of your ear, familiarize yourself with the health risks associated with cartilage ear piercings.
Daith Pain Level
Cartilage piercings are very much painful. You may experience a throbbing pain once the needle is taken out, but after a while the pain reduces during daith piercing healing. It is very normal for a newly pierced cartilage to bleed. So, do not panic as such will be handled well by the piercing professional.
Daith Piercing Infection
The signs of inflammation will be available with perichondritis during the daith piercing healing process. A painful and red ear is the most common symptom of an ear infection, according to the doctors.
Pain will happen in the cartilage portion of the ear. The redness surrounds the area where the injury has happened. Ear lobe swelling might occur with an infection of the ear cartilage.
Accumulation of dirt around the fresh piercing can lead to infection and other complications. Therefore, keeping the pierced area clean is very essential to ensure a normal healing.
Although a new piercing can lead to redness, soreness and swelling, take medical help if it becomes severely infected. If you experience irritation and pus discharge near the pierced region, then there is a possibility of a jewelry rejection. It might be better if you get the jewelry extracted by a professional piercer before the piercing migrates.
infected daith piercing
Pus might collect between the cartilage and even surrounding perichondrium with a severe infection. This pus collection might sometimes result in the death of the cartilage. This occurs as the cartilage receives its blood supply and nutrition from the perichondrium. This might lead to a deformed ear. An untreated severe infection of the ear cartilage might change the shape of the ear and thus result in cauliflower-shaped deformity of the ear.
Severe cases of ear cartilage infection can result in fever, discharge that is seeping from the wound and even itching of the ear. A severe ear cartilage infection can also lead to crusts in the affected area and pus like discharge. The infection from the ear might spread to soft tissues of the face and neck, according to University of Texas Medical School. If you have any of the above symptoms of ear cartilage infection, then you should seek immediate medical attention so as to prevent complications during the daith piercing healing process.
Keloids are the large, puffy scars that can form when the skin is very thin and scars rather than healing. Especially after a very bad infection, keloids may appear on the top portion of the ear as a result of piercing. Cortisone injections, pressure dressing and the laser therapy might assist to smooth out the skin, but it may leave the ear scarred after cartilage piercing.
In some other piercees, keloids are a known hereditary medical condition. Piercees that affects close family members, such as parents or even siblings, with keloids are most likely to keloid in connection with ear cartilage piercing.
Piercing the ear cartilage, no matter the method, results to the keloids around, inside or even outside of the piercing location. Receiving a piercing that has a sterilized needle from a professional body piercer that provides a thorough aftercare guidelines brings down the possibility of keloid formation.
The piercee, by following aftercare guidelines in addition to the professional procedure, can prevent or even slow the formation of a keloid, yet this varies from a person to another. Piercing guns and the unprofessional tools can lead to additional trauma to the cartilage and the lack of aftercare can aid in the growth of a keloid. Keloids form mostly at the back of the ear piercing, as this is where the piercing causes the most trauma to the skin.
Daith Piercing Jewelry
daith piercing jewelry
Captive bead rings are the ideal ones during the healing process as they can fit comfortably on the piercing. You may also opt for the curved barbells that take less space. Large gauge jewelry can also be tried out only after the pierced area heals completely.
Jewelry size and gauge requires to be determined by the piercer, and it will entirely depend on the size and thickness of the cartilage. Proper sizing is very important, especially with the cartilage piercings, as it’s so easy to damage the cartilage and then permanently disfigure the ear if it’s not done right.
Types of Ear Piercings
If you’re interested in getting the ear piercing but want to understand what types of ear piercings are found before you take the plunge, you have at least thirteen options. Some ear piercings may be performed in multiples on each ear, too, making the ears one of the most pierceable parts of your body.
The types of ear piercings you may choose from can be broken down into the earlobe piercings and the cartilage piercings. Earlobe piercings are standard earlobe piercings, transverse lobe piercings as well as orbital piercings, all of which might be placed anywhere around the rim of the earlobe. Transverse earlobe piercings are the surface piercings that normally go through the earlobe at an angle and come out the same side rather than going straight through the front and out the back side of the earlobe.
Since they’re much surfaced piercings in an area that has little surface space, transverse earlobe piercings can be very risky. They’re prone to the migration and even rejection, which might leave you with unsightly scars. Orbital piercings are very much safer, as they’re actually two separate standard earlobe piercings that are placed closely together with a ring connecting them to make it look like the ring is orbiting the earlobe.
As for cartilage piercings, you have a lot of options: you may choose from the anti-tragus and tragus piercings, single or even multiple forward and standard helix piercings, daith piercings, industrial piercings, rook piercings, and the snug piercings.
Daith Piercing Aftercare
There are several number of things that you should and shouldn’t do during the daith piercing healing process, no matter the type of ear piercing that you get. Use the guidelines as indicated as a supplement to any ear piercing aftercare instructions the piercer provides. If you follow these the guidelines and the piercer’s instructions and clean the ear piercing(s) regularly, you may expect new earlobe piercings to heal within a period of 4-8 weeks or a new daith piercing healing takes about 3-12 months, depending on the type of cartilage piercing you get and whether or not you have any ear piercing problems along the way.
daith piercing bump
- Soak a cotton ball in a warm salt water and then gently press against the piercing
- Apply a mild soap so as to clean the piercing and jewelry while bathing
- Dry the pierced area by gently patting using a disposable paper towel
- Do not allow the ear wax to accumulate in the ear canal
- Be very careful when putting on the scarves and hats to avoid any friction
- Change the bedding regularly
- Avoid wearing of the headphones and the ear buds
- Protect the piercing when you apply shampoos, skin lotions, and perfumes
- Avoid any physical activities that can lead to undue stress on the piercing
There are two ways that can be used to clean a new piercing. A lot of piercers might recommend saline solution that is saltwater. Our bodies are made up of salt and water, so contact solution and things like that are all made of saltwater. If you’re going to apply this method, then use a paper towel or something that is non-fibrous—not a Q-tip or a cotton ball—and saturate that with the saline so it’s nice and wet and then use it like a sloppy compress over the piercing.
There are also a number of sprays out there to assist in daith piercing healing. Sometimes they’re meant for the wound washes, so the spray is a little bit stronger, but every once in a while you might find one that sprays in a nice mist that is good for the inside of the ear—it’s much easier to get in there. It is recommended sticking a little something down inside the ear so that the spray doesn’t go into the earhole.
It doesn’t really matter what brand of the soap as long as there’s no alcohol and or perfumes that is in it. Soap and water has worked for a number of years, and it will still work as required. You don’t want to apply alcohol or peroxide because, while they both clean, they take away the moisture out as well which will cause more scarring. The idea with the soap and water is that it cleans the wound, but it also leaves some moisture in it.
You want to clean the piercing twice a day. Generally, the more you leave it alone the better off it is. And don’t try to fiddle with it. A lot of people think that their skin may fuse to the jewelry, but it won’t. If it’s wet it’s okay to rotate it, but if it’s dry then that will break the scab and lead to bleeding, which creates another open wound so it can just take longer to heal.
The body’s job is to get rid of any foreign object, so if you make a hole and put a foreign object in there, the body can immediately go to work trying to get rid of it. The area then swells, which is basically the body’s way of trying to force the object out of there.
Usually we do the piercings thick enough and deep enough so as to force the body into just accepting the fact that the piercing needs to stay there, and the skin will just heal around it instead of getting rid of it. It’s also very crucial to remember is that there is no miracle cure.
A lot of people think that when they get pierced, and they know that that’s it. The healing process involves keeping the area clean and time as it is the most important thing. If you’re not a patient person then piercings are not for you.
Alternatively, you can also prepare homemade sea salt solution to use for the full soaks. You’ll require sterile water, quality sea salt like the Recovery Aftercare Sea Salt from the Dead Sea, and tea tree oil, if desired.
You can also sterilize tap water by boiling it for about five minutes, or you can buy sterile water. You can also purchase Recovery Aftercare Sea Salt and Tea Tree Oil Combo Packs to save money on both of the ingredients, if you plan to utilize both. Once you have the ingredients gathered up, then measure out one cup of sterile water, stir in about 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt, and mix in 2-3 drops of tea tree oil, as desired.
To soak a cartilage piercing, saturate the cotton balls in the solution and then apply them to then ear piercing one-at-a-time until you’ve soaked the piercing for about five minutes. If you’ve just gotten an earlobe piercing, you may fill a shot glass or other small container using sea salt solution, hold it up to the earlobe, and let the whole lobe soak in the solution for about five minutes instead of using cotton balls.
If it will make it easier for you to keep up with the twice-a-day soaks, you can make up larger batches of sea salt solution and store it in a sealed container for easy use whenever you require it.
What You Should Not Do during daith piercing healing
- Don’t Thin the Blood. Aspirin, alcohol and any excessive amounts of caffeine are all blood thinners, so you should ensure that you avoid them the day you get pierced. New piercings of all varieties might be prone to occasional bleeding during the early days of the healing process, which is why it’s very crucial to continue avoiding them during the first week or two of the ear piercing healing process.
If you require to take a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug for the swelling or pain, consider using acetaminophen instead of aspirin or ibuprofen. Although ibuprofen isn’t a blood thinner like the aspirin, it can lead to excess bruising.
- Don’t Traumatize The Ear Piercing(s). You have to be very careful when washing, brushing and fixing the hair on a daily basis even after getting an ear piercing, as you could traumatize the piercing with a misplaced hand or brush. Avoid playing with the jewelry and letting other people touch the piercings, too. If you have to touch the ear piercing, only do so using a freshly washed and gloved hands. Don’t ever twist, turn or slide the earrings to break up the crusties, as you could push bacteria into the fistula and lead to an infection so as to develop. If a build-up of crusties freezes the jewelry in place or irritates you in another way, soak the ear with piercing aftercare spray so as to soften the crusties, and then gently wipe them away using a clean tissue.
- Avoid Bacteria. Bacteria is everywhere, so it can’t be avoided entirely during daith piercing healing. But, you can minimize the chances of developing an ear piercing infection by not allowing others to touch the ear piercing(s), avoiding touching of the piercing(s) yourself except using clean or gloved hands, avoiding swimming pools, hot tubs and any other communal water
- Don’t Soap up or Clog up Your Ear Piercings. As mentioned, some soaps is very harmful for the daith piercing healing. It may dry out the skin and make you more susceptible for developing a piercing infection. Likewise, the hair spray, gel and other hair products and even oils, creams, balms, and the ointments are all very risky things to use to a healing ear piercing. These things can clog the fistula, trapping in the bacteria and then potentially triggering an infection to develop. Shield the ear piercing when applying the hair spray and other hair products. If the skin around the piercing gets overly dry, you might add tea tree oil to the sea salt solution soaks to take advantage of the natural moisturizing and antiseptic properties.
- Don’t Change Your Earrings Prematurely. With earlobe piercings, you may usually comfortably change the earrings yourself for the first time eight weeks after getting pierced. With the cartilage piercings, you should then wait for between six and twelve months before trying to change the jewelry. The longer you wait, the better off you’ll be, as the fistula will still be young and tender at the end of the healing process, making it harder for you to change earrings at first.
