Ear Piercing Care, Aftercare, Infection, Solution, Swimming, Cartilage, Tragus

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A critical look into ear piercing care, aftercare, infection, solution, swimming, cartilage, tragus, types and for babies.

Ear Piercing after Care

After you get the ears pierced, it’s very much vital that you take care of them very well, so they fully heal before you begin to wear the dangling earrings that you have waiting in the jewelry box. If the ears are infected, do not do away with the jewelry as it can trap the infection that is inside the body.

Learn how to take ear piercing care of the newly pierced ears and also watch for any indications that you might require so as to seek any medical attention.

1. Don’t get rid of the starter earrings until the piercings have fully healed. When you first get the ears pierced, the piercer inserts the starter earrings. These specific earrings are normally made from the hypo-allergenic materials and also very specific type of post designed to be much safe so as to keep in the ears indefinitely. If you do away with them prematurely, the piercings can close or even heal improperly.

1. • If the piercings are found on the earlobes, then the starter earrings may be removed after a period of about six weeks.
   • If the piercings are in the cartilage, then the starter earrings may usually be done away with after about twelve weeks.
2. Don’t touch the ears often. Unnecessary handling of the piercings may cause an infection. Don’t touch unless you’re cleaning them. If there is need to touch them, wash hands using an antibacterial soap first.
3. Be careful with the items that snags the earrings. Hats, and other items that can catch on the earrings is to be worn with a lot of care. Avoid items such as earmuffs that put pressure on the ears.
   • If you put on a veil, then you should choose a fabric that won’t snag much easily. Try to wear the very loose veils, and do not try to wear the same particular veil multiple times without you washing it.
   • Be very much careful when changing clothes, more especially if putting on a fabric that can be easily snagged.
4. Don’t let any other substances touch the ears. Avoid getting the shampoo, and other hair products on the ears, since the ingredients that are found in the products could cause an infection.
   • You can be able to place a plastic sandwich bag over the ears so as to assist protect the piercings while in the shower.
5. Try to sleep on the back. Sleeping with the ear against the pillow is able to irritate the piercings, in addition to being very much painful.
   • If you find that it is very difficult to sleep on the back, then you should make sure that the pillowcase is clean each and every night. Bacteria from the pillowcase can be transmitted to the piercing, which may lead to an infection.
   • You can also make use of a t-shirt trick so as to avoid any infection: cover the pillow using a clean t-shirt and then replace it each night.

Ear Piercing Infection Care

When you get the ears pierced — whether at a tattoo parlor or even a kiosk that is in a mall — you should be able to receive enough instructions on how to prevent any given infection. You should also be able to receive assurance that only the sterile tools as well as the hygienic practices are well used.

But when the protocol isn’t correctly followed, or even if you don’t follow such post-piercing cleaning instructions as required, infection is able to occur. Fortunately, you can treat an ear piercing infection easily and without any noticeable complications.

How Infections Occur

A piercing is an open wound until it fully heals. This normally takes 8 weeks. In the meantime, there are many methods in which the ear piercing can be infected.

Any bacteria that is left to fester is able to quickly turn into an infection.

If you touch the piercing using the dirty hands or even the instruments, you can be able to introduce an infection. If the earrings are on very tightly, not allowing any room for the wound to breathe or heal, an infection might develop. A piercing may also be infected if the post is very much rough or even otherwise leas to an irritation.

Finally, if any unsterile instruments were used, if the piercer didn’t use gloves, or if the posts weren’t sterile, an infection might occur.

What an Infected Ear Piercing Appear Like

Identifying an infected ear piercing is very simple. Indications might include:

• yellow, pus-like discharge
• swelling of the pierced area
• redness of the spot
• ongoing pain or even tenderness
• itching as well as burning

Caring of an Infection at Home

As long as the infection is very minor, you can take care of it at home.

1. Remove the post about 3 times each particular day and clean it using rubbing alcohol.
2. Clean the piercing on both sides, using a cotton ball or even swab so as to dab sterile saline that is on it.
3. Before reinserting of the post, cover it using a small amount of the antibiotic ointment so as to assist the infection heal.

This procedure is to be followed for at least three days after the infection appears to have cleared.

Ear Cartilage Piercing Care

1. As a preventative measure, ask the piercer to use a needle, not a gun. The ‘gun’ normally forces the earring to go through with a lot of pressure, so it leads to a lot of damage to the tissue. It’s also very hard to manage any sterilization of a tool that has plastic parts. With a needle, there is more control of an accuracy, and it’s fully sterile. It works just in a similar manner as a scalpel, thus making a small incision into the tissue, therefore leaving very minimal damage to the particular skin area.
2. For ear piercing care of a fresh cartilage piercing, wash using soap and water or even the saline solution—twice a day. Alcohol usually dries the piercing out. If it gets very much dry, it then cracks and bleeds, leading to the wound to be open. Oil-based soaps for this given reason. They normally clean the wound, but also give oils that can be used by the skin to soften up the healing tissue.
3. You can turn the earring but only when it’s wet.
4. Know that a cartilage piercing will need a bit more care than a lobe piercing. Anything that is found in the cartilage spot is temperamental during the healing process. They usually feel about the same to receive, but can be very difficult to fully heal.
5. Keep an eye out for any indications of healing—and understand how long you may have to wait. Ear lobes normally take about three months for them to heal, and cartilage takes about 10 months. Once it stops the hurting, and also secreting of the fluid, and any given redness disappears, it’s fully healed.
6. And assist things along. It takes a very much patient mentality to assist the piercings heal fully. The body’s job is to do away with any foreign objects, so it’s a little bit of an assistance that you have to do. You must be very much patient and nurse it. Sometimes the simple things are normally the best: Soap as well as the water to clean, and the ice for any swelling. If you take the aftercare seriously, then you’ll much avoid any problems.
7. If your piercing is bothering, don’t panic. If you observe any excessive amount of swelling, redness, or even radiating heat, or if secreting fluid, don’t stress, the piercing is only being irritated and not infected. Any reputable piercer will take a look at the piercing and notice such.

Ear Piercing Care Solution

New piercings are typically to be cleaned at least twice daily (although the frequency also can depend on the skin type, daily activities as well as the environment, and what the piercing that you are trying to heal. You should also continue the cleaning routine for the whole healing period.

Do not over-clean the piercing. Cleaning too normally with a harsh cleaning solution, or even with several types of the cleaning solutions, is able to irritate the piercing. If cleaning the piercing at least twice a day is the suggested, don’t try to assume cleaning it more than that number of times a day.

Healing piercings usually discharge the lymph, blood as well as the blood plasma, and also the dead cells. The purpose in cleaning of the piercing is to get rid of the discharge and also any dirt or even the bacteria that was picked up during the day.

The products that you use on the piercing are not what make it to heal—they only keep the piercing clean while the body heals it. Do not think of the cleaning solution as medicine, as it isn’t. Salt water or saline solutions should be used so as to irrigate the piercing, but it is the action of flushing out the wound which usually assists in the healing, not the saline itself.

Warm Sea Salt Soaks

The best thing you can do for a piercing is keeping a regular regimen of the salt water soaks. These particular flush out the piercing, can assist to draw out the discharge, stimulate the blood circulation, and also be able to soothe irritations. It is strongly suggested that soaking of the piercing at least two times a day—often if healing is much difficult.

Make a soaking solution by mixing of the sea salt and also distilled water. Use pure sea salt and not table salt, which has extra chemicals that might irritate the piercing and also dextrose that can lead to yeast infections.

To use: Make the water to be as warm as you are able to stand it without burning yourself. (You can heat it in the microwave.) Put the made solution in a glass, press the glass against the skin to form a seal, and hold it over the piercing for a period of about five minutes or you can wait until the water cools.

For piercings such as the nostrils, nipples, and some of the male genital piercings the entire body part is supposed to be submerged in the solution. For the genital piercings, a warm bath is also an effective soak—especially for the women.

Sterile Saline Solution

Sterile saline solutions are a much convenient, and also a portable cleaning option. While rinsing usibg the saline solution doesn’t in any way promote an increased blood flow to the affected area the way that a warm soak is able to do, it does give a quick cleaning fix if you’re at work, or even someplace where the soaking isn’t an option.

To use, spray the solution, thoroughly cleansing of the piercing. The jewelry does not require to be rotated and the sterile saline solution does not require to be rinsed off. (Do not dip cotton balls or even the swabs in a saline solution and use it to the skin; you must be able to irrigate the piercing so as to clean it fully.)

Mild Liquid Soap

While the sea salt soaks and the saline rinses are the much preferred aftercare for most of the piercings, soap effectively gets rid of the residue of dirt, skin oils, the cosmetics, and natural discharge that are able to remain after a salt water soak or even the saline rinse.

While some piercers usually recommend the use of antibacterial soap, it has however not been proven to be more effective than any other kinds of soap; it is the exact action of washing which is much more effective in removal of the bacteria, not the soap action itself. Use a natural, fragrance-free as well as dye-free soap.

Stay away from the harsh antibacterial soaps, especially those that have triclosan as they can be too irritating and also become much less effective over a period of time. Lastly, be sure to make use of a liquid soap, as the bar soaps normally collect dirt and also the bacteria that might easily be reapplied to the piercing.

Before you wash the piercing, first wash hands. (Never touch the piercing with the dirty hands. This is normally the easiest way that can lead to an infection.) Lather the soap in hands—do not try to apply the soap directly to the piercing—and then lather the piercing as well as the surrounding area.

Make sure to get rid of any discharge that is on the jewelry. After thoroughly cleaning the piercing and also the jewelry, rinse. (This is normally the easiest to be performed in the shower.) It is not very vital to rotate the jewelry during the cleaning. If cleaning using the soap is very harsh—that is if the skin around the piercing is dry, or even irritated—then you should go back to salt water soaks or the saline rinses.

Ear Piercing Care Swimming

One of the common complications of ear piercing is normally the infection. According to a sample of studies that were conducted at Pace University, about 18% of individuals that have piercings had medical complications, including the bacterial infections, bleeding as well as the trauma that is related to the tissue.

Swimming before the piercing fully heals increases the chance of an infection. Public pools as well as the bodies of water are the breeding grounds for the bacteria. Also, water that has been treated using chemicals is able to damage the jewelry.

Safety regulations advises not to swim, sit in a hot tub or even take hot baths until such a time when the piercing has completely healed. According to the doctors, piercings that are in the ear lobe takes about six to eight weeks so that they fully heal, while the ear cartilage piercings take a period of about 4 months to one year to heal fully. Piercings normally heal on the outside parts first and then follow with healing on the inside parts.

A piercing might appear healed externally when it is actually not. Swimming usually surrounds the head with the bacteria which may lead to an infection by entering the smallest openings that are in the skin.

Individuals might also assume that swimming in a pool of water will not lead to a bacterial infection to enter the newly pierced ear because of the chlorination. According to Centers for Disease Control, chlorine does not get rid of the bacteria and also the germs immediately.

In fact, germs are able to survive in a chlorinated pool for several minutes to also days. Contaminated water is able to enter the body leading to the ear, skin and also the wound infections.

Chlorinated water is able to ruin the earrings as well as other jewelry. Gold or even the silver jewelry should not come be in contact with the bleach products, like the chlorine. The chlorine scratches, and leads to the dullness to the surface of the earrings. According to gemologists and the geologist, you should not wear jewelry in the swimming pool because of the damage chlorine causes to the metals.

Ear Piercing Care for Babies

After the piercing, don’t do away with the earrings for about a period of 6 weeks.

During that particular time, wipe some amount of alcohol around the ear lobe at least two times a day, and twist the earrings at least one time in a day. Don’t try to press on the baby’s ear, as that may be very much painful. After each given bath, dry the area that is around each piercing so that it doesn’t stay damp.

Keep an eye out for any indications of infection. These include pain, inflammation, and also bleeding. If you observe any of the signs, take the earring off, clean it using alcohol, and ask the baby’s doctor whether you should use any given medication.

The doctor might recommend that you use an antibiotic ointment or even a cream to the earlobe and also to the earring before putting it back on. Ask the doctor if you are able to buy the cream over the counter or if you’ll require a prescription.

Call the doctor if the baby runs a fever or even the earlobe gets too red and also swollen.

After about 6 weeks, the ear lobes will have healed and you may now put varied earrings on. Make sure that all the new earrings are made of surgical steel that’s at least 15 karat. Earrings that are made of any other materials, including the gold-plated earrings, may trigger an allergic reaction.

Tragus Piercing Care

The most important factor for a fast healing of the tragus that is pierced is by following the tragus piercing aftercare efficiently. For at least 4 weeks you should take very good ear piercing care of the tragus for the complete healing of the tragus.

But the healing period also depends much on the skin type that may either be very oily or too dry, the immune capabilities of the body system, and the metabolic disorders like diabetes wherein any infection takes a longer period of time to heal.

The tragus piercing skin area must be clean by soaking a clean piece of cotton ball in the disinfectant or even a saline solution and then gently using it in and around the pierced skin spot. The solution must be applied in a way as to allow it to seep into the pierced area.

The tragus piercing jewelry should be twisted gently as required so as to ensure the even distribution of the solution all around the tragus. This cleaning process should be followed twice a day.

Further references;

1. Ear Piercings & Swimming: http://www.livestrong.com/article/478046-ear-piercings-swimming/
2. Piercing your baby’s ears: http://www.babycenter.com/0_piercing-your-babys-ears_10341560.bc
3. How to Care for Newly Pierced Ears: http://www.wikihow.com/Care-for-Newly-Pierced-Ears
4. How to Treat an Infected Ear Piercing: http://www.healthline.com/health/beauty-skin-care/how-to-treat-an-infected-ear-piercing