Pierced Ears Infected

I think I'd try going without earrings at all for about a week. Let the infection heal completely. They won't grow closed in that amount of time. Then try the earrings again.
Also - if you haven't already - clean the posts with alcohol before you put them in her ears. Then dip the post in Neosporin...THEN put them in.

If you start over, and the infections start again, I'd start looking into what else might be causing it. Is her hair brushing/wrapping around the posts that might irritate it? I doubt it at her age...but any makeup? Puffs and sponges carry a lot of bacteria.

See an allergist to see if she's allergic to the metal in the posts. Some people can tolerate nothing but 24 carat gold. You can also try coating the posts with clear nail polish, but my bet is a metal allergy.

Right now my "problem ear" is acting up, because I wore inexpensive earrings. I used to be able to wear anything, but lately I find that I can't just bop into Claire's and grab something fun. During my shower yesterday I put my posts in peroxide and cleaned my ear and today I'm letting it dry out a little bit. When you have puss and gunk, you also need to make sure the backs aren't too close to the ear, too. That can cause problems. Maybe she needs longer posts, too.

I would also have her not touch them. If you put the starter studs in, only touch them for cleaning and turning. Don't touch them any other time or grime from your hands (or hers) will infect the ear. Touch the earrings only with clean hands and make sure that her ears are rinsed well after shampooing her hair.

I also like the suggestion for hoops or french hooks. You can get plastic stoppers to keep hooks on.

Bottom line, though, is if she has a metal allergy she has to avoid those kinds of earrings and maybe not wear them at all.

My daughter had the same issue. This is a miracle!! Take and make a salt water solution, heavy on the salt, but still liquid. Twice a day take a Q-tip and dip it in the salt water and gently rub it on her ears, pulling the scab and puss and whatever else off. Within a couple days the infection will be gone, and her ears will be healed up. Another suggestion is to have her wear small stainless steel hoop earrings, the ones that make a complete circle, that way the back of her ear has room to breathe and heal faster as well. We were able to buy the circle earrings at a place called Hot Topic.

If clipons were causing her ears to scab up before she ever got them pierced, I wold say that she most likely has a severe metal allergy. She may just not be able to wear earrings ever.

I have sensitive skin all the time everywhere on all parts of my body. I always have issues with earrings and I'm 53. I have problems with rings too. This is what I've learned -
I can only wear rings for short periods of time (they come off when I come home). Even 14K bothers me and I will have skin irritation under the rings if I forget and leave them on through the night. For earrings hoops work best since there's nothing pressed up against my skin. I think posts trap moisture and prevent air from circulating.
I can't wear surgical steel or hypoallergenic jewelry / earrings except for short periods of time. Even the 14K post are tough and must come out every night.
Try small 14K hoops which will not have any metal pressed up against her ear / skin . I think that would work.

For me, it means I can't wear the trendy earrings for more than a few hours - but if I'm diligent and take them off as soon as I get home and replace them with my gold of sterling silver hoops it's fine.

Good luck mama!

My ears used to get infected as a kid, but as I got older and got more piercings, I learned a few tricks that stopped the infections totally (and I have 12 holes in my ears).
First, make sure the earrings are clean when put in. I soak mine in peroxide for a minute or two before inserting.
Second, just swapping can irritate the interior tissues. I dip the posts in Neosporin (or something similar) before putting the earring in. It adds antibacterial protection inside and out, plus lubricates the path of the earring causing less irritation.
Finally, I don't touch or change my earrings very often. In fact, I leave most of them in 24/7, sleeping, showering, etc. until they are tarnished (I wear cheap, sterling silver hoops). I only swap earrings in my first holes and only do that for an evening once every couple months.
For right now, wash hands, drop the posts and backs in peroxide, coat the posts and back in Neosporin, put them in clean ears, give them a spin in the ears and LEAVE THEM ALONE for a few days. If they're still hurting, use clean hands on clean ears to put more Neosporin front and back with the earrings still in and give them another spin and wiggle to spread the Neosporin around and inside. Do this until the infection clears up.
Your other option is to take the studs out and let the ears heal with nothing in them. That's what my mom used to make me do. The only thing that really accomplished was to make my ears close a bit, make me have to shove my earrings back through and cause more irritation that lead to another infection.
Good luck!

I agree with Missy F. - neosporin on the earrings before inserting and leave them alone.

The same thing happened to me when I was 11. My ears would not heal and even surgical steel or gold posts were irritating. I had to let the piercing close up. Later as an adult I had my ears pierced again and even though I take excellent care of them they get irritated very easily. I think some people just have extra sensitive ears.

I've had my ears pierced for almost 20 years and they still get infected or irritated very often. Peroxide is the best thing for treating an infection, because it kills the infection but not the healthy skin. Rubbing alcohol can actually damage the healthy skin and the ears take longer to heal.

I have better luck when I rub the posts of my earrings with antibiotic ointment. It creates a tiny barrier between the metal and the skin. I have not yet found a certain brand or material that never irritates my ears. Good luck!

My daughter had her ears pieced end of Sept 2012. The first week of Dec 2012 she was so excited to try a new pair of earrings! She put in a pair of earrings from Claire's. Instant infection. In fact, we eventually discovered that a homeopathic medicine she was taking for her grass pollen allergy had nettles in it--and apparently she's allergic to nettles. So we quit taking that medicine and are working on getting her body cleared of the nettles and her ears healed up. We put her starter earrings back in. I was so excited--her ear holes look like they're finally healed!--when I discovered last night that one of her ears looks like it's getting pussy again. Darn. Her starters will be in for a while yet (like into February, I think).

We use Himalayan pink salt with water morning and evening to help with the healing process. It appears if we forget to do the salt water, then she has issues with infection.

I am going to order her a couple pairs of post earrings made out of either Niobium or Titanium (about $40-$60 a pair). They are 100% pure with absolutely NO ALLOYS or nickel in them. It's going to take a while before she is going to be able to just "wear anything." I told her she might never be able to just "wear anything," that she might be too allergic. However, Niobium and Titanium are recommended for people who are highly sensitive. There are also a few other pure metals (I've done lots and lots of research on this).

One note: never have your daughter wear cheap earrings, and never any earrings from Claire's. Most of the earrings from Claire's are made in China, which doesn't have a good practice of using good quality/pure metals (I'm talking contaminants here).

Your daughter might have a nickel allergy. Or maybe an allergy to something else, like my daughter did (her body was trying to purge her nettle allergy, and that purging was going through the only open-sore spot on her body it could find, which was her newly pierced ears).

Check the Web site called Wear Earrings Again. The owner has tons and tons of information on there for people with earring/jewelry suspectibility/allergy. I found it very useful as I've helped my daughter through her crisis (I am not allergic and have no issues with what type of earrings I wear). The owner of this site states that in helping over 5,000 people she has not--as of yet--ever found anyone who was allergic to 100% Niobium or 100% Titanium. You might need to go that route for your daughter.

Oh. And we were told that when ears are newly pierced that hoops or dangle earrings should not be worn for at least 6 months to allow the ears to get used to the earrings and for the user to get used to the fact that they have earrings. If you do decide to do dangles, you can buy Niobium and Titanium french hoop wires your daughter could wear. She could technically make her own "earrings" by putting a dangle on the french hoop wire. However, that would have to be monitored so that the non-Niobuim/non-Titanium part of the earring doesn't touch her skin (if she is, indeed, very allergic to metals).

Unfortunately, like I told my daughter, until you get your earrings pierced you have no idea if you're going to have any issues with allergies/suspectibilities. My daughter is upset that she can't wear all the cool earrings the girls in school can wear. Right now, though, she's more concerned with just being able to wear earrings period. So we're working on what she will be able to wear.

My daughter's were like this. I finally took all earrings out until the ear looked like it healed. Then we put earrings back in. (If its hard try poking the earring through the back first. Also have her ice her ears before doing so...that will help if you have to kinda force the earring in) Then just make sure you put a clean earring back in.

Also I find that my daughters ears take much better to the dangling earrings than the posts. She can now where posts but sometimes those bother her still. However the dangling ones seem to do much better in her ears.

If it continues to happen though...she may just not be able to do earrings. I can no long wear earrings myself. I used to as a kid, but then eventually they started making me itch and still do every time I try now.

I had this same problem as a kid when I got my ears pierced.
I had to get the re-pierced.
What worked for me, was to only use real gold or silver posts.

Even hypo-allergenic didn't work at first. I left them in longer than they stated to make sure my ears were completely healed. Some ears are just particular.

Stop touching them. Put the original studs in and then leave them alone. The only cleaning should be rinsing with clean water when bathing. That's it. No other care is needed. By constantly touching them with cleaning solution and fingers and cotton swabs or cotton balls you're actually introducing germs. You're doing the opposite of cleaning, especially when you're wiping blood and squeezing. RINSE the blood, RINSE the pus. Let the body expel it on its own.

Since she has an infection that won't go away, call the pediatrician and have her ears looked at. She might need an antibiotic at this point to help clear up the infection.

Poor kiddo! I agree with other about the metal allergy. But I would stop touching them as well. They make a spray Bactine that we used on my daughters ears. We just gently pushed the earring to be able to spray underneath, and make sure it got between the earring and her ear. When we were sure that they were completely healed I let her change them. Make sure she does it with clean hands and that you soak the earrings in alcohol before putting them in.

The other thing was that my daughter kept turning her earrings and somehow she tightens them until they are squeezing her earlobe way too tight. In that case, I wonder if dangly earrings would work better...?

Good luck. My daughter was super nervous about her ears getting pierced too, so I sympathize with it not going well and both of you being bummed about it.