Questions About Newly Pierced Ears

Hello,

My daughter had her ears prieced and this happened to her. We ended up having to let her ears heal up. Finally this year we took her and my 3 year old and had them done again. I knew this was going to happen again. We left are earings in for a total of 9 weeks before changing them. During that time we inoccured two puffy bleedy days. We used rubbing alcohol twice a day. We cleaned our ears after every shower because soaps can irratate the healing process. We also made sure to keep our dirty hands away from them as well as hair. When we finally changed earing we went to nickle free hypoalerginic (spelling) we clean every set with rubbing alcohol and they have to leave there earings in for a total of 3 days because if they keep switching they get puffy and red again. I know the same thing happened to me as a kid and now at 30 I still have a hard time wearing earings because they hurt my ears. Also remeber that some piercings can reject and here are some of those signs

Enlargement of the openings of the piercing, along with some redness.

Discharge of a clear fluid.

Itching and rash. This can be caused by the cleaning agents you are using, before panicking, change the cleaning agent and see if there is an improvement.

Take her back to wear she had them done and have them looked at. If all else fails taken them out then have them pierced again with a diffrent type of earing. So far every one that has theres done that used nickle free when pierced came out good... Check out this web page..

http://www.precisionbodyarts.com/piercingaftercare.htm

Switch her to surgical steel or titanium. Gold has a really high rate of allergic reactiona. As long as she is cleaning them two to three times a day it should heal within a few days and be fine.
For your ears, you may have developed an allergy to whatever metal you are using as well. Try someting different and make sure the post metal is the same as the back. That can make a difference.

I just read an article on this the other day. Were her original posts stainless or surgical steel? That's what is recommended for a first piercing. I know that if I wear cheap earrings or gold I get an infection in my ears. Is the solution she's using to clean them expired? If it is, then that could be a problem too. The article recommended using hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol twice a day and rotating the studs at the same time. The biggest thing is to make sure hands are clean when touching the earrings. I used to play with mine ALL the time and they were constantly infected. Once I stopped messing with them, they healed pretty quickly. Also make sure that she's wearing studs and not hoops or anything dangly. I found the article in the January issue of Parents magazine.

Try earing made of nylon...they are like the colored plastic ones. My sister can't have anything in her ears unless its 24K + or the nylon earrings otherwise her ears swell up and turn really red (she's had her ears pierced for close to 21 years now and it still happens). Hope that helps. I also happened to see someone mentioned Peroxide...that can have a bad reaction with the metal in the earrings...so I would say not to do that.

I had many body piercings in college so I learned a lot about getting things to heal well. First, the advice that they give you in those earring shops to put rubbing alcohol on isn't very good. It really irritates your skin and can dry it out.

A much better idea is to wash off any "crusties" in warm water and very gentle soap (I really liked the "Natures Gate peppermint and tea tree oil antibacterial soap for this) and then put some antibiotic ointment (like neosporin or whatever) on the post of the earring. Twist it and move it around to get it inside the hole. I would do this twice a day (morning, night)

Avoid moving and playing with the earring until after it's been cleaned as the crusties can get pushed back inside the hole and they can cause an infection. It should be better within a week or two, but you'll want to avoid removing the earrings for at least a month.

This trick works for "neglected" pierced ears too. If you haven't worn earrings in a long time and you really shove them through, put a little antibiotic ointment on them before you push them through - it helps lubricate the holes and helps things heal. Again, wash any crusties off 2x/day and make sure in this case you leave a good comfy pair of earrings in for a few days for everything to heal.

I agree with the suggestions of the other moms. I just wanted to add that you should pay attention to the metal you're using for your earings. My sisters both have the same reaction if they wear less than 14 carat gold in their ears. My mother-in-law can only wear platinum. I seem to only react if I wear really cheap earings (like the $2.00 earrings from Claire's). Try some gold or silver earrings (with the same metal in the post) for a week and see if that helps.

Hi -
My daughter got her ears pierced over two years ago, and they were infected/pussy the whole time. We tried everything from different kinds of metals to changing daily to not changing for a month at a time, to cleaning and rotating daily to leaving completely alone for a long time. Nothing seemed to work. I was hesitant to get her "dangly" earrings because I was afraid they would get hooked or caught and cause more pain and irritation. But she really wanted some and we had a formal event coming up so I finally broke down an got a pair that are just a single "diamond" hanging off of a hook (not a stud). I had intended to only let her wear them for the event, but one day was a busy as the next and we just never got around to changing them. But when I finally wanted to change them, I noticed that they weren't infected anymore. It has been several months and they are still fine. This surprises me a little because they were just a cheap (like $5) pair (although I'm pretty sure they were hypo-allergenic). But I wonder if they are better because they don't trap the moisture like a stud backing, but instead let the "wound" be exposed to the air. Anyway - I don't really know how or why, but after 2 long years we accidentally stumbled on this cure that seems to have worked for us.
Good Luck!!!
P.S. If you are going to leave this type of earring in for a long time, don't forget to put the little rubber stoppers on the back ends to keep them from falling out (my daughter's holes tended to "close up" instantly if there wasn't an earring in them).

The best earrings for newly pierced ears are surgical steel post, infact I was just reading a article today in the new Parents magazine. Some people heal different than others, she may have to leave the starter ones in longer.

She should see a doctor. Do you have a plain pair of studs? Your ears may just need a rest and something gold or silver and small, not heavy, should help.