Infected piercing

Hey there A few months ago I got a cartilage piercing on my ear. Everything was fine until a few days ago when it became badly infected. I had to take the earring out. The swelling has gone down and the hole has scabbed over but every once in a while it itches and throbs. I was wondering if you guys could give me an idea of what I could put on it or take to stop this.

Thanks in advance!

The itching is a sign of healing and the throbbing is increased blood to the area that is trying to fight your inflammation. Sometimes a simple soak in peroxide will help this a lot, as will warm epsom salt soaks....just saturate a cloth or paper towel in the epsom solution and hold to the site 2-3 times a day. New thinking is that peroxide only irritates a wound bed and slows healing, so you wouldn't really have to apply the peroxide more than once and then follow with the epsom.

In between the epsom soaks, you could also apply a cool cloth that may help soothe the throbbing and the heat.

Neosporin with pain relief is nicely numbing.

do not use neosporin. that's the #1 mistake that people make with piercings - but a piercing is a puncture wound, and neosporin will trap bad things in the puncture.

call your piercer who did it for you, they should be able to tell you exactly how to care for an infected cartilage piercing... unless you got it done with a piercing gun at the mall? then i'd recommend calling a doctor... i'm honestly not sure what the best treatment for a cartilage infection is.

I never put any medication, per se, on a piercing. Just used Betadine surgical scrub to keep them clean.

I've always cleaned mine with just peroxide if they got infected. Several times a day I'd flush it with peroxide, clean the post then soak it and the back in peroxide as well before putting it back in. I always found it to heal better with a stainless steel or gold post in.

I have a cartridge piercing on my left ear that was done by an actual piercer, and I am lazy, and mine did get infected. What actually cured mine was an accident - the ring and bead that I originally had in my ear got bent trying to get it out of my ear one day and I couldn't put it back in because the bead wouldn't stay and I had to buy a new one. The infection almost cleared up on its own when I put the new metal in my ear. So I would HIGHLY recommend changing the metal and cleaning the ear in the process. Don't use peroxide (I find that stuff BURNS me!!!!!!) or neosporin. Simply cleaning with Epsom salt should be just fine, maybe twice daily with a solution of warm water and epsoms. If you mix up a bottle in advance, then you can simply warm it take a rag or something small and place it around the top of your ear. Now that I've had my piercing for several years, it doesn't get infected anymore. If I sleep on it wrong sometimes it will hurt a bit when I wake up in the morning, but other than that it is quite fine. I never did get the other side done, and I am reluctant because that is my "phone" ear!! Maybe someday....
Good luck, I hope it heals quickly.

I have several facial piecings, three in my tongue, guages in my ears, etc....

--Peroxide is to sterilize and prep and area. Not for cleaning regularly. More for sterilizing new jewelry, that sort of thing...
--Neosporin, it does help with immediate problems, depends on what "camp" you're in. It's petroleum based, I don't fancy petrol being absorbed through my skin...
--Epsom salts, BIG WINNER!! Boil water for 20 minutes to sterilize, stir in appropriate amount of salt, flush/soak wound repeatedly with warm solution. If you can find a way to tip your ear into a cup of this solution, it draws infection out.

By the sounds of it, you had your cartillidge done with a gun and post earring?? If that is the case, imagine putting a nail on a pane of glass and then hammering through it. Your cartillidge shatters just like the glass. Then your body has to heal all those little cracks. It takes A LOT of time... some people just have a worse experience than others. Gentle cleaning with soap and water, and soaking it in epsom salts at least once a day is a good course of action. Light application of neosporin during the day between cleaning. And DONT touch it all the time! Your hands are covered with the normal filth of the day, scrub your hands before touching it. If you're able to get an earring in it, put a captive bead ring, or a horseshoe. Something that will not restrict the swelling. Some piercings can take MONTHS to settle down!

If you're cleaning and not picking, and you see continued swelling... or if you see not just the area right around the piercing, but more of your body (ear I assume) like your whole ear and part of your face turning bright red... it might be time to cry uncle and go to a doctor. Antibiotics do wonders for infection!

MetalSmitten said:

do not use neosporin. that's the #1 mistake that people make with piercings - but a piercing is a puncture wound, and neosporin will trap bad things in the puncture.

Click to expand...

Actually THAT is a myth. You CAN use antibiotic ointments on the punctures. It'll still drain just fine. It'll help kill any bacteria and keep the skin around the opening from being overly irritated by drainage. Of course, the inflammation will still occur (inflammation is technically a good thing, it's the body's response to help clear up that infection).
As for the peroxide, you really shouldn't use it to clean it. It can actually damage already irritated skin. Best bet is a flush with normal saline solution (I believe that's 1tsp of salt to 1L of boiled water). Make sure you cool the water before rinsing the ear of course.

There's a lot of good advice here- I'm chiming in to add that I'm a believer in salt water soaks for cleaning and healing.

You mentioned that you took the earring out- are you giving up the piercing all together or are you wanting to heal up the infection and re-insert some jewelry?

I'm worried that it has scabbed over artificially but there is infection trapped inside. I think you should consider soaking the scab off and allowing it to heal from the inside out.