Infected piercing

[FranklinStreetWest]

I wouldn't use table salt for wound cleaning, gargling and nasal cleaning pots are fine with table salt... Manufacturers add silica based anti-caking agents to salt as well as iodine. Epsom salt is actually a different compound than table salt with different properties. It is Magnesium sulfate, which is absorbed by a wound and aids in reducing inflamation. It is also important to use water that has been sterilized. To do that you just boil it.

 

[hqueen13]

I should edit to add that the infection that I was dealing with was OLD, I had the piercing for a VERY long time at that point, and when I put the new metal in it, it completed the healing process. I know they recommend not changing the piercing for a certain amount of time to let the body area stabilize, but after that I really do strongly suggest changing the metal completely. Peroxide IS good to clean the jewelry while it isn't in your ear. I often pour peroxide in the cap of the bottle and then just drop the jewelry in and let it sit til it quits bubbling.
I also experienced the same thing with my belly piercing. Low level of irritation until one day my jewelry broke (again capture bead issue) and so I had to go out and get something new, and the mild irritation went away after I put the new jewelry in. (course that had to happen while I was in BFE Colorado, had to drive more than an hour to find a shop that sold jewelry!!)

 

[Beekissed]

The OP has never returned to this thread, so I think we are speaking to the air right now....but could be it could help someone with a similar problem.

 

[stacy0202]

Hi. I am new to the forum. I have been browsing your forum entries and I found them knowledgeable. I hope I can be able to join your conversation as often as possible. That is during my free time. Thanks.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I am a nurse, but unless I'm taking care of a sterile site or surgical site, I'm afraid I'm not so very careful. I don't sterilize anything. I love using salt water on wounds and if table salt is all I have, I can assure you, I have healed a lot with it. I might also admit that I have only once used sterile nipples and that was only because they were 'sterile' before the baby was in the house, but never once did it after for all 5 kids. I'm not much for piercings anyway, although my DD has a few......I have used triple antibiotic on a piercing, but it was on the post, so the med was really in the piercing also. I can understand if someone wanted to heal something from the inside out and therefore not want to apply an antibiotic ointment to the outside of an infection, while the inside is still yucky. If there is a reason not to use neosporin on a piercing that has become infected, I'd like to know the medical rational. In nursing, we often have pins sticking out of people that need to be treated in some very not nice places.