Treating an infected ear piercing

Most of the times ear piercing is a pretty safe procedure, it can also cause infections when it’s not done properly. It’s the reason why you should always work with experts and professionals when dealing with procedures that are involved with the body parts. However, despite all the efforts and safety procedures that are followed to not to get infected, few people end up with getting infections. If you are one of them, don’t panic. Keep the infected site always clean and follow the remedies as prescribed. Soon you can see your infections getting improved.

Recognizing the infection is the very first step for treating any infection. Before telling you how to treat an infected ear piercing, let me tell you how to recognize the infection and the factors that triggers the infection.

Ear piercing breaks the skin and creates the wound. Technically speaking, ear piercing is nothing but an open wound. So having the discomforts like swelling, pain, little redness, itching and feeling of Run down” is completely normal for the first few hours.  However, the wound should become clean, painless and odourless within 48 hours of piercing. It’s the way our immune system works

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF INFECTED EAR PIERCING

•           Swelling around the ear piercing site that constantly gets worse.

•           A thick yellow, green or dark brown pus like discharges coming out of piercing.

•           Redness and/ or tenderness.

•           Itching.

•           Mild Fever (If it’s severe then it’s recommended to see the doctor immediately).

•           Inflammation around the piercing site.

•           Bad odour.

•           Heat and burning sensation at the piercing site.

•           Extreme bleeding.

•           Changing of skin colour, usually it will turn into black.

If you feel any of these symptoms after 2 days of ear piercing, understand it as a call for action. Don’t ignore these signs or wait until the infections start to ooze out. Normally, these infections can easily be treated through home remedies itself. But when it’s not treated at a right time, it may even end up with some serious issues.

CAUSES OF EAR PIERCING INFECTIONS

Ear piercing infections can happen because of several ways. The most prominent ones are listed below:

•           Usage of non sterilized equipments like needles, post and gloves

•           Usage of allergic low quality cheap earrings

•           Usage of non disposable type guns

•           Inexperienced poor handling of the ear

•           Using infected earring

•           Touching the ear piercing site with unclean hands

•           Allergic reactions to certain types of metals

•           Sub merging the fresh piercing with water

•           Sharing the personal items like towel

•           Wearing the tight earrings on a fresh ear piercing

HOW TO TREAT AN INFECTED EAR PIERCING

KEEP THE INFECTED SITE AS CLEAN AS POSSIBLE

Not only for ear piercings but it’s the golden rule for treating any infection. Clean your hands before and after touching the infected site. The infection may get even worse if your hands have any left bacteria.

Wash the piercing site at least twice a day using a cotton ball moistened with antibacterial soap. You can also use saline solution or the anti bacterial solution recommended by your piercing studio when your ears were pierced.

PROVEN HOME REMEDIES TO TREAT THE INFECTED EAR PIERCING

Say no to the treatments involved with peroxide. Using alcohol based sanitizers to clean the infection is perfectly okay. They are great disinfectant but it is not recommended to be used as sole “leave in” remedies. When you hear someone suggesting alcohol and peroxide for treatment, remember that these are bit of a joke from the dermatologists  view. These remedies will dry out your skin and prevent it to the exposure of fresh air. In a nutshell, moist and fresh air is the prominent factors for skin rejuvenation. Use your common sense before going with these remedies.

SALT WATER

As the sea salt is rich in antimicrobial properties, proper cleaning using sea salt will kill the bacteria and germs that are responsible for developing wound infections.

•           Take a cup of water and boil it to 100 Degree Celsius. Mix 2 tbsp of sea salt and stir it   well. Let it cool down to a bearable heat.

•           Avoid using your bare hands to wash the infected piercing site.

ESSENTIAL OILS

Apart from producing the sweet and pleasant aroma, essential oils have the potential to treat the infectious diseases. As the oils like lavender oil, tea tree oil, chamomile oil, Eucalyptus Oil and Oregano Oil are rich in antibacterial, anti infective and antiseptic properties, you can use it as alternative safe remedies to treat the infected wounds, bruises, scraps and burns. You can use any one of these five essential oils to treat the infection. They are 100% safe and effective.

BENZALKONIUM CHLORIDE SOLUTION

Benzalkonium chloride is a well known topical antiseptic solution that is used to prevent the infections. Generally it is prescribed for minor cuts, wounds, inflammation and scrapes.

NEOSPORIN OINTMENT

Neosporin is an effective antibiotic cream that is used in preventing the bacterial infections.  It is widely recommended for treating wounds, burns, inflammation, scratches and minor skin injuries.

If your ear piercing infection does not seem to get improved and it worsens day by day even after 3 days of using the home remedies, instead of waiting for the worse to happen, it’s highly recommended to fix an appointment with your Dermatologists. Ignoring or postponing the professional treatment may even result in the prolong effects that may sustain for months or years.