Getting your ears pierced is almost a right of passage for any young child, especially girls. One thing I couldn’t wait to do was buy as many dangling earrings as possible to use after my ear’s had healed and the earrings in them could be removed. But there is a lot more to ear piercings then just getting those earrings in, it takes work to make sure the piercings heal properly and stay healthy. With this article I will explain the right way to take care of your ears and the consequences of infections from not taking care of the piercings properly.
The ears are the easiest of piercings, they don’t require big needles and lots of bleeding afterward like some piercings do. The studs are usually placed inside a piercing gun and are quickly shot through the bottom of the ear lobes. You can also have your ears pierced by a medical professional using a needle. My mother had this done to her by one of her friends when she was a nurse. While that method is a little outdated, it does still happen in some cases.
I first had my ears pierced when I was 7 years old. My sister and I had to beg our parents for a long time to get the piercings, and as soon as we got them we did not take care of them properly. Somewhere in my 7 year old mind I was under the impression you got the piercing and that was it. That’s not how it goes though, and because of my lack of caring my earrings became embedded in my ear and the skin actually started closing around the earring. The same problem also happened with my sister and we ended up having the earrings removed in an Emergency Room. After this experience my parents forbid us to get our ears pierced again until we realized how important it was to take care of the new piercing. The next time I had my ears pierced was when I was 10, then a second set was added when I was 12 and finally I had my cartilage pierced when I was 17. I’ve been making it a priority to clean my ear’s since, this ensures that I won’t have any infections where my piercings are, especially the cartilage area.
But with the amount of new places in the ear people are coming up with to pierce more and more attention to cleaning and proper care needs to be realized. The ear can be a pretty dirty place and the smallest amount of dirt in a new piercing can lead to a world of pain and trips to the doctors if an infection occurs.
Things to remember after your ears are pierced
You may be tempted to touch the new earrings repeatedly after getting them done, I know I was. Your best bet is to avoid touching them if at all possible but if you must touch them always, ALWAYS remember to wash your hands whether you are touching them for cleaning or just touching them in general. Next try to cleanse the piercing twice a day. Be sure to cleanse after activities such as washing your hair, swimming or exercising. Sweat can collect dirt from other parts of the body and trickle into the piercing.
The place where you get the piercing done at will normally supply you with a small bottle of ear care antiseptic to use for cleaning. Try to remember turn the stud earrings gently when cleaning to prevent any build up of crust. You may notice a milky substance coming out of the hole or you may notice a build up of crust where the hole and the earing meet. Do not worry about this, the crust is just a build up of dead skin cells and the milky substance is white blood cells leaking out of the hole as it is healing. If the substance becomes a yellowish color or you start experiencing moderate to severe pain consult the person who pierced your ears or your doctor immediately. This may be a sign of infection and they will tell you what to do to fix the problem. This could be anything from using another type of cleanser or removing the earrings altogether.
You may use isopropyl alcohol as an alternative temporary substitution for ear care antiseptic if you run out of the stuff given to you. Otherwise just return to the place where your ears were pierced and you can obtain another bottle of cleaner for less then $7 or sometimes for free.
When you clean your earrings do not remove them at all during the first 4 to 6 weeks for ear lobe piercings and 8 to 12 weeks for cartilage piercings. This can cause you to loose the piercing because the ears have not had enough time to heal with this new foreign object in them. Use a clean cotton swab or ball to apply the cleanser. I would usually pour the cleanser onto the cotton ball and push the earring gently forward and backward, swabbing between my ear and the earring.
Remember also to rotate the earring twice daily to prevent it from adhering to the ear. Trust me, if the earring starts to attach itself to your skin it is extremely painful to have it removed.
Try to remember to cover your ears when using hair spray or perfume. This can cause serious irritation to the new piercing because in affect it is an open wound trying to heal itself. These products being sprayed at it can cause a bad infection.
Try to be careful when putting on shirts or when brushing your hair so the earrings don’t get caught. I had a friend who accidental ripped an earring right out of her lobe while brushing her hair and had to have the bottom of her lobe stitched to close the tear. Also take extra care when exercising or playing sports, you don’t want someone hitting your ear with anything while playing sports.
Following any instructions the piercer gives you will ensure a successful ear piercing experience and piercers are more then happy to answer any questions or address concerns ahead of time, feel free to ask.
