Piercing infection

[nawali]

Hey guys I am new to this forum. The reason I joined is because I am looking for advice for my infected ear.

So on October 29 i got my daith pierced. I was religiously cleaning it and taking care of it iid everything by the book. Sadly to say it got infected. I went to the hospital on October 31 to see if they can remove it and they refused. Instead they gave me antibiotics (curam) and told me to come back after 1 week in order to take it out.

so this is what my ear looks like as of now.

my earring is embedded from what i can see.



I talked to my peircer she insisted on me going back to her to get the piercing changed and i told her i wasn't sure if that was a good idea because; the doctors refused to touch it.

I am really freaking out because from what i read online infection of the cartilage is really bad if its not being taken care of. So my question is what should I do? Change the earring? Or wait for the hospital (which will be on November 9)?

I apologize for the long rant

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

you poor thing
this is exactly what happened to me from an ear piercing
i had to go to the after hours doc in the weekend
they can be very serouse so its good you got antibiotics
i could bearly move my head when i finally went to the doctor
mine was also enbedded - im always weary of wearing studs 25 years latter
hopefuly the antibiotics will reduce the swelling
i had a kind work mate who got mine out the next day
i don't know anything about cartilage but you are braver than me in that dept !
i would definatly get it out asap
im sure it can be repierced in the future although i did have scar tissue

btw once its out the pain will start to reduce
good luck
be prepaired for lots of pus to drip/pour out

 

[nawali]

you poor thing
this is exactly what happened to me from an ear piercing
i had to go to the after hours doc in the weekend
they can be very serouse so its good you got antibiotics
i could bearly move my head when i finally went to the doctor
mine was also enbedded - im always weary of wearing studs 25 years latter
hopefuly the antibiotics will reduce the swelling
i had a kind work mate who got mine out the next day
i don't know anything about cartilage but you are braver than me in that dept !
i would definatly get it out asap
im sure it can be repierced in the future although i did have scar tissue

btw once its out the pain will start to reduce
good luck
be prepaired for lots of pus to drip/pour out

I went in to the hospital today and they decided they are going to remove it. I will be sedated . Hopefully there will be no complications

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

I went in to the hospital today and they decided they are going to remove it. I will be sedated . Hopefully there will be no complications

oh my goodness
you must be in so much pain
i was 20 and still living at home
i can remember dad coming in to say goodnight to me and i was lying in bed not moving my head it was so sore
i hole they do it soon

 

[foxinsox]

Get some boiled water (let it cool enough that you don’t burn yourself) and dissolve some salt into it. Pour it into a clean cup and invert it over your ear so you can soak some of those crusties and pus off. It won’t fix it but it should help it feel more comfortable ahead of the removal. It may pull some of the pus out too.
Next time get it pierced with a plain ring and only put the final jewellery in once it’s healed up. The stones in the setting are all sites for dirt and bacteria to lodge.

 

[Rose-gold-or-bust]

Was this a licensed piercer? I’m shocked they let you use a hoop with stones in it. A bezel stud typically isn’t an issue because it is all closed but anything with prongs is a no no. Did you get your tragus done at the same time, because that looks yellow and yucky in the photo too.

As for the hoops vs plain studs, they both have about the same amount of metal going through your ear. In theory a hoop could shift one way or another introducing more bacteria but they are typically okay for piercing if they are just a plain stud.

 

[PintoBean]

I cup of warm water to 1 tsp of sea salt type of ratio. Soak your piercing.

 

[monipod]

I had a daith piercing done about 9 months ago and it's still unhappy. I've been told it can take over a year for some to finally settle. My problem is that I end up sleeping on the pierced ear and just a small nudge will flair up the 'piercing bump' reaction. No infection though. Just unhappy. Once it settles again, I am getting my jewellery changed out. I have a standard ring but I want a pure titanium ring put in as I think my skin also doesn't like the metal of the current ring. The person who pierced it said he only had stainless steel rings but another person who took a look at my ear seemed to think it might not be medical grade stainless steel... Sigh... I had no idea cartilage piercings were so hard. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

 

[Nikki1415]

I stupidly got my second lobe piercings done in a jewelry store with a gun. One of them kept getting continuously infected (more than 6 months) and I think the issue was mostly the earring because the day after I put in 14k yellow gold studs in they calmed down. Also, the holes themselves aren't great due to the piercing gun.
I had my cartilage pierced professionally with a needle 3 years ago and it didn't hurt at all. I religiously cleaned it with salt/water because my dogs like to sleep in the bed and I was afraid of infection.
I think it's the earring itself that is causing the infection.

 

[cmd2014]

I had to permanently remove my cartilage piercing as it refused to heal. I’m glad you went back to the hospital. Hopefully you’re feeling better now.

 

[rinkyb]

Try 100% pure Tea Tree Oil with a Qtip

 

[Aerielle Max]

Ouch, that needs to have some topical antibiotic, get well soon!

 

[beatricecrummles]

Just clean around the piercing with a saltwater rinse three times a day.

 

[SheriGoddart33]

The doctor prescribed me chlorhexidine rinse, but when it didn’t help, he prescribed me an antiseptic ointment. It helped me.