Can i treat an infected ear piercing with neosporin?
Firstly are you sure its infected? Many people mistake other things for infections! A white or light yellow discharge is not pus but a secretion from the white blood cells that are healing your piercing, its natural to see a fair amount of it during the healing process and doesn't mean it is infected. Several piercings, most commonly cartilage piercings, are prone to something called hypertrophic scarring too. This is a red / purpley coloured bump that is hard to the touch, changes colour when pressed and can be quite peely/flesh toned too. These bumps are caused by irritation to the piercing and are easy to treat as they are just an over production of scar tissue - not an infection! An infection is very noticeable the pain is usually constant and un-ignorable, the piercing will often feel hot to the touch, throb like a toothache and be swollen and red. You may feel sick or dizzy and have a temperature and there may be a smelly grey, green or dark orangey yellow discharge. If you have these symptoms then you need to clean the piercing using a sea salt soak as this is the correct way to clean a piercing as advocated by the association of professional piercers, anything else doesn't clean deeply enough and can have adverse effects on the piercing. (Theres a guide to the soaks on this site: http://ku-ku.co.uk/Rim.htm ). After the soak you will need to apply a topical antiseptic in spray or gel form like savlon spray, diluted TCP, tea tree oil or germolene. Creams like neospoirn are not good because your body cannot absorb them completely and they are likely to become trapped in the piercing giving bacteria a nice moist area to grow in! The most important thing you can do is not take out the jewellery. By taking out the jewellery you risk trapping the infection under the skin as the piercing closes, giving it no where to drain and making the situation a lot worse! If you are sure you have an infection and are worried about it you should go to see a doctor rather than trusting the advice of strangers on the internet, after all i'm not a medical professional!
Can you use Neosporin on a cartilage piercing??
You not "supposed" to use lots of things, but the body is amazing in how it handles stuff. Did you get any of the ear pericing stuff that you can use for infection? If its really irritating you I'd use a little Neosporin, its not going to cause an infection or anything. If you works then continue to use it. Good luck!
Can I put aquaphor/neosporin on my newly pierced cartilage? Will it help the healing process? Will it ease the pain?
No. This is a very bad idea. In fact, I believe you will read on the packaging of both those products that they are “NOT RECOMMENDED FOR PUNCTURE WOUNDS.” Piercings are puncture wounds. Attempting to heal them with ointments like neosporin will not work out well for the piercing. In fact on piercings like navel, eyebrow, surface and dermal implants it may even help the body heal by forcing the jewelry out of the body.There are 2 great methods for healing a piercing. These 2 methods have been told to me over and over again by every piercer who has ever done work on me.Warm salt water soaks. Soak it, dip it or gargle with it depending on where the piercing is. This removes any crusties and helps healing.The Leave It The Fuck Alone method. This actually works quite well. Leave your dirty hands off the piercing. Don’t touch it, play with it or pick at it.Cartilage piercings are rough. They can take up to a year to heal. Especially if you use that ear to chat on the phone or sleep on that side of your body. My advice is to keep it clean, keep your hair from getting tangled around it and then leave it alone. If you have to touch it, wash your hands first. And if the pain is troublesome and there is no sign of infection take some Advil. If there are signs of infection, get to your doctor.
I got my triple forward helix piercings in my right ear on Tuesday. I've noticed that my piercings have been very warm, burny and itchy. I clean them twice a day. Is what I'm experiencing normal and what can I do about? It's driving me kinda nuts.
Itchy piercings usually aren't a problem; piercings itch as they heal. But warmth and a burning sensation is a sign of an infection. It's good that you've been cleaning your piercings twice a day, but even with the best piercers and the best aftercare, infections happen. I recommend you go to the doctor as soon as you are able to have your piercings examined. If you can't get in to see your primary care doctor the same day, go to an urgent care or an ER.It may not seem like a huge deal right now; you may not have pus oozing out, but ear infections can go bad very quickly, so it's always best to get them examined at the first sign of trouble. Seriously. Google “ear piercing infection” and look at the photos. A doctor (or nurse practitioner/physician's assistant) is the only person who can decide if your piercings need treatment. You'll usually get some oral antibiotics like Bactrim or Keflex and an antibiotic cream. If they send you away without treatment and the symptoms persist or get worse, go back, or get a secon opinion.Good luck!
How do you treat an infected cartilage piercing?
Do you know it's infected? What is your evidence for it? Chances are it is simply irritated and has healing difficulties rather than being infected.Infection in piercing is a truly dangerous thing but luckily it is very rare and ALWAYS has the same symptomsGreen plasma or pus around the site or dark black tissue (not just white or yellow- White and yellow pus is a normal thing)Extreme pain (like extreme not just itchiness or soreness)Discolouring of your skin from rashes to dark purple colour appearing around not just the site but expanding away from itIf you see these signs or symptoms then yes it is infected. Go to a hospital immediately as it is life threatening.If of course you don't see these signs (and as a professional of over 6 years I never ever have) you simply have irritation and you have either misdiagnosed infection or heard that diagnosis from a friend or a professional who doesn't appreciate body modification(this is so super common)So don't fear- go see your piercer and make sure you clean it using warm mild saline and nothing more! (Maybe change your earring too)
How long does the swelling last after a cartilage piercing? and how can i make it go down?
i know ive already asked a few questions about my cartilage piercing but i did it myself so i dont really know anything... hahaha. anyway, i pierced my cartilage 5 days ago, and so far there are no signs of infection, its just really swollen. its barely sensitive to the touch, but i've been taking advil, so that might be why. ive been cleaning it 3 times a day with alcohol [PLEASE dont get all on me about how its bad to clean it with alcohol, because i asked my cousin, who is a professional piercer, and he told me 3 times a day with rubbing alcohol, which is what im doing] and until today it never like pussed or anything. today when i got out of the shower [in the shower i clean it with antibacterial soap] and i looked at it, and i saw like little booger type things on the front of the piercing, so i cleaned it with rubbing alcohol, and got rid of some crusties i noticed too. anyway, it seems quite healthy, but how long should it take for the swelling to go down? and is there anything i can do to help speed up the process? other then icing it... i tried that, and it just made it kind of hurt and didnt make the swelling stop. thanks guys!!
How much more painful is it to get a nose piercing than a regular ear piercing?
It depends on how thick your nostril is. The thicker it is, the more it hurts. It also depends on the skill of the piercer. My first nose piercing hurt badly and bled a lot. The piercer wasn't that great. My second hurt less. It hurt more than ear cartilage, and it made my eyes water (that's a natural reaction to trauma to the nose), but it didn't hurt terribly more than an ear cartilage piercing.Everyone must accept that piercings cause pain. Sometimes they hurt badly, more than they usually do. You must accept that. The pain is short-lived, it's fleeting, it's over in seconds. And if you really want a piercing, it's worth it.
Big bubble on the front of my cartilage piercing!?!?
So i have had my cartilage pierced twice. the first time it got infected so i got it pierced again. i have had it pierced for 8 months and i have had no problems with it. today i noticed there is a BIG bubble on the front of the piercing. I took the earring out but i dont know how to make the bubble go away. It will really suck if i have to get it pierced for the third time but my skin grows back really fast and if i leave the earring out overnight, the hole will close. what should i do!!!?!???!
White ring around my ear piercing whole.. what is it?
there is a white, crusty ring around my ear piercing. i was wondering what is it and will it go away? i got my piercing done with a gun, im not sure if that had anything to do with it. but i have 11 ear piercings done all together which were all pierced with a gun.. none of them ever had this problem. any advise?