removed
I had the same problem, but in my left ear ::) I know they say not to use rubbing alcohol because that will dry it out but...when I took them out for cleaning one night and a big glob of nasty goo came out I couldn't take it anymore.
Hitting it with the alcohol every night has pretty much cleared it up. I usually soak my studs in it while doing the skin care bit then rub some on my earlobes and slip them back in. Silver has antibiotic properties, maybe some real silver studs. I haven't tried that but it's interesting now that I think about it.
Is it the earlobe or is it up a bit further into the cartilage? I had 4 piercings but the 4th one was into the cartilage and even after 6mos of daily care it would NOT heal. I finally took it out and it healed right up. I'm dying for more piercings in my ears as well as other places but the healing part worries me some.
make sure your post is either gold or surgical steel.
Mine was gold and still would not heal.
Quote from: beth~chella on November 16, 2009, 05:31:53 PM
make sure your post is either gold or surgical steel.
I've heard that gold is NOT the kind to use for healing -- surgical steel or sterling silver. When my sister got piercings years ago my parents made her not wear gold for a long time to make sure it *did* heal properly.
I second the gold or surgical steel. Taking it in & out can or will slow the healing process. I left mine(both ears & belly button) in until they healed. 3-4x daily I usued q-tips soaked with peroxide(much less painfull than alcohol) to clean the posts & surrounding skin.
Hydrogen peroxide for the soaking and a little Neosporin on the posts. This gives a little lube to spin the post and will help heal.
Janet
Silver or surgical steel. Titanium worked really well for my cartilage piercings. Which I've had for... almost two years? And they're not entirely healed yet.
Speaking from experience, it may take years for your piercings to 'heal'. I still can't take the posts out of my second set of holes (going on five years now) for more than a week without having them bleed when I jam earrings back in. i don't worry about cleaning them after six months unless they're sore or oozing something (brewing an infection, I imagine).
When I got my cartilage piercing I HAD to buy gold or they wouldn't do it. That was over 15yrs ago so they might recommend something else now. During trying to have it heal I never took the piercing out, just turned it and cleaned it. I could only take the soreness for 6mos before I said screw it.
Mine didn't heal even after a year, so I took some pliers and pulled them out. I don't bother. Mine were surgical steel loops (I got a professional piercer to put them in, no gun for me -- I did that when I was a teen, they didn't heal at all back then, either). A lot of metal reacts with me.
Stainless, titanium or surgical steel is best.
Gold is iffy. It is good in some ways, but many people react badly to it.
Silver is usually a safer bet than gold.
Both lag behind the first three mentioned.
Time, and rubbing alcohol.
I've got two piercings in both ears(don't ask why), and both have taken almost a year to fully heal.
I know, they say don't use rubbing alcohol, but if you only use it a few times a week it doesn't dry out everything. The stuff you'll get is usually just water, or salt water with a *very* low concentration of salt I think.
Oh, and leave the thing in. Don't keep taking it in/out. It messes with the healing (think about it, your body's trying to heal around a small metal bar, and every time you take the post out it's going to try to fill in the hole, and when it goes back in you're re-piercing it)
Quote from: insanitylives on November 17, 2009, 06:51:27 PM
Time, and rubbing alcohol.
I've got two piercings in both ears(don't ask why), and both have taken almost a year to fully heal.
I know, they say don't use rubbing alcohol, but if you only use it a few times a week it doesn't dry out everything. The stuff you'll get is usually just water, or salt water with a *very* low concentration of salt I think.
Oh, and leave the thing in. Don't keep taking it in/out. It messes with the healing (think about it, your body's trying to heal around a small metal bar, and every time you take the post out it's going to try to fill in the hole, and when it goes back in you're re-piercing it)
This happened with my navel piercing.After a few weeks the old one came out fine, but putting the new one in was like turning a condom inside out. Silver is a very potent natural antibiotic. Does anyone know if this would give solid sterling silver an advantage?
Quote from: Bellaon7 on November 17, 2009, 07:12:53 PM
Silver is a very potent natural antibiotic. Does anyone know if this would give solid sterling silver an advantage?
I did not know that. Maybe that's why I like silver better.
It probably would though, since it's keeping some of the bacteria from getting into the opening, and therefore keeps more infections away than just letting it be w/gold.
... and I just realized this is in mtf. I'll leave this section back to you girls :)
Quote from: insanitylives on November 17, 2009, 07:48:35 PM
I did not know that. Maybe that's why I like silver better.
It probably would though, since it's keeping some of the bacteria from getting into the opening, and therefore keeps more infections away than just letting it be w/gold.
... and I just realized this is in mtf. I'll leave this section back to you girls :)
Hey, Boys, Boys, Boys...we luv them, we luv them!
I've had two piercings in my ears.
The first with silver studs and they healed up great. No problems
The second with gold studs have been a real pain. Particularly the right ear
It's been six weeks now. I'm thinking to switch out the gold studs with either silver or stainless
Hey piercings are piercings, no matter the gender =P
I can't wear silver and let it touch my skin. It turns it green and starts to burn like acid. Unless the silver chain I had wasn't silver like I thought.
It may be the nickel content of the gold stud. In Europe there are regulations which ban nickel in jewellery used for peircing as a lot of people have an allergic reaction. Try swapping to either silver, titanium or get a stud with a low nickel content
I have never had problem with healing after piercing. I sounds like the metal you're using may be having a negative reaction. As mentioned, platinum or surgical stainless may be the way to go.
Quote from: Kurzar on November 17, 2009, 09:23:19 PM
Hey piercings are piercings, no matter the gender =P
I can't wear silver and let it touch my skin. It turns it green and starts to burn like acid. Unless the silver chain I had wasn't silver like I thought.
If it is turning green it is NOT silver or platinum. Copper or nickel more like.
Quote from: LordKAT on November 19, 2009, 10:16:23 AM
If it is turning green it is NOT silver or platinum. Copper or nickel more like.
x.x Ok thanks for telling me. This was during my teen years so I never thought to question it.
Quote from: Tasha Elizabeth on November 18, 2009, 07:41:15 PM
i'm using the healing post that i got at the piercing place. i think those are surgical stainless, but i dont know. i may just be a slow healer.....
I hope that works for you! I'm waiting for a cartilage pierce to finish healing so I can get two more pierces. That will make a total of 7 in my ears. Think I will call it done after those!
Sometimes if you use harsh disinfectants like alcohol sometimes this can cause your body to have a reaction too and may not aid healing.
But I agree with some of the other advice:
Look into changing the metal - that seems the most likely cause.
If you can buy "Protex" antibacterial soap use that to clean your ears. It is excellent! But only use it if things look infected. If they are not infected then I don't think any of the antibiotic stuff will make a difference.
You could also try taking a zinc suppliment for a week. That helps your skin heal.
Quote from: Kurzar on November 17, 2009, 09:23:19 PM
I can't wear silver and let it touch my skin. It turns it green and starts to burn like acid
Not to beat a dead horse, but silver has the same effect on...vampires.
Quote from: Becca on November 19, 2009, 01:45:06 PM
Not to beat a dead horse, but silver has the same effect on...vampires.
:o Hmm maybe that is where my love for vampires came from...maybe.... >.>
Hey hun, I know this was posted in the girls section, but I've dealt with a lot of piercings (I've had 12 of them done) on myself and others, so I thought I'd share some insight on a method that works for me and most of the people I've met.
Usually when I go into a piercing parlor to get a pokejob, I get told the same aftercare instructions, and they've always been a help to me: a piercing is almost like a deep sliver in your skin, your body is designed to naturally try to reject it somewhat, because that's its primary way of dealing with foreign objects in the skin. The secondary way the body deals with it, barring the first method, is to create a fistula to compensate for the foreign object- this is the kind of healing you're trying to encourage to get a piercing to heal.
Harsh disinfectants like alcohol often dry the hell out of your skin and make the pierced area even more angry and irritated! (Also, it hurts!) And use of topical antiseptics like neosporin are discouraged for piercings, because they encourage the body to 'push things out'(like the jewelry).
To gently stimulate and draw the crust/pus out of a piercing, it's good to use a sea salt soak. You take a cup of clean water, microwave it so it's warm, bordering on hot, but not hot enough to hurt or scald you, then put a small spoonful of non iodized sea salt into it, stir until it dissolves, to create a soothing saline solution that is no more salty than your own tears. This is to approximate your body's natural saltiness. You submerge the piercing site into the warm saltwater, and soak it for 10-15 minutes. This loosens and draws out goo, and the heated water stimulates bloodflow and is soothing. This is one of the gentlest methods to clean a wound. After soaking, take a qtip and swab the gunk away.
After that, rinse the piercing in normal running water, with no salt in it, like at the sink, and rotate the jewelry gently to get all of the saline solution washed away, so you don't end up with any itchy salt in your piercing when it dries. I don't see anything wrong with sterilizing the jewelry itself in alcohol, but putting it onto the wound itself tends to make it angry. Sea salt soaks are recommended twice a day for new piercings, healing piercings, or flare ups of already healed piercings, and in the meantime, just use some gentle antibacterial soap once a day in the shower, it's good not to overdo it.
If the piercing feels dry or you want to lubricate it, try gently massaging some jojoba oil onto it, I've found emu oil works like a charm, as well, some very plain lotion like cetaphil would probably work just fine, too! I know it must be hard to have so much conflicting advice from different people, I was really confused by the contradictions people threw at me when I tried to learn about tattoos! Everyone's different, of course, so this is just my two cents.
Best of luck to you!
I've always been advised to use saline as well, it works well. I've tried the alcohol and betadines etc as last resorts (when I've had anchors get infected long after initially healing) and they only provided temporary relief of the gooey symptoms, didn't actually clear anything up.
Cairus' advice is very good, it's basically the same as what my piercer advocates and he's one of the best around (but I don't think you necessarily need to worry about making the solution yourself, you can get saline at any pharmacy).