OT: Pierced ear infection

[laughinplace199]

DD got her ears pierced about 4 weeks ago. We have been cleaning her ears religiously 3 times per day and rotating the earrings every day. Today, I noticed that her left ear lobe is a bit pink and swollen and there's a little bit of pus coming from the piercing. She is devastated because this is her second time around with ear peircing. Two years ago, she got her ears pierced. All was fine until the 6 week point. I took out the piercing studs and put new studs in and her left ear became swollen and the earring was embedded. At that point, I took the earrings out and we let the holes close up.

Has anyone lese gone through something like this? I put some Bacitracin on them, but I have no idea if it will help. I can't call the pediatrician until Monday.

Thanks!

 

[Kenenitz]

The only thing that worked for me as a child was 24 karat gold in my ears. My mom waited till my earrings were in 4 weeks, took them out and then cleaned them really well with hydrogen peroxide and then put neosporin on them. I have never been able to wear anything but platinum, pure gold or the gold earrings without nickel that qvc sells.. (eternagold) My sister was the same way but grew out of it in her teens. Good Luck!

 

[RMulieri]

I as a child repeatedly had this problem.I also could only wear 18kg or gold.I grew out of it eventually.

 

[MommaSnowwhite]

You need to clean her ears with a warm water and salt solution. It works like a charm every time we have any ear problems. Do not take the earrings our of her ears if you want to keep them pierced. When my DD had hers done a couple of years ago she had a similar thing happen and I was told not to take the earrings out and clean them with the solution and the next morning her ears were fine. We have not had a problem since.

 

[jlester]

You didn't mention how old your daughter was.....but, this happened to our daughter when she was 8 months old. We took out the one earring and after trying to take care of it ourselves ended up at the Dr. who gave her an anti-biotic and cleared things right up. We waited a few months after healing before getting the ear re-pierced. Turns out it was a reaction to gold...she now has stainless steel posts and all is fine. GOOD LUCK!

 

[Diana Lyn]

This exact thing happened to my 4 year old and please call or take her to the pediatrician. We ended up in a childrens hospital because the abcess on her ear ended up being the MRSA virus. They told us she could lose her earlobe. I couldn't believe it. They gave us special antibacterial soap to wash with and a special ointment to put on her ears.

This was her second time getting her ears pierced too and the Bacatracin was helping but not entirely doing the job, it did the first time. The ped told us to wait at least 2 years and then only use stainless steel posts. Good luck to you. My little girl is still so sad the doctor had to pull her earring out and she can't have earrings anymore. We've gotten her bracelets, necklaces, you name it---but nothing can seem to take the place of her earrings.

 

[5 for WDW]

Thankfully our daughter has never had her ear get infected but, she is very sensitive to anything but stainless steel posts.
If we put anything else in, the holes start to get red.
We had her ears done at 13 months. She is almost 5 now and we only use stainless.

I hope your DD's ears heal up. I know my daughter would be really upset if we had to let her holes close.

 

[marcyinPA]

OUCH, I'm having the same problem now with a ear I had pierced 24 years ago!! I've never had a problem in all of that time, but 2 or 3 days ago, my ear started itching and it's all crusty at the hole. This is a second hole (double piercing) and I even wear the same stud it was pierced with! I've been using hydrogen peroxide every night now, hoping it clears up. I'd hate to have to let the hole close up after all this time!

 

[Ducky4Disney]

I had all kinds of problems getting my ear piercings to heal as kid - I must have had them pierced 4-5 times. I think some of the mistakes people make are: over cleaning - if you over clean them you will dry out the skin and make it irritated; bad products - NO HYDROGEN PEROXIDE, ever read the bottle? "do not use on puncture wounds", this will certainly over dry the skin and kill the cells that are healing with the bad bacteria cells; creams/ointments - they will goop up the area and not allow them to drain properly plus is doesn't allow oxygen to reach the area which will slow the healing process.

All in all I'd say, clean twice a day with a gentle soap like Dial, don't fiddle with them too much (dirty fingers), and use warm water soaks with sea salt - they are great and can do wonders.

After that I say don't get them done with piercing guns! A very unclean way to do it and it does not promote healing at all. You are shoving a solid pointy object through the skin and the tissue that it displaces get pushed out the back, where most problems occur (that's why piercings close back to front). A professional piercer will use a hollow sharp needle first, removing a piece of tissue. Then the jewelry goes in the tunnel that is created leaving room for swelling, drainage, and movement.

Try stabbing a sharp pointy pencil through a piece of paper and look at the tear it makes. Now punch a hole in the paper and then put the pencil through - big difference!

What the jewelry is made out of is also very important. Professional piercers know a lot about hypoallergenic metals and alloys like surgical stainless steel and Niobium.

Good luck, I hope it all works out!

D4D

 

[laughinplace199]

Thanks for the replies, everyone! I really appreciate it.

I did notice that DD's earlobes were all dry - maybe I've been overcleaning or using too much of the alcohol on her ears.

The bacitracin seems to have helped as her ear looks better this evening than it did this afternoon, but it does concern me that no air can get to the hole when the ointment is on it.

I think we will try the salt water soaks tomorrow and go from there.

I'll be calling the pediatrician on Monday, even if it seems to be improving, just to be safe.

Thanks again. DD just turned 9 and was so happy to have her ears pierced. I just hate thinking that it might not work out for her. Please send some pixie dust her way!

 

[Mom loves Disney]

We had this problem with my daughter. We ended up taking them out. We waited till the infection cleared up and tryed again. We took the studs out within a couple of weeks because it started to get infected again. We put in earings that did not have a back and the started to heal. We have found she does not do well with post earrings. From now on no backs on her ears.

 

[ScotsMinnie]

Hope your little one is OK. I would second what is being said about salt water solution. I would rinse them in that with the earrings still in. I can't imagine putting hydrogen peroxide on them. Isn't that too harsh for their skin?

 

[uromac]

Hi!

I really feel your pain - it took 4 tries for my daughter to finally get her ears pierced - and we did everything by the book !

She now has to wear earrings for sensitive ears (simply whispers found on line), titanium, and what others have mentioned above for suggestions! - Just don't worry (we started when she was 4 too! and then it worked by 6 )
Best of Luck!

Melissa

 

[uromac]

Hi!

I really feel your pain - it took 4 tries for my daughter to finally get her ears pierced - and we did everything by the book !

She now has to wear earrings for sensitive ears (simply whispers found on line), titanium, and what others have mentioned above for suggestions! - Just don't worry (we started when she was 4 too! and then it worked by 6 )
Best of Luck!

Melissa

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

If you need a gentle cleanser to use along with the salt soaks, buy Hibiclens. It is a medical grade antiseptic cleanser - a red liquid - that is recommended by many professional piercers. Several years ago, I used it on my belly button pierce and it was great.