Possible infection from DD's earring -- what to do in the meantime?

[SeeDisney]

HI DIS friends,


MY DD has a swelling of fluid behind her ear lobe, behind her earring post.

Plan on calling the doctor tomorrow. Can anyone give me the heads up of what to do or expect? I already swabbed it with the earring care lotion, which I believe is an antiseptic.

Thanks.

 

[ChrisnSteph]

Wow, I've never seen that before. I would rub it with alcohol or peroxide periodically. Earring infections usually heal up pretty quickly. You should probably take the earring out until then.

 

[Puffy2]

small amount of hydrogen peroxide and then antibiotic ointment until you can see a doctor.

 

[poohandwendy]

HI DIS friends,


MY DD has a swelling of fluid behind her ear lobe, behind her earring post.

Plan on calling the doctor tomorrow. Can anyone give me the heads up of what to do or expect? I already swabbed it with the earring care lotion, which I believe is an antiseptic.

Thanks.

Definitely keep it very clean with antiseptic and you can use a q-tip to apply neosporin (triple antibiotic ointment) to it front and back.

I wanted to add, it may be a good idea to use a new container of antispectic or just hydrogen peroxide. I say this because the container she has been usisng could be contaminated with bacteria if she/you have not been very careful.

 

[Servants of Evan]

I'd start with hydrogen peroxide to cleanse the area, and then apply a true antiseptic (neosporin) to the hole. If she has a problem with hole closure, I'd put in a pair of CLEAN earrings and apply a bit more neosporin before attaching the back.

 

[chamonix]

Put antibiotic ointment on it (like Neosporin). Keep it clean with alcohol or some other antiseptic and put the ointment on it periodically. It should clear up in no time. She may not be able to wear some kinds of metal in her earrings. I have to be really careful about what kinds of earrings I wear. She may be allergic to nickel or something. Don't wear those earrings anymore. Try going back to good gold ones that you know won't irritate her ears.

 

[Sparx]

Did she just get them pierced?

Remove earring,
clean spot,
peroxide,
clean,
earring solution.

 

[dolphinrescuegirl]

I agree with the peroxide (sp?). If she did just get them pierced then this is normal. I got mine pierced when I was 7 and 18. Both times the holes got really infected and hurt a lot. After a few months they were ok and I never had problems again.

 

[twinklebug]

I agree with cleaning and your decision call the doctor. I had the same ordeal when I got my ears pierced for my wedding (I had never had pierced ears and wanted to wear "pretty" earrings for a change) I had continual redness, pain and swelling for a YEAR (nothing helped) before I gave up and took the earrings out completly. It only happened to one ear, but the doctor insisted I was super sensitive to earrings in general (never had pure gold posts to try)

 

[Syrreal]

If you decide to take the earring out, be careful, because sometimes the holes close up very quickly (mine do). If you have gold (real gold, not gold plated) earrings, you may want to put them on her. I get infections in my holes even now (17 years after I got them pierced) when I wear new earrings or cheapy fashion earrings. I just clean them and then put on one of my gold ones. usually my infection is gone in 1-2 days.
I always used to get a pimple-like infection (that's the only way I know how to describe it) right by the earring hole. You just have to keep it clean. If it is still bad tomorrow, I would go to the Dr just to be on the safe side.

 

[U Guys Made Me Ink]

I worked at an ear-piercing kiosk in the mall for a few years and saw this sort of thing very often. My advice is to clean the ear with the piercing solution and q-tip a few times a day (it is an antiseptic and I believe preferable because peroxide and alcohol may dry the skin out and maybe sting although they will work too). Also, clean the earing and keep a gold one in (some people are even sensitive to the "hypo-allergenic" surgical steel posts, so that may be the case with your DD ...)

In addition, make sure the backing is not on too tight, there is almost always a little notch near the end of the post where the backings will "click" into place and allow the ear to heal. The earring should be able to spin freely when you turn from the front. Adding a little neosporin will aid in the healing and help to lubricate the post while turning it. VERY often, when ears are first pierced, the earrings go on a little tight and if there is any initial swelling, however small, it can lead to a problem or just be uncomfortable. Even if they're not newly pierced, pushing the backing on too tight in the hopes of keeping them secure prevents air from getting to the skin and can also lead to problems.

If you do all of this, especially frequent cleaning, the infection should clear up in just a few days. Good luck!

P.S. You can get inexpensive 14K post earrings at most of these jewelry kiosks in the mall for under $10 a pair. (Yes, real gold)

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

I just wanted to add that this happened to my DSD. When it was time to change the earrings she put in cheap ones and they got infected in the back like that. We cleaned and put in the gold ones. It cleared up. Only thing we could think of was that she was allergic to the metals in the cheap ones. You can buy inexpensive 14k gold at Wal-Mart. That was really all she needed.

Good Luck.

 

[tar heel]

This is a perfect description of my life with pierced ears and has a lot to do with why I gave up in my 20s -- no idea whether the holes are still open.

I cannot wear anything with nickel in it, which includes a lot of things sold as sterling silver. I also had to have 14 kt in everything that touched the ear, not just the post, and even then posts really needed to be removed after a fewhours. The only earrings I could consistently wear were 14 kt. hoops, where only the wire touched my ear.

 

[mickeyfan2]

It could be the earings. I can only wear gold. All the others make my ear itch and get red in a hour or two. If I left them in longer it would look like an infection.

Also how long ago did she have them pierced. Could you remove the earings, put them in an antiseptic, clean the ears and then put them back in?

 

[SeeDisney]

Well, my DD got her ears pierced around Christmas time and did what she's supposed to do for care.

But she's never taken 'em off since Christmas. Her lobe is just puffed with fluid, no redness.

Thanks for all your advice. I"m calling the doctor this morning.