For the love of God, dd's piercings are never going to heal

[twosoups1972]

Dd had her ears pierced 10 months ago. I followed all the advice, took her to a reputable piercing studio to have them done with a needle. Cleaned them carefully twice a day and left them in for a good 8 weeks.

They did appear to heal at first but nearly a year later we are still having problems. Tried a variety of different earrings - titanium, stainless steel etc. I don't think they are infected but they are sore, especially one side, and she keeps getting a crusty lump at the back.

She is ASD and has a very low pain threshold. She has to take the earrings out for PE so now we have this twice weekly agony of me putting them back in, her wincing and me trying not to lose patience.

I have suggested to her taking them out and trying again in a few years but she really wants to have earrings and after all this palaver it seems a waste.

We have prontolind spray which we've been using intermittently but maybe should be using it more regularly?

Any advice please? And what have I done wrong??

Another vote for really good gold or sterling silver. I'm allergic to everything else and mine didn't heal until I figured that out.

I would suggest trying silver earrings, although gold is less reactive silver has natural healing properties. It is used in wound dressings!

My ears started reacting to pretty much every metal randomly last summer.

The only thing I can wear now is stainless steel or platinum.

I had my daith pierced recently - I soaked it in salt water twice daily (boiled water, lots of salt, let it cool) I then swabbed round the piercing site with tea tree oil.

Mine healed much faster than my cousins who had hers done at the same time - she was using one of those healing sprays they sell you, hers still bleeds and swells 12 months later.

Piercings can take awhile to heal for some. For example, my nose piercing took 3 years! I would get bumps and it would reject alot, now I have no problems with it. I have a fair few piercings now.

What works for me when I'm having a flare up is a salt water soak. I put a teaspoon of sea salt in a cup of boiling water and mix it up. Then soak cotton wool pads and hold to my piercings every evening. If particularly bad, every morning too. I also filled a shot glass (lol) and would hold to my skin and submerge my piercing for a few minutes in the salt water.

If that didn't do the trick I also make a chamomile tea and place the tea bag (as hot as I can bear it) on/around piercings same as you would as the cotton pad. It reduces any redness and soreness pretty quickly.

My daughter had the same, for the best part of a year we struggled until we switched to gold earrings and it got a lot better. She does a lot of sport and eventually we decided that as much as she liked having them done, the constant removal and putting them back in, coupled with losing loads of backs/earrings meant that they were never going to be right and she's now taken them out. She never stood a chance really, I'm the same, I can't wear most metals and end up with big welts around my neck from chains etc!

Hoops would move more than studs, and school will probably not allow them. Titanium is hypoallergenic so should stop any skin reaction issues. I think the main problem is removing them for so long while they're obviously not happy - if school will allow a plaster for P.E I'd go for that.

If you think they're infected them you might need antibiotics, but you want to leave the earrings in so the wound can drain. If the holes seal up it might become a bit of an abcess.

If they're just irritated, I'd avoid using anything harsh on them, just warm salt soaks to sooth. Should be approx 1/4 of a teaspoon to a cup of water, anything saltier will dry it out. No twisting the studs etc just dangle the lobe into a small cup (or shot glass etc) for a few minutes once or twice a day

Someone upthread mentioned salt in boiling water to saturation - I don’t know if I’ve misread this but DONT do this! Water too salty can cause chemical like burns and hinder healing.

I believe saline is about half a teaspoon to a cup of water but you should google to check.

Check with school before buying any hoops - where I work and also my DS’s school she would be told to remove them, however small they are.

Aloe Vera is what I'd be using. Salt water can be harsh and I use aloe solution for everything from bites to burns to eye infections and it's amazing. If you have a plant you can just scrape the gel from the leaf and make a solution up with hot water in the morning, it'll keep a couple of days and a good sized leaf will make a fair few days worth. Worth a try

I had my ears pierced 30 years ago. Gold studs.

I have an allergy to semi precious metals so I've never been able to tolerate anything other than gold earrings (yellow or white), I even have to paint the back of my watch, jeans button, sandals buckle etc with clear nail polish. Believe me I tried everything in the interest of fashion and expense, always ended up with manky crispy earlobes.

Try gold studs OP and tape them for pe instead of removing them. Schools are a germ-fest for potentially un-healed ears that she probably can't resist twiddling with during the day!

Have you seen the dr?

I am the same unfortunately. Hypoallergenic earrings are a bit better than bed which are not, but it's a balance between wearing them often and ears hurting.

I hadn't work any for about three weeks but put some on the other day for work. I had to take them out part way through and in the evening when I gently cleaned them one of them was bleeding. My belly button piercing is actually OK, but my ears are still not. I've had them done 16 years now.

I’ve always used a warm Chamomile teabag as a compress when I’ve had issues with any of my 10 piercings not healing or being irritated. I have very sensitive skin, and can only use surgical grade titanium or gold earrings.... anything else makes the piercing sites crusty and sore, even the well healed lobe piercings I’ve had for 23 years and 18 years react like this... so in my head be it when I buy shit fashion earrings from the likes of Claire’s!

Taking the studs in and out will likely be what’s causing the impaired healing as every time you mess with them it’s irritating the tissues.

The best thing I find is a bottle of saline solution from boots (cost 1.99) allows me to just squirt over the piercings so no chance of any fibres from cotton wool getting caught and I also don't need to worry about getting the salt/water balance right.
The other problem she may be having is sleeping on them - constant pressure for 7 or 8 hours can make them really angry. I use a travel pillow, so head nice and supported but a lovely big hole for my ears to sit in, so no pressure.
I've just had tragus and a new upper lobe piercing and they seem to be doing fine following the above.

Not read all the thread but my ears were like that, still are in fact, I can only wear white gold or gold. Anything else and they turn hot and itchy.

Try bathing with colloidal silver twice a day. It’s natural antibiotic and I have successfully used it in our cuts scrapes and my animals sticky eyes for years. It really works.

Get it on amazon.

I had mine pierced at 13 and kept gold studs in day and night for near on a year and that has done the trick for life. I'm nearly 40 and hardly wear ear rings now but on the few occasions a year that I do, I have no problems. I remember it taking more like 8 months than 8 weeks before I took out the gold studs for other ear rings.

I just gave up on mine in the end, they did heal but after about 18 months I became allergic to every metal that you could possibly try. Within an hour of putting earrings in I would have liquid running from them and crusting. I suggested DD didn’t have her ears pierced as like me she is asthmatic and has sensitive skin and my mother had metal allergies to other jewellery. At 15 she did have them pierced, now 26 she sheepishly admitted last year that she developed the same problem a couple of years ago. I think some people just can’t wear earrings 🙁

My first piercings at 17 were not a problem. However, when I got a secondary piercing at 40, they were never right. Then out of the blue almost a decade later, I got a massive infection in one ear, and was never able to wear an earring in that piercing again because I developed huge keloid scar on the back of my ear.

DD2 got her ears pierced and had the big plastic backs, as recommended, and her ears 'ate' them in just a matter of days. That involved a minor procedure at A&E and a fucking patronising SHO and she had to have them re-pierced a few years later.

It can just be your ears.

It'll be the removing and re-inserting that's causing the problem. The 'inside' of the piercing takes ages to heal so every time the jewellery is removed it causes damage and sets back the healing process. See if she can cover the jewellery with tape for PE.

Otherwise, use HOT salt soaks. I've healed 20+ piercings and I've found the heat to be a big part of it - it encourages blood flow to the area and also soothes the discomfort. Boil the kettle, add a 1/4 teaspoon of pure sea salt to a mug, and fill the mug with boiling water. Stir to dissolve and let it cool until you can dip your pinkie in comfortably. It should feel hot but not burn you. Ideally pour some of this water into an egg cup or shot glass and soak each piercing for 5 minutes. If you can't submurge the piercing, cotton wool will work too - soak a piece and hold it against the piercing area. Swap out for a new piece every time it cools. Do this twice a day.

Otherwise, never touch the jewellery. Make sure she's not fiddling with them. Don't put hoops in! These can turn and drag bits of the dried lymph fluid (the crusty stuff that gathers outside healing piercings) and bacteria into the piercing. Make sure hands are thoroughly washed before touching the piercing site.

Honestly though, if you can't get around removing the jewellery for PE, they are probably unlikely to heal any time soon. She might be better off giving up for the time being and having them repierced once she's left school.

Taking them in and out all the time is I agree a huge part of the problem. If they can't be taped over then you probably need to give up and let them close up. If you can try silicon retainers then it's worth a go but make sure you don't get plastic or acrylic ones as they could make things much worse.

Also all titanium and stainless steel is not created equal. You need the surgical quality with a mirror polish for hypoallergenic .

YY Elphame. I got my bridge pierced when I was 17 and just changing the jewellery back and forth between the usual SS jewllery and a retainer three times a year - I worked in a restaurant and was required to hide it as far as possible - resulted in it rejecting eventually, I loved that piercing but it couldn't cope with the aggrivation.

OP, big props to you going to a proper piercer etc, but yeah, if your DD has to keep taking them out they're not likely to heal any time soon if at all, especially if they are out for the full day - are you taking them out in the morning and trying to put them back in after school? This will be causing extra problems as they will have started trying to heal over so putting the jewellery back in is causing additional trauma. Just taking them out for the lesson would be a bit less problematic, but still far from ideal.

I've been advised before with piercings to clean them with paper towels NOT cotton balls or pads as the little fibers get caught/snag or get in the hole causing infections. Might be something as simple as that.

I had mine pierced 20 years ago, and the right one still can't cope with an earring in for too long, and is always sore for a couple of days after wearing. I had the top of my ear pierced as a teen, it never healed and I just took it out. I think some people's bodies just don't like it!