agh- ruined daughter's new piercing?!

[Saltedcaramel78]

HELP posting for traffic

DD11 had lobe piercing done 8 weeks ago, all healing fine although right ear has been a little sore last couple of weeks. Just removed them tonight as thought had been long enough- they were v stiff and so wasn't able to do it as delicately as planned!

Left ear fine, right ear v red and oozy- there's an indent almost as if the earring had been in too tight?

What on earth do I do now? Putting earrings back in seems crazy but will they heal over if we leave them open? DH bemused and unhelpful about whole affair as he doesn't see the point in "unnecessary holes" [GRIN]

Thank you for mumsnet wisdom !

Anyway definitely switch to surgical steel and no turning.

DD got hers done nearly 4 weeks ago.

Screw on balls at the front. Flat backs.

Clean twice a day with water and tea tree oil.

No twisting.

We’re popping back to the piercing studio at the weekend to have a chat as DD wants to change her earrings (I’ve said no, but the piercer will reinforce this).

I don't know about anyone else, but I have my fingers crossed that the OP doesn't wind up as a miserable fucker whose rants have bugger all to do with an opening post...

I have Manny ear piercings, and have experienced what you describer fo your daughter.

Contrary to what a number of PP have said re putting the studs back in- I have found that the studs used to initially pierce are often too tight, and as a result they leave the kind of indentation you described. I would always get the redness, swelling etc from these.

What I do after running into what you describe, on the advice of a piercer ( and it never caused any problems) is swap out the studs as soon as possible and replace with a hypoallergenic, surgical steel pair of sleepers. These are easier to clean as they don't jam all the gunk into the hole. And you don't get any build up behind the back of the stud.

I've also avoided all the alcohol based medical style washes and used heavily salted warm water to bath the ear. Works much better.

Butterfly backs harbour germs and for some reason seem to get tighter over time and sink into the skin. They are hopeless when the wound is trying to heal.

Like a previous poster said, you need bar bells with screw on balls at the front and flat backs. You will get them form. Providing studio. My daughters then progressed to small hoops.

@WorraLiberty I don't know about anyone else, but I have my fingers crossed that the OP doesn't wind up as a miserable fucker whose rants have bugger all to do with an opening post...

What do you mean?

Thank you for all the advice! I do think the earrings weren't right, we've swapped a sterilised new pair which hopefully will allow it to breathe a bit and heal

@MazDazzle yes this is exactly what I think happened! The was a little indent in her ear from how it had been digging in

OP I was referring to M3lon's little tantrum further up thread.

Apologies if I've missed this but was she pierced at a piercers with a needle or was it a shop assistant with a gun? Guns are not sterile, more likely to damage the ear tissue and more likely to introduce infection.

I would leave the wound. Clean with cool saline until it's healed then have her repierced at a later date. I would visit the piercer for feedback and advice.

@M3lon my daughter isn't immunocompromised and is sensible enough to know how to take care of a minor wound (ie no fiddling, cleaning twice a day). I highly doubt she will require antibiotics for this- if I thought it was likely she'd get a serious infection I wouldn't have let her do it.

Hope you're doing your bit to help tackle AB resistance in countries with the highest rates of resistance.

Give her ears a good clean with salt water and use cotton pads to thoroughly clean any gunk.

Put the earrings (whichever pair shes having in) in boiling water for about 30 mins before putting in her ear to sterilise.

I wasn't immunocompromised when my piercing landed me in hospital either. I kept the piercing clean and all was great till it wasn't. It flared up one day randomly about 6 months after I had it done, then went back to normal a few days later. A month after that I was puking at school, and a week after that I was in intensive care. Now, 25 years later I've a leaky heart value for my trouble, but hey ho I'm sure it was all worth it to fit in with my peer group for that precious 6 months.

After all I didn't die, unlike some who weren't so lucky.

I'm doing my bit by developing new antimicrobial drug screening methodologies in my laboratory. I collaborate with chemists who make new molecules and biologists who do the screening. We are just kicking off an international network with dual centres in the UK and Brazil....

worra I really shouldn't be grumpy - afterall its fuckwittery like this that indirectly funds my research....the problem is that it isn't a game, and in the next 20-50 years we are looking at a situation where necessary surgery will carry a high risk of non-treatable infections and death. Current attmepts to tackle the situation amount to little more than fiddling around the edges.

I suppose catastrophe climate breakdown may just get there first though - so we can cross our fingers for that I guess.

@M3lon the OP is taking about getting her daughters ears pierced. The majority of people who get piercings do so and have no issues what so ever, so I hardly think you need to be making her feel bad for letting her daughter have her ears pierced.

I’m sorry you had such an adverse reaction all those years ago and have been left with negative consequences from that, but surely you can appreciate that was a very rare thing to happen?
Op, I think you’ve been given some good advice. If it were dd (who had her ears pierced a few weeks ago) I think I would clean the hole with salty water, clean the earrings and put the original earrings back in and then clean with salty water and keep an eye on it.

First against the wall

You idiot.

@M3lon sounds like excellent work, maybe your experience helped guide you to this field. I hope you are very successful. Unfortunately speaking to people like that is not the way to get people to listen to you. Shame as it was a valuable lesson which was completely lost due to your delivery.

Does anyone know why some places still tell you to turn?

Cupo which places are telling you to turn? If it's Claire's or a local highstreet jeweller doing piercings with a gun that'll be why. Inexperience.

Fab thx will tell dd to stop turning hers

7 weeks is not even close to long enough for it to heal properly... Now you've put fresh sterile ones in don't let her change them or fiddle with them again other than salt water bathing 2/3 times a day..
Tempting as it is to want prettier jewelry than the stuff used for original piercing they heal so much better the longer they're left (as a rule I at least double the recommended time.)

Sadly whilst M3lon is clearly trying to do good work, the militant, angry, patronising, unhelpful and often nasty tone on any thread to do with ear piercing makes people not listen.

M3lon please reconsider how you speak in your posts as you are hindering your own cause.

overactive immune systems can mean that bodies to ‘heal’ piercings even while they are in. I had to have my piercings done twice as a result. Suggest using an antiseptic wipe and getting a longer stud (surgical steel or 18 carat gold) and turning it everyday.

mary it'll be getting a lot less rare in the near future... :(