DD’s ear piercings aren’t seeming to heal-AIBU to take them out?

[pinkponie]

Dd has had her ears pierced since September. They still bleed and scab daily and one earlobe feels thicker than the other. She’s devastated as we’re vigilant about cleaning them and always have been. AIBU to take them out permanently? I’ve tried all kinds of metals and different styles and backs and it hasn’t made any difference.

What metals and what backs?

Is she a swimmer or anything?

What's the cleaning regime?

Is there any chance your dd has a condition that would effect her capacity to heal? Diabetes, poor circulation etc? If not, the most likely issue is that the studs are irritating the wound, and needs to be swapped for an inert stud such and stainless steel then given longer to heal. Obviously if there is an infection this may take some time.

Personally I wouldn't just take them out, unless that's what she wants.

My daughters did this. I wouldn't take them out. Have u tried stirling silver and or hypoallergenic. my daughter can only have stirling silver and even then they get a bit nasty when she changes them alot. have u checked they arnt infected. mine needs antibiotics if she uses non silver earrings.

My DD had problems with one hole healing. We got TattooMed after piercing spray. We are both allergic to certain metals in our ears. Need hypoallergenic piercings. Hers helped pretty quickly with the spray
The recommendation is not to twist them unlike when I was a teenager. It stops the healing process

Don’t take them out. Or, alternatively DO take them out, let them fully heal over and go to a proper piercing place. If she got them gunned the trauma it causes the skin is awful. Personally, I’d try and stick with the current piercings, gently massage the lump if you can. It’s very common. It can take 6 months to a year to fully heal. Also try hard to keep them dry. Moisture leads to infection. Lavender essential oil in water, after each shower then dry thoughrouly…good luck.

Sterling silver should never be used in a healing piercing.

They were done in a proper piercing place. No gun used. Interesting though as I thought the advoice would be to take them out! Her earrings are Sterling silver, what should I try if not these?

We swapped for solid gold and that resolved the issue

It’s not a huge amount of time for a piercing to still be healing. What metal are the earrings made from? (High quality titanium is usually best for healing piercings.) What is she cleaning them with and how often?(over cleaning or using too harsh products can also cause delayed healing.) I wouldn’t leave them to close if you think there might be an infection as it will drain/heal better if it remains open.

Look into getting some titanium earrings.

Even advertised “sterling silver” can have trace nickel in them. My daughter is allergic and if she wears a pair immediately gets sore ears. Also most piercing places recommend 18K or above gold or titanium as first earrings for this reason

Get protolind piercing spray and replace the studs with something with no chance of irritant

I would try titanium earrings. What was she pierced with?

And i would stop changing them all the time. Have you spoken to the piercer?
My 2nd and 3rd lobes took about 7/8 months to heal properly. I used neilmed spray and apart from that left them alone.

In the end I stopped using the spray and from advice on here used the 'Leave them the hell alone' method!

Could she try a piercing pillow for sleeping if she is lying on them at night too?

Nooooo to sterling silver, please tell me they weren't pierced with that???

You need to use inert metals like implant grade titanium, surgical steel (although this isn't the best quality option), 9ct gold or higher and absolutely not anything that is gold filled or gold plated.

Silver oxidises and this is the problem.

What was she pierced with?

DD2 had hers done in September and was told keep them in 3 months - prior to that it was 6 weeks we were told for mine and DD1 piercings - so mid Nov got her some new earrings - she had problems since then with infestion and one side apparently not healing.

She had alcohol wipes for cleaning - and we've soaked all the earrings in boiling salt water to kill any infections. Bought stainless steal earings - as read they are best for no reactions - and different style backs - nothing really made much difference.

Like you proper peiceing place and no gun. I think she fiddles with them. They are stable at minute but she had same earring in a while.

try titanium. drying is more important than cleaning...

I would say try 14ct gold.
Every piercing I have I have to have this.
I'm one of few whose allergic to everything else.
My last piercing the piercer didn't believe me so we tried titanium, 2 months later he agreed to swap for 14ct gold and within 2 days it was healing really well, 2 months later and it is completely healed.

I think I mean surgical steel not stainless - but I think I'll get DD2 some titanium ones as don't think tried those yet and not had them suggested to us.

Titanium or stainless steel. I have sensitive ears and cannot wear anything else.

Solace Jewellery have a good selection.

Some weird advice on here. If in doubt you could contact your piercer. Some of the advice you’ll get on forums is not good. It’s normal for lobe piercings to take longer to heal than the 6 weeks people talk about, but it sounds like these ones are quite irritated. You really don’t want to be using sterling silver. Surgical grade titanium is the only thing you should have in healing piercings.

How are you cleaning them? It may be that you’re actually doing too much and it’s making them angry. My piercer recommends just giving them a gentle rinse in the shower, using the shower head to wash off the crusty bits once they’ve had a chance to soften up from the water. At a push you could use the spray saline without touching and prodding. Don’t use cotton wool or poke them with cotton buds or anything like that - less is more! And maybe most importantly, make sure you get them fully dry afterwards - use a hairdryer on the cool setting. Good luck!

What are you using to clean?

Boiled water, add a teaspoon or two of salt and use cottonwool.

Has always worked wonders. No need to all the expensive stuff they sell you.

I’d go back to piercing place and see what they advise.

Also once they’re calmed down a bit you may need the posts downsized if you’ve not done that already - your piercer can do that for you.

Try titanium, then leave them alone!

It is possible to irritate by over cleaning. Just rinse in the shower daily without any soap or chemicals and wipe away any crusting with a clean piece of tissue.

Healing advice has changed a lot from what it once was.

Took my daughters ears about 6 month to heal and now they are fine. Did exactly as you described one was really thick. It was a build up of blood that i had to squeeze out and then the swelling would go down (was only one ear) we did salt water on a cotton pad and cleaned it. I also think she was sensitive to certain materials (she has eczema) so thats why it took longer.

It'll be an allergy to the metal used in her ears. I was allergic to Gold would you believe? So something hypoallergenic might help - or you can try at least 14 carat gold if she hasn't tried gold before? Mine were still bleeding a bit for about a year. They healed within days when I tried silver instead. We are all different.