Piercing/ daith piercing

[pinkfairy270]

Hi there I got my daith pierced about 4 months ago, and I'm not sure if it's infected or just taking a long time to heal, I have been told it takes a while due to wear the piercing is in the ear, but it's very painful sometimes, sometimes liquid and scabs all the time even with cleaning twice a day, sometimes some bleeding I just have tried everything and not sure what might help.

Mine took years to finally settle down. Get your piercer to have a look at it - it sounds irritated and you are probably cleaning it too much.

My piercer gives expected healing times on their website and for a daith piercing it's 6-12 months. Same for most other cartilage piercings. I definitely wouldn't expect a daith to be healed in 4 months.

The best thing you can do is clean it with 0.9 saline spray (not the kind made for contact lenses and not the aftercare stuff they sell in places like Claire's - try NeilMed saline which you can buy online). Spray the solution on to a lint-free cotton pad to soak it, then hold that over the piercing for a couple of minutes to loosen any crustiness. Using a spray means the product stays sterile. Then take a clean cotton bud and use that to clean VERY GENTLY around the piercing site to remove scabs. If they don't come away, don't force it. Do this twice a day and other than that, leave it alone.

DO NOT fiddle with the jewellery, turn it or wiggle it! That just inhibits healing. Basically don't touch it at all with your fingers, and don't touch it with anything else apart from when you're cleaning it. When you shower, make sure there's no shampoo or conditioner in your ears - just let the warm water rinse it gently away.

Don't use antiseptic sprays, TCP or surgical spirit - they're too harsh and will just make it worse by causing irritation. Don't try to mix up your own salt solution either - you can't make it properly sterile and the proportions and type of salt need to be exact.

Liquid and scabbing doesn't mean it's infected - the liquid is just clear lymph fluid that leaks and crusts over. If it was infected you'd have a lot of pus, swelling and heat in the area.

If you are worried you can go back to your piercer and ask them to take a look - a good piercer will be able to offer advice and will have seen (and probably experienced) every healing issue under the sun.