Ear lobe piercing suddenly bleeding after 10+ years

[SecondhandTable]

Yep, I got my ears pierced over 10 years ago and have never had a problem with them. The other day I was wearing earrings and my DH asked me if the right lobe was ok and he thought it looked sore. It felt fine and I didn't think anything of it. I have not long put earrings in today and putting the right one in needed a very small amount of pressure. This isn't unusual over the years, particularly if I've not worn them for ages (although not the case here, I last had earrings in a few days ago). Didn't think much of it, but then I caught sight of myself in a mirror about 15 mins later and saw blood around the piercing! How can a piercing that's been fine for over 10 years suddenly bleed? I cleaned it with warm water and took my earrings out and it's stopped bleeding and feels a little sore. Not sure what to do, has this happened to anyone before? I can't understand how it can happen

Your ear lobe looked sore so is probably infected.

you've probably caught it on something or knocked it without noticing at the time. call a body piercing shop if you are really worried

Have you had your Covid vaccine recently?

No, I haven't been offered a covid vaccine. I didn't think a historic piercing could become infected, it's not really an open wound capable of infection after over 10 years is it?

@SecondhandTable

No, I haven't been offered a covid vaccine. I didn't think a historic piercing could become infected, it's not really an open wound capable of infection after over 10 years is it?

Any piece of skin can become infected. All it takes is a small scratch and some bacteria. The piercing is a red herring.

As a previous poster mentioned, you could have caught the earring slightly and not noticed. Are there any jagged edges on the back of the earring?

Interestingly, one of the body piercers I follow on Facebook did a post about how she was getting a lot of enquiries over lockdown from people, even with well established piercings, who were having problems with them. If I am stressed or run down or have a cold I can get problems with mine from time to time, some of them are really old too.

it is most likely because of an infection. Read this blog Ear Piercing Bleeding After Years !, I hope you are get your answer here. Thanks

I’ve just had this problem and my piercings are 35 years old! I’ve always worn earrings infrequently and can go months without wearing them with no issues but last year every time I tried to wear them they didn’t go in easily and ended up sore and bleeding. After cleaning them and checking they weren’t infected I decided to go back to basics and buy some solid gold stud and clean them twice a day and twiddle them as you do with a new piercing. They were fine after a couple of days and I’ve just kept the studs in ever since.

My daughter’s ears don’t like metal which isn’t gold or silver. Could it be the earring causing irritation?