Re: Ear rings

Welches schrieb:
I let #1 have her ears pierced at the beginning of the summer, and I
had mine done at the same time. Most of the time her ears have been
fine, but just now one (which was okay until a couple of days ago)
has flared up and is red, a bit swollen on the lobe, slightly sore
and giving off some discharge (not blood). I've taken it out and am
cleaning it with TCP before putting it back in with smaller backs.

Ok, I've got both ears pierced and I had a belly button ring. DO NOT TAKE THE EARRING OUT! This is really important. You just aggravate the wound. Put a drop of your disinfectant on both sides (front and back) then twist/twirl the earring around for a bit (10, 20 times) to work the liquid into the wound. Repeat a few times throughout the day.
Don't put different backs on it, the original piercing studs are made of a hypo allergenic material, usually surgical steel. Your other back might have nickel or another alloy in it that might either react with your disinfectant or cause an allergic reaction.

I'm guessing the discharge is ***. I usually squeezed my ear between my fingers a bit before or just after applying the disinfectant to get as much of it out as possible.
If it doesn't heal up within a week of the disinfecting and twirling, or if it gets worse (it will probably get worse the first day and then start getting better) go and see a doctor.

If your daughter as allergies she may also react to the disinfectant, try using 0.7% saline solution instead (get it at the pharmacy along with a syringe so you can use the syringe as a dropper. No needle, of course!) That's how my belly button rig always cleared up really quickly (it got caught in my zip once.. don't ask, it was so painful). I used a roll of sticky tape as a kind of "bathtub" around the ring and filled it with the saline solution moving the ring around with a q-tip, once it was all clean I'd dab up the liquid with a clean tissue, rise again with another bath and then apply bepanten cream, working it into the wound by moving the ring back and forth a few times. Maybe that would also be a good option to promote faster healing, though I don't know how you'd create a "bathtub" for an ear...

take care!
nicole
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