Meh. Just... Meh.

[ysobel]

So I've been running around one-earrings because the right ear had a weird
rejection thing going, and I want to get it re-pierced but also wanted to
give it time first to heal up.

Now the other ear is having problems -- the piercing isn't migrating, but
it was hurting last night a bit, and "looked puffy" this morning, so I
took it out for overnight. There is a smallish oozy unhappy bit right above
the piercing -- I don't know if, like, something I wear at night presses
the earring at a funny angle against my ear or what, but it's definitely
not happy.

Earring's out for overnight, I alcoholed the earring and my ear, said ear
is uncovered and has nothing pressing against it. We shall see what it
looks like in the morning. With my luck the abcess will take forever to
heal but the piercing will close up.

All I want is to wear pretty earrings. Why are you making this so hard,
universe? :(

Comments

[jesse_the_k]

Wahhh! That stinks.

I've had similar problems, and happy to share tips if you're interested.

[ysobel]

Yes please :)

This two-week approach always works for me

[jesse_the_k]

I don’t have any immunosuppression issues, which would complicate things.

Here’s my tried & true approach.

1. procure: “triple-antibiotic” cream (called Neosporin in US) and hydrogen peroxide.


2. apply: peroxide with cotton ball or TP. Wait around 5 minutes. It sizzles annoyingly. Dab the lobe dry with TP or cotton ball.


3. apply: a dot of triple-antibiotic over the inflamed hole on both sides of the lobe. It’s messy. Don’t wear earrings.

I repeat these steps for two - four days. It’s “calm enough” when the swelling & redness are gone, but the hole may still be red & tender.

1. insert: thick earwire (or post) with very light earring. It’ll probably hurt; I pull the lobe down to stretch the hole open, and twist the wire as I enter. I prefer 20ga niobium: it’s absolutely non-reactive, and the thicker wire holds the hole open as the healing scar forms.


2. tolerate: earwire for an entire week without removing. Before bed, I continue to dot both sides of the lobe with triple-antibiotic. At least twice a day I roll the wire so it doesn’t get held by the matrix of healing skin.

Wallah! At the end of two weeks the holes are happy again. I experienced this a lot when I was young & broke wearing basemetal earwires and posts. It still happens occasionally even though I now wear nothing but sterling, gold, or niobium wires. I don’t understand it.

Hope this helps!

Re: This two-week approach always works for me

[ysobel]

Do you not wear ear-things at *all* for those 2-4 days? Doesn't the hole close up on you? (It's been maybe 8mo since piercing and even still, leaving them unoccupied for 15 hours means it's hard to get anything through.)

Re: This two-week approach always works for me

[jesse_the_k]

Yes, I let the holes heal for 2-4 days. They do tighten up a bit. But when I push the thick wire through, a little plug of dried skin comes out; I think that's what prevents them closing entirely.

Then again, I was super conservative when I got my ears pierced, and wore the piercing earrings for the whole 6 weeks. And that was 40 years ago, so ....