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Definition
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Area around pierced earring is red, tender, or swollen
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Earlobes can also become torn or lacerated
General
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Piercing guns should not be used. Two problems with piercing guns are tissue injury and exposure to body fluids from repeated prior use. The Association of Professional Piercers (APP) recommends against using piercing guns.
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Individuals should have their ears pierced by someone who is experienced and uses sterile technique.
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Reputable piercing studios provide aftercare instructions and these instructions should be followed for the entire duration of the healing time.
Healing Times for Ear Piercings
Healing times vary from person to person. The values below are averages.
Complications of Ear Piercing - Common
Minor complications occur in about 30% of people who have their ears pierced. These complications most commonly happen in the first few days or weeks after piercing.
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Contact dermatitis: Contact dermatitis is fairly common and most often is the result of allergic reaction to nickel (contained in some piercing jewelry). Piercing jewelry should be made of hypoallergenic metal. Examples of metals that cause the least amount of allergy are stainless steel, titanium, platinum, palladium, and niobium. Titanium has the least risk of allergic reaction. Even gold posts should be avoided immediately after a piercing, because even higher quality gold can contain trace amounts of nickel.
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Embedded clasp: The backing (clasp, ball) gets stuck (embedded) under the skin. The most common cause is that the earring post is too short (the thickness of earlobes varies) or the clasp is squeezed on too tightly. A visit to the doctor is often necessary to extract the embedded clasp.
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Local infection: A minor local infection at the piercing site may occur in 10-30% of individuals, even when the piercing is performed in a sterile manner by professionals. Symptoms of a local infection include yellow discharge, crusting, and mild irritation.
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Traumatic injury: Tears of skin can occur because of a pulling injury on jewelry. The most common site is the ear lobe and a common scenario is the earring getting hooked on an article of clothing during dressing or undressing.
Complications of Ear Piercing - Uncommon
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Auricular chondritis: This is a serious infection of the ear cartilage that occurs in a piercing through the cartilage of the helix. The helix is the folded rim of skin and cartilage of the upper outer ear. This infection can begin weeks after an ear piercing and it usually requires IV antibiotics.
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Blood-borne infections - Hepatitis B and C: Blood-borne infections can be transmitted by sharing earrings with other people or through use of un-sanitary piercing needles. Professional piercing studios follow strict sanitation guidelines and utilize sterile single-use piercing needles.
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Cellulitis: Rarely a local infection at a piercing site can spread into the surrounding skin and cause cellulitis; symptoms are spreading redness and increasing pain at the site. In such cases oral antibiotic therapy is needed.
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Blood-borne infections - HIV
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Keloid: A keloid is the medical term for excessive scar formation at wound or surgical site. It develops over months. It occurs because some individuals are simply prone to developing excessive scar formation and not because of how the piercing was performed.
Causes of Pierced Ear Infections
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The most common causes of infection are piercing the ears with unsterile equipment, inserting unsterile posts, or frequently touching the earlobes with dirty hands.
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Another frequent cause is earrings that are too tight either because the post is too short (the thickness of earlobes varies) or the clasp is closed too tightly. Tight earrings don't allow air to enter the channel through the earlobe. Also, the pressure from tight earrings reduces blood flow to the earlobe and makes it more vulnerable to infection. Often this can be prevented by leaving the clasp at the notch on the post.
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Some inexpensive earrings have rough areas on the posts that scratch the channel and can result in infection. Heavy earrings can cause breaks in the skin lining the channel. lnserting the post at the wrong angle also can scratch the channel, so a mirror should be used until insertion becomes second nature. Posts containing nickel can also cause an itchy, allergic reaction.
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