Poor quality jewelry. Trauma to the piercing site (playing with, pulling, or pressing on your piercing). Improper aftercare. The angle of your piercing.
If you have hair that falls down over your ears, you may want to keep it pulled back while the piercing is healing, just to prevent your hair from potentially contaminating the piercing site.
If you don’t have any saline solution, you can make your own. Put about a half teaspoon of salt in about 1 cup (0. 24 liters) of water, then stir until the salt has dissolved. Hold the cotton ball with the saline directly on the bump for a few minutes to help it soak into the skin and penetrate the bump to loosen up the fluid. [5] X Trustworthy Source National Health Service (UK) Public healthcare system of the UK Go to source
Don’t pull at the piercing or play with it — you could cause additional trauma to the piercing site.
If the piercing site is red or swollen, or if it’s painful for you to clean it, have a reputable piercer or healthcare professional look at it.
If the infection doesn’t improve after you’ve been caring for it for 48 hours, or gets worse, you should also seek emergency medical care. It might turn out to be nothing, but it’s better to be safe.
Go to https://safepiercing. org/ and click on “Find a Member” to find an APP member near you.
Don’t remove the piercing before you see your doctor. It could cause infection to spread. If your doctor prescribes a round of antibiotics, take the full round, even if your ear starts to feel better. If you stop taking antibiotics early, your infection could return.
This level of infection is relatively rare with ear piercings, especially if you have a reputable piercer or healthcare professional look at it as soon as you notice signs of possible infection. Your ear may become infected again if you have an allergy to the jewelry’s material. According to Dermatologist Navid Malakouti, it’s common to be allergic to nickel, which can be sneaky because “nickel is found in metals such as stainless steel, silver, white gold, and 14k yellow gold. " In the most severe cases, surgery would be necessary to repair damaged ear cartilage.
If your piercer gives you a longer time to keep the piercing jewelry in, follow their instructions. Taking it out too soon could cause trauma to the piercing and lead to bumps or infection. For rashes caused by a new piercing or piece of jewelry, it should clear up in 1-2 weeks if you take care of your skin.
After cleaning the piercing site, turn the piercing jewelry 3 or 4 times to keep it from getting stuck, then dab the piercing dry with sterile gauze or a tissue. Follow any additional aftercare instructions your piercer provides you. Your piercer may sell a particular brand of saline solution, but that doesn’t mean that’s the only brand you can use. Any saline solution will effectively clean your piercing.
If you don’t have a travel pillow, you can also experiment with rolled towels around your neck or at the top of your head to keep pressure off your ear. After the piercing is healed, take out your jewelry before you go to bed each night so the piercing is exposed to the air. [15] X Research source
Always wash your hands before handling your jewelry and avoid playing with it or touching it except to put it in and take it out.
You’re more likely to get a bump if this happens before your piercing has completely healed. However, it’s still a possibility even after you’ve had the piercing for months.
