Piercing care and mishaps?

[VirgoVertigo]

hi!
yesterday, i got my ears pierced on a whim with my sister. it's the second time i've gotten them pierced, because the first time was ... not so good.
my right lobe got infected so badly that the little stud embedded itself into my lobe and healed up one of the holes! my doctor had to dig sterilized tweezers into the back of my earlobe and pull it out. i'll spare you the bloody details-- it was NASTY and PAINFUL!
this brings me to my inquiries-- do you have any special tips for keeping a good, clean piercing free of infection? have you had any piercing mishaps like mine? what did you do? i'd love to hear about them!

[Trethowan]

Where did you have it done? Everyone has told me the best place to get one's ears pierced is a quality tattoo and piercing studio. They're better than the folks in the mall.

When I pierced mine (granted this was in 1987) I used Neosporin around the ear holes. My sister did this when she pierced her navel, too. The piercing studio said hers healed faster than anyone they'd seen. For basic maintenance I use mouthwash. I just put a bit of Listerine on an earring and poke it through and give it a good wiggle.

[richila]

I had mine done in the 70's. There wasn't antibiotic gel over the counter. I used hydrogen peroxide and Campho Phenique (sp). The most important thing was keeping it clean. I cleaned mine morning and night-every day no exceptions. I got ears pierced for my 13th birthday.

[she_flame]

@VirgoVerigo: I recommend to clean the piercings daily with some sea salt soak (and not with disinfectant, as that makes skin dry, and slows the healing). Also keeps touchinh the healing piercing at minimum. And if they get infected, then clean at least daily with disinfectant.

My own piercing mishaps. Not really mishap, but... I got my first earring at age of nine, and within two weeks from piercing managed to lost left earring. I wanted to keep the other, but my mother said that either I bought new pair from my own money or took the other one off, too. I bought candy, and took the earring off.

A real mihaps I suffered with my nipplepiercing. I took first one few years back, and everything went well - untill I managed to rip it little, which led to painful infection: I couldn't walk without my whole right boob hurting from movement. So, I took the piercing off, and healed the infection. And last summer I decided, that I wanted try that again (having nipple piercin, not having infection). And got again my right nipple pierced. After few weeks I noticed that the barbel was too short (usually they put much too long barbels, as pierced area might swell) and I had to change it longer. Wise thing to do would have been to go local piercer to change it, as is was no new. But I did it at home. And it was not wise. I couldn't get the barbel go right. I hurt, as I basicly tried to push the barbel through my flesh. And of course it got infected, but this time I was stubborn and kept it and nursed it. ^^ So in time infection got down, and I got to keep my pierced nipple.

[VirgoVertigo]

@Trethowan : i got it done at Fire & Ice, which was in the mall but MUCH better than one of the mall kiosks they lay out on the floor. the woman who pierced my ears was pretty mean, but she seemed like she had been pretty experienced in the practice and so i trusted her. i've never heard of using mouthwash for maintenance! i'll keep that trick in mind when i change my earrings this September.

@richila : i used peroxide when we ran out of the special ear care liquid we were given last time. it worked well for a while until i became insanely lazy during my trip to SoCal and didn't clean them. ooh boy, i'm not making THAT mistake again, lesson learned! i've been keeping them clean, especially obsessing over them after a shower.

@she_flame : i might try cleaning with the antiseptic i was given in the morning and at night and then putting something else like sea salt soak, Neosporin (as Trethowan suggested), or Campho-Phenique (as Richila suggested) on it during the day and perhaps leaving it on overnight if i know i will be too exhausted to clean them before bed. and i am sorry about your nipple piercing! that sounds so painful, it hurts me to think about it! X* you are really tough to have gone through the extra work to keep the piercing. when my ear got infected, i said "i want it out NOW!" i cannot imagine nursing an infection like that! you are a real trooper!

[Lamia of the Dark]

I wasn't great at taking care of mine... green gunk built up in the earring backs because I didn't keep them clean enough. I freaked out and changed my earrings earlier than I was supposed to, and at one point (after about 6 weeks, IIRC), when I went to put different earrings in, I couldn't get the earring to poke through the hole in the back and it started bleeding, and I said fuck it and took them out and let the holes close up, and gave all my pierced-earrings to my mother.

[Siead]

i always reccomend if people have piercing problems to get a hypoallergenic stud with a locking back that ISN'T a ball. a ball stud can get eaten into your piercing. make sure the stud is flat. having the locking back is also important. it'll keep the earring from tightening, which can also cause eating.

i had issues with my piercings until i invested in a good pair of studs. i wear them 24/7 unless they're switched out for an occasion (and cleaning of course). haven't had a problem with infections, eatings, or hole-closing since.

[OkamiKodomo]

I got mine pierce when I was seven at a JC Penny jewelry booth. I didn't really have any problems until I was about ten. I took my earrings out at one point, and left them out for quite some time. Months at least. Somehow, the holes, fully healed for some years now, closed up. I still don't have an explaination. But four years after that, I was given a very lovely pair of earrings and I wanted to wear them. So I got my piecing studs out and forced them through. My best guess is there was a build up of scar tissue inside the hole, because there was next to no blood, but some pain. And they haven't closed since.

[Trethowan]

I had mine done at Claire's in the mall the summer before 7th grade. Mom decided that entry into Jr. High signified earrings. I'd wanted two holes but she would only let me have one. I still regret that cause the placement of the one means a second NOW would look really silly.

[VirgoVertigo]

@Lamia of the Dark : yuck, that sounds terrible! so painful! did you get them pierced again?

@OkamiKodomo : wow, that's really mysterious. i've never heard of anybody's holes closing up so suddenly ... but you're very brave for just pushing them through again like that! i would've been too afraid :O i'm glad they've stayed open thus far this time around!

@Trethowan : that's strange. how come she'd only let you have one?? ah well, one earring is just as stylish as two!