Frequently asked Questions
by Wendy RGON. RPT. IRM.
What age should I get my child’s ears pierced?
With children it is often better to wait till 5 to 7years as ears continue to grow throughout your life and early piercing can, by the time the child is a teenager, look too far away from the face.
When is the best time to get ears pierced?
Winter is often the best time as swimming pools should be avoided for the first 2 to 4 weeks due the high bacterial content and there is less chance of infections
What is the major cause of infections with ear piercing?
Touching the piercing without washing your hands, hands carry all sorts of bacteria.
WASH you hands before you touch any piercing.
What’s the best solution to use to care for my piercing?
We encourage gentle solutions such as Studex, these are soothing and encourage healing.
Meths and other alcohol products shouldn’t be used as they sting, and kill off the new healing cells causing delayed healing thus increasing the chance of infection and scar formation.
My ears get red itchy and sore when I wear some earrings. Why does this happen?
Some earrings are made of cheaper metals that will often leach substances like nickel, and magnesium into the surrounding ear tissue causing redness, swelling, itching, discomfort and sometimes fluid discharge. This often incorrectly thought to be an infection.
Change to some good quality sleepers or studs and clean morning and night with studex.
I took my earrings out and now I cant get them back in, what should I do?
If you have an established piercing i.e. older than a year your holes often remain but the piercing shrinks with age and becomes very dry (very common in people over 50). Try using a pair of good quality studs and some piercing lubricant; you’ll be surprised how easily they slip in; or visit your piercer and ask them to check you ears.
What’s the best way to treat an infected ear piercing?
Put some good quality sleepers in, this allows your piercing to drain (on average studs are only 6mm long and if your ear lobe is swollen they are often not long enough) Clean with saline solution or studex apply betadine ointment morning and night for 5 days.
Wash your hands before and after touching your piercing. If unsure or infection becomes worse seek medical advice
NB based on Health Department Guidelines for safe piercing of the skin 1998
The ear lobe and the Helix are some of the fastest parts of the body to heal; it usually takes 6-10 weeks to heal and problems are very rare.
Cartilage piercings however, are more prone to problems; this is because it doesn't heal in the same way as flesh.
Cartilage piercings can take 3 to 6 months to settle down and a little longer to heal.
Be patient with your piercing; keep cleaning it and caring for it in the following method
THE NUMBER ONE CAUSE OF INFECTION IS TOUCHING AND PLAYING WITH THE PIERCING, ONLY TOUCH IT WHEN CLEANING.
Wash your hands before you touch any piercing
• DO clean the piercing once a day in the shower.
• Do use antibacterial soap such as protex.
• Make sure all the soap shampoo, and make up is thoroughly cleaned out of the piercing.
• Saline solution may be used to clean the piercing, or a commercial ear cleaning solution (be sure it contains no meths).
• Soak the piercing for 2-3 minutes, using a cotton wool ball soaked in sea salt water or ear cleaner. Make sure when cleaning to remove all the crusting (dead white blood cells) or it can concrete on the ring and tear the inside of the wound.
• We recommend applying studex solution morning and night with either a cotton bud or wool ball
• DO check the piercing every morning to ensure that your hair hasn't
become entangled in the jewellery; as the hair aggravates the piercing and increases the likelihood of infection.
• If you have long hair it's advisable to use a bobby pin to keep your hair of the piercing.
• With Top-ear piercings it's advisable to get your hair cut a little shorter to keep it of the piercing.
• DO be careful when brushing your hair not to catch the jewellery in the brush as this can tear the wound and cause inflammation.
• DO make sure that you use clean pillowcases and bedding to reduce the likelihood of bacteria getting into the wound.
• DO use B-vitamins with a Zinc supplement as these promote healing.
• DON'T turn the ring in the wound for the first 2-3 weeks as this aggravates the wound, after that you may turn the ring gently once it's been cleaned to allow the cleaning solution to penetrate the wound.
• DON'T remove the jewellery during the healing phase; pulling it in and out can increase the likelihood of infection.
• Wait at least 4 weeks before attempting to change jewellery; at least 6 weeks for cartilage piercings. The longer you wait the more chance you give your piercing of healing.
• Leaving the jewellery out during the healing phase can lead to the hole closing up.
• DON'T put methylated spirits, Peroxide, Betadine or Alcohol onto the wound as they are too astringent and damage the cells, which form the scar tissue.
• DON'T put the headpiece of the phone on the ear that's pierced; be especially careful of this with public phones. If both ears are pierced make sure you clean the earpiece of the phone with disinfectant.
• DON'T get hairspray or cosmetics on the piercing during the healing phase. When washing your hair make sure to wash the piercing carefully.
• If you have a butterfly type stud in make sure, during the healing phase, that there is enough room between the stud and your ear to ensure it is not compressing the ear lobe, if stud sinks into ear come and see us.
For more information on studex
