Ear piercings have been around for thousands of years and they continue to be extremely popular even today.

1. How to Avoid Infected Ear Piercing/ Ear Piercing
Infection?
Ear piercings have been around for thousands of years and they continue to be extremely popular even
today.
We have already talked about the various types of ear piercings in an earlier post- to help you choose
just the right piercing you’d want to match your style and choice.
Suggested Reading: Different Types of Ear Piercings
What you need to remember is that taking care of a piercing is extremely important and that failure
and/or negligence in doing so can give you an ear piercing infection- which is something none of us
would want.
Right?
Here are some simple tips to help you avoid an infected ear piercing.
Do’s and Don’ts For Avoiding Infected Ear Piercing
Some simple precautions and preventions can help you avoid getting ear pierced infections completely.
It is sad indeed that people throw caution to the winds and regret later when they see infected ear
piercing symptoms.
This is all you need to do if you don’t want infections later:
1. Make sure you get your ears pierced from a professional, especially if you are going in for a piercing
that will require some special skills. Apart from a regular ear lobe piercing, almost any piercing requires
special skills- if you go by my word. Infact, I would not go to an unskilled piercer even for something as
regular as an earlobe piercing.
Going to an amateur or asking your friend to help you with a home ear piercing kit can give you results
which are not visually appealing.
And you would not want THAT after enduring all the pain, would you?

2. If you have a limited budget, wait a little till you have enough money to go to a professional piercer who
can give you the best results.
2. Besides the skill of the piercer, you also need to make sure that his place and tools are clean and
hygienic. Do not hesitate to ask him to wash his hands with soap or a hand sanitizer, wear gloves and
also to sterilize his tools. This is something you should NEVER take lightly because you can get many
infections like hepatitis, tetanus, etc (besides, of course, an HIV infection) if you use an infected needle.
3. A good piercing shop will even clean your ears with an antiseptic disinfectant or an anti-bacterial soap
before the actual process. I would actually suggest you to go a few minutes before your appointment
and watch the piercer carry out the piercing on a couple of people before he does the same on you.
When you do that, you will know better if he is keeping his hands and his instruments sterile (i.e. germs
free).
4. As far as possible, stick to disposable tools. I always make sure that my piercer uses a fresh needle on
me- I am finicky to the extent that I make him take out a fresh needle from the sealed packet in front of
me. Paying for a new needle is well worth the extra expense. It is, after all, better to be safe than to be
sorry!
5. Choose the metal of your first earrings after great deliberation, because that can also make a huge
difference.
If you can afford it, it would be best to opt for earrings with gold posts (the part of the earring which h is
lodged inside the ear lobe). Go for tiny 14 carat earrings or even 9 carat ones, depending upon your
savings.
In case you are on a shoestring budget, go for stainless steel ones. Both these metals are least likely to
give you an allergic reaction.
Besides the two mentioned above, you could even opt for niobium or titanium.
AVOID nickel at all costs- it is known to cause maximum number of ear piercing infections.
6. Though an experienced piercer does not need to be told about that, it is better to tell him to keep the
clasp of your earring a little loose to allow for a little swelling later.
7. Ear piercing guns are preferred over needles these days. Inspite of that, it is better to stick to the age
old technique and opt for needles since they have a sharper tip as compared to the tips of the jewellery
used in guns. This will cause you lesser pain (though they look more frightening) and also give you better
and more accurate results.
After Care Tips to Avoid an Infected Ear Piercing
Here are a few tips that will help you take better care of freshly pierced ears, so that you can avoid
getting ear piercing infection at all:

3. 1. Keep your ears as clean as possible; to keep germs away from freshly pierced ears. You can do
so by cleaning the surrounding area with a small cotton ball to which rubbing alcohol, hydrogen
peroxide, antiseptic ointment or an ear cleaning solution has been applied.
2. Take care to wash your hands before you clean your ears.
3. Gently rotate the earring in your ear once or twice a day. Take care not to overdo it.
4. Depending upon the type of piercing, you might be required to use an antibiotic ointment
and/or medicines to avoid infection.
5. Be very careful while changing clothes and while having shampooing your hair to avoid
accidental snagging.
6. Do not try changing the earrings till the piercing has healed completely. Wait for a few weeks-
and you will have all the time in the world to change them as frequently as you’d like to!
7. If you think that your fresh piercing has got infected inspite of taking all possible preventive
measures, do not sit over it and talk to your parents and/or physician as soon as possible.
Delaying will only make matters worse and , God forbid, if the infection goes really bad, the
doctor might suggest you to take off your earring. Now, THAT could mean losing the ear piercing
completely!
8. Never EVER try removing jewelry from an infected ear piercing yourself- let your physician
handle it.
9. Do not go swimming for at least a month after you get a piercing. The chlorine in pool water or
salt in sea water could cause you an infection.
10. Take some Vitamin C tablets or foods rich in it to provide for faster healing. Increasing the intake
of garlic (because of its high zinc content) has also been known to help.
Conclusion
If you keep these simple do’s and don’ts in mind before and after getting your ears pierced, there should
be no reason to get an infected ear piercing in the first place.
I have four piercings in both my ears and never ever got an infection. All I did was clean my ears with a
cotton ball with 2-3 drops of my dad’s After Shave Lotion for a week or so & it worked for me!!
If you have any more tips to avoid an ear piercing infection, do share them with Mymagicmix.
If you do, however, see any ear piercing infection symptoms, get into action immediately.