Got your ears pierced recently? Despite of the fact that ear piercings are one of the most loved and common style, there are pretty good chances for the same getting infected.

Are you dealing with redness, swelling, or continuous flow of pus at the site?

Then your piercing is certainly not in good shape and it is quite normal in initial healing stage. But if this sustain even after one to two weeks, then there is something to worry. Some signs of ear piercing infection include:

Slight bleeding with pus discharge

Fever, marks and streaks

Itching around the piercing site

Redness and feeling heat around the piercing area

Swelling and discharging of yellow pus

Before you start with the treatment, it is essential to understand that you need to take every necessary step to prevent this infection from spreading. For instance, if it itches a lot, you need to resist that urge to scratch the spot at every cost. In case it becomes relentless, you can switch to use of a topical anesthetic cream. Yes, usage of a product like NumbSkin cream can help resist itching and scratching, preventing it from becoming worse.

Besides, here are some simple home remedies which you can try to treat your skin.

Salt water treatment: Being one of the effective home remedies, saline soak can be used to treat infection with ease.You will just need little amount of mild saltwater solution for cleansing purpose. Just boil some water in a container and add sea salt to it. Let it cool and with a cotton ball apply it to your skin. This will clean the spot and help the cells to rejuvenate in the pierced area. Meanwhile, it keeps the cells hydrated and removes the excess of fluidaccumulated around the wound. Also use of saline water will open capillaries to makes the blood flow smooth and fasten up the healing process.

Neem:Trust this natural remedy to prevent infection and heal your piercing at the earliest. Neem has been used in different forms to treat fungal infections, bacterial infections, and other inflammations. For your ear piercing infections, just take a handful of neem leaves and boil it in water. When the water becomes dark green in color remove it from boil and let it cool. Use cotton balls to apply this solution several times a day.

Turmeric: You can try this anti-septic and anti-bacterial remedy available at your home to treat the ear piercing infection. As turmeric is rich in curcumin, it heals the wounds and cuts quickly. You will require warm water and a pinch of turmeric in it. Make a paste out of it and soak a cotton ball with this mixture. Apply it to you skin and repeat it twice in a day for best results.

Apart from this, there is a list of precautions you must follow to keep your piercings in good shape.

For some days sleep on your back to prevent your pierced spot from touching the sheets or blankets.

Make use of antibacterial soap to wash your hands before touching your piercings.

Strictly avoid pools, saunas, and hot tubs.

These were some of the effective ideas to heal the symptoms of the ear piercing. Follow them and in case the problem doesn’t seem to be under your control, rush to physician immediately.

And Industrial Piercing Infections

With industrial piercing becoming highly popular among both men and women, it is undoubtedly a blend of self expression and facial art work. What make it a different style of piercing is that it involves two piercing holes. This also means it involves double pain and double chances of infection.

As far as pain is considered, you can easily curb down the same using a topical anesthetic solution. Yes, use of NumbSkin cream can help you desensitize the surface for three to four hours. Or simply stating, it blocks the pain signals at the nerve endings. Thus, you will not feel any pain during the process.

What about the infection?

The chances of infections are high is case of this piercings, as these are typically closer to your hair. Hence, your hair can irritate the perforations by:

Getting tangled around the piercing

Exposing the piercing to chemical-based hair products

Spreading excess dirt and oil

Initially, it can be difficult to identify the infection.

How to identify an industrial piercing infection?

As it is quite normal to experience some irritation after the initial process, you need to be watchful to avoid further complications. While your skin is handling two new holes, you need to worry a little if you experience:

Occasional throbbing

Mild swelling

Redness

Slight heat or warmth

Clear or white discharge

These can be some early signs of an infection around the piercing which can be later converted into persistent heat, severe pain, pus, excessive bleeding, bump at the piercing, and fever. While your piercer is the best person to diagnose, you too have to be cautious.

How to keep infections at bay?

To avoid troubled piercing, you must follow these tips:

No too much cleaning: Generally, piercers recommend a daily cleansing routine. And this includes cleaning the site two to three times a day. So avoid too much of cleaning and whenever you do it, make sure you use a saline or salt solution. You can make it at home by adding some sea salt to distilled water and making it to boil once. Let it cool and restore it for usage. All you need to do is soak a cloth or sturdy paper towel in this saline solution and clean the pierced area with gentle hands. Don’t go for tissues, thin towels, or cotton balls, as these can get caught in the jewelry which can be problematic.

Use a warm compress: Instead of cold compress use a warm compress to help promote wound healing. It will be useful for reducing alleviating swelling, irritation, and easing pain. And you can easily make your own warm compress. Use a damp towel, microwave it for 30 seconds, and use it for compressing.

Avoid playing with jewelry: For the new piercing is quite obvious to play with the jewelry. Hence, if you are twisting it back and forth, you are inviting infections. So you must resist this urge to avoid experiencing unwanted side effects. This can increase swelling and irritation. And never remove the jewelry without asking your piercer as it might close the site.

Try diluted tea tree oil: In case, the infection has started taking over, you can try this remedy. Well known for its antimicrobial properties, tea tree oil will be helpful in cleaning and disinfecting your piercing. Remember not to use it in direct form. Dilute it with an equal amount of carrier oil and then apply it to your skin. You can also use it in your cleaning regime. Just add a couple of drops to your saline solution.