Treating the infection at home
- Wash your hands before touching or cleaning your piercing.
- Clean around the piercing with a saltwater rinse three times a day. …
- Don’t use alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, or antibiotic ointments. …
- Don’t remove the piercing. …
- Clean the piercing on both sides of your earlobe.
Accordingly, can you put antibiotics on a piercing?
Treatment for infected piercings
You may need antibiotics if your piercing is infected. This can be a cream, ointment, or tablets.
Likewise, people ask, how long does it take for an infected ear piercing to heal?
Minor pierced ear infections can be treated at home. With proper care, most will clear up in 1 to 2 weeks.
What do doctors do for infected piercings?
To treat an infection in an old piercing, people should clean the earring and both sides of the ear with saline solution, and handing it with clean hands. If the infection does not improve, spreads, or fever occurs, a person should seek medical attention.
What ointment is good for piercings?
DO NOTapply any ointment such as Bacitracin, Neosporin or any other “triple antibiotic” ointment on your piercing. These prevent oxygen from reaching the wound and form a sticky residue, which can cause complications.
Is my piercing infected or irritated?
According to Thompson, the telltale signs of an infection are simple: “The area around the piercing is warm to the touch, you notice extreme redness or red streaks protruding from it, and it has discolored pus, normally with a green or brown tint,” Thompson says.
How do you remove an embedded piercing?
What happens if you leave an ear piercing infection untreated?
“Untreated infection could lead to more complicated infections that require drainage and oral antibiotics,” Fusco said.
Do I need antibiotics for infected piercing?
Most infected ear piercings are caused by a bacteria called Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and so you need an antibiotic that covers this bacteria, such as ciprofloxacin or levofloxacin.
How do I get my ear piercing swelling to go down?
Home Treatment
- Stop any bleeding by applying direct pressure to the piercing site.
- Apply a cold pack to help reduce swelling or bruising. …
- Wash the wound for 5 minutes, 3 or 4 times a day, with large amounts of warm water.
- Elevate the piercing area, if possible, to help reduce swelling.
Does salt water help infected ear piercings?
Using a saline solution or sea salt solution to keep it clean can be one way to keep your piercing site free from infection as it heals.
Can you put Neosporin on a piercing?
NEVER USE: Bacitracin or Neosporin. Petroleum based ointments CLOG the piercing and make it difficult for your body to heal. … These products are too strong and will irritate your skin and piercing.
How do you sleep with a newly pierced ear?
If you have a new ear piercing, a thinner travel pillow works great to keep pressure off while you’re sleeping. If you don’t have a travel pillow you can roll a clean cotton T-shirt or sheet up and place it around the ear so that when you lay on your side, there’s no direct pressure on your ear.
