Ear Lobe Piercings

Summary

• Do not touch your piercing, or let others touch it while it is healing
• Healing Time 6 - 8 weeks
• Clean your healing piercing only once a day, with antibacterial soap
• Never use alcohol swabs, Betadine, hydrogen peroxide, or tea tree oil to clean your piercing
• Pain, redness and unusual discharge may be due to infection. Consult your piercer or a physician if you develop any of these symptoms
• Take vitamin C and zinc to maximise your healing
• Wait till your piercing is healed before changing jewelry yourself

Daily Care Routine

• Do not touch your piercing unless you are cleaning it. Unwashed hands carry bacteria and your piercing is a point where these bacteria can penetrate below your skin and cause an infection.
• While healing, at least for the first 2 - 3 weeks, your piercing will need to be cleaned once daily - whilst showering is ideal. You will need to use an antibacterial soap that contains triclosan (e.g.Dettol Liquid Soap).

  The step-by-step procedure is:

1. Wash your hands with antibacterial soap.
2. Wet the piercing with plain water.
3. Put a few drops of antibacterial soap on the piercing and work them into a lather with a cotton bud.
4. Try to loosen any crusted discharge and float it off the jewelry and your skin with the cotton bud.
5. Leave the antibacterial soap on the piercing for two minutes while rotating the jewelry back and forth, allowing the disinfectant to penetrate the piercing.
6. Rinse with water and air dry thoroughly.

Piercing Options and Jewelry Choices

• Suitable Positions
  1. Transverse
     
     • The commonest piercing, where the jewelry enters at the front face of the lobe and leaves at the rear.
     • The position on the lobe is a matter of personal taste. More than one piercing can be made per lobe.
     • This piercing can be made by a piercing gun or with a needle.
        
        
       
  2. Horizontal
     • A horizontal piercing through the lobe with a bar bell, where the bar enters at the edge of the lobe closest to the face and leaves the lobe away fron the face.
     • Uses straight or curved barbells.
     • This piercing can only be done with a piercing needle and should only be undertaken by experienced piercers.

• Suitable Jewelry Types
  1. Barbells
     Either choose internally threaded bar bells or, if the bar is externally threaded, be very sure that no threads are exposed.
  2. Captured bead rings
     Rings are much cheaper than bar bells. Special pliers may be required to remove or replace the bead.
  3. Studs
     These are most commonly inserted with piercing guns. They can easily be inserted with a piercing needle. More difficult to clean than rings or bar bells.
• Suitable Sizes
  Between 16 gauge and 20 gauge or jewelry is usually used in transverse piercings.
• Suitable Materials
  Surgical Stainless Steel, 18 carat gold, titanium, niobium.
  Gold plated jewelry is commonly used. There is a risk the gold plating will wear off the jewelry before the piercing is healed. For this reason be sure that the underlying metal is medical grade stainless steel.
  Do not use 9 carat gold or silver (which can stain the tissues permanently) in healing piercings. They can be used in healed piercings.
• Changing Jewelry
  It is possible to change jewelry during the first 2 months, but this is best done by a professional piercer. Once a piercing is healed anyone can change the jewelry.
  
  

Other Issues

• Bacterial Infections
  
  1. Symptoms include increased pain, increased redness and an increase in the amount and thickness of the discharge. The infected discharge is usually thick and yellow, green or grey and may have an unusual odour.
  2. Consult with your physician or piercer and do not remove the jewelry until you seek advice. Removing the jewelry may prevent pus draining and cause an abscess to form..
• Cleaning Agents
  Never use alcohol swabs, Betadine, hydrogen peroxide, methylated spirit, or tea tree oil to clean your piercing. These do kill bacteria but they also destroy your healing flesh. Dead flesh then becomes easily infected.
• Granulation Tissue
  Granulation tissue presents as a weaping excess growth of tissue usually on the rear of an ear lobe piercing. It is common with piercings done by gun. Consult your piercer or a physician.
• Lavender Oil
  This essential oil lubricates the piercing and is reputed to reduce scar tissue and prevent tightening. It must be used in its dilute form, a drop applied to each side of the piercing with a cotton bud, the excess removed, and then the jewelry moved back and forth through the piercing. The correct dilution is 10 drops lavender oil in 15mls grapeseed or sweet almond oil.
• Piercing Guns
  There is no sound evidence that piercing guns have any higher or lower rate of infection or problems than piercing with a needle by a body piercer. However, as with body piercers, try to make sure that the user of the gun has been properly trained by a representative of the company tht sells the gun.
• Smoking
  
  1. Smoking slows healing by suppressing your immune system and blood circulation to the skin.
  2. If you cannot stop smoking then you should reconsider having any piercings.
• Swimming
  Swimming is not prohibited while your piercing is healing, but you should only swim for short periods in pools that are thoroughly chlorine- or ozone-treated. Do not let your skin become wrinkly and soft. If you swim in the ocean or waterways, do not swim after heavy rain. Storm water run-off often contains bacteria and parasites.
• Tightening
  Tightening can occur in all piercings. The skin at either or both ends can grow tightly against the jewelry. This is not dangerous and will usually resolve if the piercing is rotated or moved about with each daily washing. However, you should not rotate the piercing excessively as this can delay healing.
• Viral Infections
  Viruses such as Hepatitis A, B, and C, and HIV can penetrate a piercing that has not healed. These viruses may be present in the blood, saliva, semen, sweat and vaginal secretions of infected persons. Until your piercing has healed avoid any other person's bodily fluids contacting your piercing.
• Vitamins
  Studies have shown that vitamin C and zinc promote wound healing. Aim for about 2000-3000 mg vitamin C and 100 mg zinc daily. Note that these amounts are not available in multivitamin tablets. Ask at your pharmacist or health-food store for advice on suitable products. If you are taking any medications, ask your pharmacist to make sure there are no interactions between them and the vitamin C and zinc you intend to take. For example, vitamin C can delay the absorption of the contraceptive pill - they should be taken at different times.