Ear Piercing

Posted on October 11, 2007 in Types of Body Piercing

Ear piercing is a very popular form of body piercing. Earrings or ornaments put on the ear are attached to the ear after a piercing is done in the earlobe or any other external part of the ear. The normally used term “ear piercing” is in general connected to an earlobe piercing. Piercing in the upper portion of the external ear is commonly known as “cartilage piercing.” Ear cartilage piercing is more complex in comparison with earlobe piercing and needs a greater amount of time for healing.

Ear Piercing Techniques

Below are some ear piercing techniques

Another commonly practiced method employed in ear piercing is the use of a hollow piercing needle, similar to the one used for purposes of body piercing. These types of needles used by an expert body piercer are fairly safe, and involve less pain than those piercing done with the help of instruments. Piercing done with such needles does not take a great deal of time for healing.

Risks of ear piercing

There are certain ear piercing risks and these shouldn’t be taken lightly. The common ear piercing risks are:

Infection: In the absence of adequate care, an ear infection can result in scarring and even blood poisoning.

Allergic Reaction: Some people are allergic to particular metals and only realize this during piercing and have a serious reaction to the ear jewellery. The inflammation, coupled with problems in breathing can result in hospitalization.

Nerve Damage: If an ear piercing isn’t positioned cautiously, it can penetrate a nerve, detaching it and making the adjoining area devoid of any sensation.

Ear piercing after care

Below are some ear piercing after care methods and techniques

The use of sterile cotton, cotton gauze or other disinfected material should be used for cleaning from the second night of ear piercing onwards. You should exercise caution while removing any trickle from the skin in the vicinity of the pierced area. If the ear piercing has become loose and can be twisted with relative ease clean the different sections at a time, while rotating it through the pierced area.

Healing after ear piercing

You may have questions on how much it will take to heal after an ear piercing. Here is what experts says about healing after an ear piercing.

Comments

10 Responses to “Ear Piercing”

  1. jenn Says:
    September 6th, 2008 at 6:53 am

    well I got my cartilage pierced 2 days ago and it really hurts and is swollen .is that a sign the it may be infected ? if not how long will it take to heal ?

  2. meighan Says:
    November 5th, 2008 at 1:49 am

    i got my cartilage pierced 3 days ago,today being day four. and i woke up this morning and my ear is bright red and very swollen. ever since i got it done i have cleaned it every 2-3 hours. it does not seem infected.
    is this normal? what is the cause?

  3. Lauren Says:
    December 24th, 2008 at 8:02 pm

    cartilage piercings are going to hurt for about a week and swelling is very common, I wouldn’t clean it more than 3 times a day though because although you kill the bacteria and everything that gets on it you can also destroy the healing tissue thus making it hurt more and take longer to heal…the swelling should go away with in a week give or take a few days if not then get it checked by a doctor…also if you had it done with a piercing gun then be very careful with it as it tends to cause trauma to tissue… and also getting it done professionally is the best way to go, but for those of you who don’t then 1 make sure that what ever you use to pierce the skin is sterilized this is very easy to do just soak it in alcohol to reduce pain for the piercing I would suggest holding ice to the area before hand if you hold a piece of ice to one side of the ear then the back side of your ear will start to feel warm then will cool off, once it does this get the piercing done quickly before the blood warms up this will prevent a lot of pain, as well as swelling…I did mine this way yesterday, it is red and sore, but isn’t swelling…also cartilage piercings don’t always hurt more than lobe piercings, some people say that it does, others say that it hurts less do to the lack of blood vessels in the upper ear…just to keep that in mind…

  4. Katty Says:
    January 5th, 2009 at 9:53 pm

    I got my cartilage pierced about a week ago and now my ear is swollen and bright red. I heard that salt water can help keep the ear clean, can sea salts work as well? And if I put ice on my ear will that make the swelling go down?

  5. Steph Says:
    January 5th, 2009 at 9:55 pm

    I got my ear pierced some days ago and now it’s swollen. I heard stories that people have died or something. I’m worried. Should I put ice on it to bring down the swelling? I’ve also heard things about salts…

  6. Leah Partridge Says:
    February 5th, 2009 at 5:42 pm

    Hey.
    I got my cartiledge pierced last year in June.
    For a couple of days it will hurt a lot to touch it or anything but then it goes away.
    Sometimes it might hurt occasionally and if you have had it done with a gun then there is a chance of a small bump close to the piercing.

  7. Haley Says:
    March 24th, 2009 at 8:55 pm

    I am considering getting my cartilage pierced. My best friend pierced hers for hereself and had no problems what so ever. I wanted to have her do it for me soon along with all of my other friends their for fun, but my mom said it she would consider it after talking to my doctor about the risks. Is it true pinching a nerve can cause partialf face paralysis???

  8. liz Says:
    June 18th, 2009 at 1:18 am

    I got my cartilage pierced about four or five weeks ago. it seemed really normal until i changed the earring. The earring i changed it to wasn’t a cartilage earring, just a regular stud. but i cleaned it and my ear with ear piercing sanitizer. after about two days its gotten very swollen and hurts a lot. i took the earring out and looked at my ear, its bleeding slightly and was a bit crusty and there was clear puss. I think its an allergic reaction not an infection. anyways, i cleaned my ear, kept the earring out, and the swelling has seemed to go down as well as the pain and it only been an hour since then.

    what should i do?

  9. Mindy Says:
    July 5th, 2009 at 5:31 am

    I pierced my own cartilage 3 days ago. It was red for the first day, and then it calmed down by the next day. It’s still sore, but I’m not worried. It apparently takes about a week to stop hurting. I’m cleaning it using salty water. I just disolved some sea salt (not table salt!) in hot water. It’s working really well. My ear isn’t getting crusty or anything :D

  10. Kelsy Says:
    July 29th, 2009 at 8:00 pm

    i just got my cartlaige pierced and every time i touch it, it hurts. how long will this go on for because it really bothers me

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