Having These Cool Piercings And Earrings Made Me Like My Ears More
In college, I started branching out with my ear piercings. I got my cartilage pierced one, two, three times. I got another piercing in the middle of my other ear and one on my upper ear called a forward helix. After that, I became drawn to more unique ear piercings that arent just on the outer edge of the ear. I went to the piercing parlor with a picture of a rook piercing in my hand. It would sit above my hearing aid so there wouldnt be an issue with that, but it was the first time that I would have to tell the piercing artist about my hearing aids and ask if they would be in the way during the piercing process. We agreed that it would be best to take it out so the needle didnt hit it.
Can Vicks Vapor Rub Help Tinnitus
Vicks VapoRub has been a household staple for many decades. Its meant to relieve symptoms of cough, congestion, and muscle aches. Bloggers tout it as a viable treatment for earaches, tinnitus, and earwax buildup. Dont put Vicks VapoRub in or near childrens ears, as it may cause respiratory distress.
What Is The Treatment For Cauliflower Ear
The goals of treatment are to prevent permanent damage to the cartilage by draining blood from the hematoma, treating any infection, and reducing inflammation in order to re-establish the connection of the skin to the underlying cartilage. Antibiotics are prescribed to prevent infection.
Patients may be referred to an ear, nose, and throat doctor or plastic surgeon to treat this deformity and assure proper healing.
Cauliflower ear repair consists of draining accumulated blood through an incision in the ear and applying a compressive dressing to sandwich the two sides of the skin against the cartilage.
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How Do Piercings Affect Getting Help With Hearing Later In Life
Should you have multiple piercings places on the pinna, or have ear modifications such as concha bowl removal, it can affect getting help with your hearing. Should you be diagnosed with hearing loss, hearing devices are usually recommended. Hearing devices such as hearing aids require an ear without any structural problems to be fitted well. Earrings and other ear jewelry can affect the placement and fit of the hearing aid. An improperly fitted hearing aid can cause feedback , reduce the loudness of sound, and increase the risk of hearing aids falling off.
In cases of ear modifications such as concha bowl removal, concha is required for ear molds, and certain types of hearing aids such as in-the-ear hearing aids, behind-the-ear hearing aids, and in-the-ear. Behind-the-ear hearing aids sit behind the ear between the back part of the concha and mastoid area. Without a concha bowl, the hearing aid wont sit properly. In-the-ear hearing aids sit in the concha and ear canal. Without a concha, this type of hearing aid cannot be used.
Causes And Risk Factors
It is important to be extra careful when handling a new piercing. If bacteria get into a newpiercing, it can cause infection. Other causes include:
- Removing the earrings before the piercing heals
- Touching the ears with dirty hands
- Putting your head in a pool, river, lake, or hot tub before the piercing is healed
- Forgetting to clean the new piercings twice daily as recommended by a professional
- Getting the ears pierced with equipment that is not sterilized or in a place that is not properly cleaned or set up for ear piercing
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Epsom Salt For Ear Piercing
Epsom salt helps to remove infection from the skin. Mix Epsom salt in bath water tub and soak your entire body in it to get rid of skin infections and body odor. Prepare a solution with Epsom salt and sea salt. Mix them well and soak cotton ball in it. Apply it on the affected area. Leave it for about 5 minutes. This helps to treat skin infections. Repeat the process two times a day.
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What Are The Potential Complications
Early infection is common especially in children who may not be as fastidious as teenagers with hygiene. Lobe piercings may become infected leading to oedema and swelling around the retaining butterfly. Higher piercings through the cartilage are at risk from perichondritis. Both may lead to later piercing-related keloid formation.
Nickel alloy piercings can lead to contact dermatitis.
A piercing is also a great handle for bullies to grab and rip out.
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Minimize The Risk Of Infection And Scarring With These Tips
Please keep in mind that I am not a professional, but I have learned and tested these tips through experience. These methods have worked well for me, and to this day, every one of my lobe and cartilage piercings has healed quite nicely. Below are the dos and donts for minimizing the risk of swelling, infection, and scarring when you get a new piercing.
Dos: Steps to Take for a New Piercing
Officials Blame ‘poor Procedures’
“This cluster of cases was attributed to people at the kiosk using poor procedures that led to multiple people getting infected at the same time,” says lead researcher William E. Keene, PhD, MPH, of the Oregon Department of Human Services. “But it was because of the location where they were doing this.”
These infections resulted from a number of events such as using the same type of piercing device employed at hundreds or thousands of mall piercing kiosks across the country — an open, spring-loaded “gun” that shoots a stud into the ear. In Oregon, these guns have been banned for cartilage piercings. Now needles or newer encapsulated guns should be used instead.
“With the new encapsulated guns, the stud itself is inside a sealed unit that snaps into place,” Keene tells WebMD. “There is no touching of the stud and it’s more idiot-proof when people drop the gun on the floor and then use it.”
That’s especially important with cartilage piercings, because cartilage doesn’t have its own blood supply. So if an infection does develop from bacteria on the inserted stud, commonly used antibiotics can be ineffective because there’s no blood to transport the medication to cartilage. Earlobes have a blood supply that can better deliver these bacteria-killing drugs.
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Use Saline Solutions When Cleaning The Area
Saline solutions are the best home remedies when it comes to dealing with an infected cartilage piercing.
Even though the saline solution will not be able to kill any bacteria that is present, it helps keep the bacteria at minimum levels, in such a way that the body will be able to control how they spread.
Directions
- A single shot of distilled warm water
- A quarter teaspoon of table salt
Procedure to prepare:
How To Treat A Minor Ear Piercing Infection
You may be able to take care of it at home with minor infections. However, seek medical treatment if youve had a cartilage piercing and it seems infected. Oral antibiotics may be required as these infections can be difficult to treat. In severe infections, hospitalization may be necessary. To treat a minor infection, follow the steps below.1) Before treating your infection, wash your hands well.2) With a saltwater rinse, clean around the piercing 3 times a day. Be sure use a sterile saline or make it by mixing /4 tsp. of salt with 8 oz. of distilled water.3) Avoid using hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, or antibiotic ointments as they can impede the healing process and cause further skin irritation.4) Do not take out the piercing, otherwise, you risk letting the hole close and trap infection.5) On both sides of your earlobe, do not remove the piercing. With paper towels, pat the area dry. Do not use other materials or fibers can remain behind.6) Continue this cleaning regimen twice a day until the piercing is totally healed once the infection appears to have cleared. Routine care is vital during the 6-8 weeks of healing for an initial piercing.
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Can A Tragus Be Pierced Wrong
A tragus piercing can be botched in heaps of ways. Pierced too close to the edge, theyll migrate out. Pierced too close to your head or on a bad angle, theyll take ages to heal, wearing in-ear headphones will be uncomfortable at best and cause bleeding at worst, and theyll be very difficult to change jewellery on.
Cauliflower Ear Symptoms & Signs
Cauliflower ear refers to an acquired physical deformity to the outer ear. As the ear injury heals, it can shrivel up and fold in on itself and appear pale, giving it a cauliflower-like appearance.
Cauliflower ear has also been referred to as boxer’s ear or wrestler’s ear. Signs and symptoms of cauliflower ear include a visible deformity of the outer ear that may appear shriveled or shrunken. In the acute stages of an ear injury,
- bruising,
- Facial swelling
- Severe bleeding
If the damage from the trauma is severe and medical attention should be sought immediately. Once scarring and deformity of the cartilage occurs, there may be no symptoms.
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What Is Cauliflower Ear
- Cauliflower ear is an acquired deformity of the outer ear. It is usually due to blunt trauma to the ear.
- When the cartilage of the ear is injured by trauma or inflammation, the blood supply from the skin is disrupted, often forming a large pocket of blood, called a hematoma. As the injury to the ear heals it can shrivel up and fold in on itself and appear pale, giving it a cauliflower-like appearance, hence the term cauliflower ear.
- Wrestlers, boxers, and martial artists in particular are susceptible to this type of injury, therefore, cauliflower ear is also sometimes called boxer’s ear or wrestler’s ear.
- In 2014, UFC fighter Leslie Smith’s cauliflower ear exploded after a direct hit from opponent Jessica Eye, causing the fight to stop. The fighter had an existing cauliflower ear that was intermittently being drained of fluid before the fight, but the ear was further damaged by the intense blow, causing it to bleed profusely.
Always Wash Your Hands
Although this is common knowledge when dealing with piercings on the body, many people rarely follow this advice.
When you fiddle with the cartilage piercing without having washed your hands, you increase the chances of transmitting germs that can cause an infection to the piercing.
You, therefore need to ensure that you always wash your hands using a liquid antibacterial soap, accompanied by hot water to ensure that you will not get an infected cartilage piercing.
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Fever Chills Or Upset Stomach
Ear piercing infections can present themselves as fever, chills, or an upset stomach. In this case, we would recommend seeing a doctor especially if youre experiencing other signs of infection or if your piercing is still in the healing process. Make sure to tell your doctor that you have a new piercing so they can determine whether or not this is the cause.
Is it infected?
These symptoms are pretty common outside of piercing infections. So there is a possibility that the timing is merely a coincidence. Consider your recent eating habits and any contact with sick people.
Regardless of whether the infection is piercing related, its worth a trip to your health provider if the symptoms persist. Nobody likes being sick.
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What You Need To Know About Pierced Ear Infections
Preventing earring hole infections all starts with proper hygiene both right after a piercing, and for years to come. If you recently got a piercing, make sure to wash hands thoroughly before touching the piercings to avoid exposing the area to any unwanted bacteria.
Piercings should also be soaked twice a day for two to five minutes with a saline or salt solution. A soaked, clean gauze can be used to gently clean the area, said cosmetic dermatologist Sejal Shah, founder of SmarterSkin Dermatology in New York City.
If your piercing is fully healed, make sure to clean both the earrings and piercing site whenever you remove your jewelry. Keep earrings clean by wiping them down with an antiseptic cleanser , Purell, soap and water or even mouthwash in a pinch. And do so often because buildup of any sort in your earrings can spell trouble.
Dead skin can build up around the backing as a result of dandruff or infrequent removal and serve as a nidus for germs, said Dr. Francesca Fusco of Wexler Dermatology in New York City.
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Can Cartilage Piercing Cause Cauliflower Ear
Cartilage damage may also result from piercing the upper ear in the cartilage. Piercing can lead to a type of ear cartilage infection called auricular perichondritis, which can result in cauliflower ear. An even more rare cause of cauliflower ear is from the inflammation of cartilage in relapsing polychondritis.
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Home Remedies For An Infected Ear Piercing
So you just had a new ear piercing a couple of days ago. And now youre frustrated because you cannot flaunt it yet due to the fact that its infected. Continue reading to know how you can get rid of that infection at home ASAP.
Did you know that its not just a new ear piercing that can get infected, but also an old one? Even the slightest tugging and irritation can actually leave an ear piercing that you got years ago infected. So in other words, its very important for you to be very kind and gentle to an ear piercing, be it something old or new.
But definitely, a recently-acquired ear piercing is more susceptible to becoming infected. Especially if the piercing is done in an unsanitary place with the use of unsanitary tools, an infection may strike. And by the way, you may also end up with a contagious disease if you get your ears pierced at the wrong place by the wrong person!
So what should you do if your new ear piercing appears infected? Observe. If the site is extremely swollen and theres a lot of greenish or yellowish pus, its a good idea to see a doctor. This is especially true if you are also encountering other symptoms like dizziness, vomiting, fatigue, chills and fever.
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Poor And Unhygienic Procedures
The first and most common cause of infections is the use of unsterilized equipment and poor procedures i.e. unsterilized needle, gun and other equipment. There has been reports of cluster of infections caused by the Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria in Oregon, US. This bacterial infection have been attributed to the piercing kiosk using poor procedures that led to multiple people getting infected at the same time .
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Dont Use A Piercing Gun
Avoid getting your ears pierced with a piercing gun.
Dont get your ear pierced with a gun. By doing so, you are quickly forcing a blunt post through your flesh, and this could result in scarring. Make sure your piercer uses a very sharp, hollow needle that is discarded after use. Cartilage piercings should NEVER be pierced with a gun.
What Ear Piercings Are Most Likely To Become Infected
There are so many options for spots on your ear you can pierce and, TBH, you can get an infection anywhere. That said, some spots are riskier than others. Piercings that go through ear cartilage are much more likely to become infected and are more difficult to treat than infections through the ear lobe or the soft tissues just above the lobe, Dr. Kaplan says.
Dr. Mankarious agrees. Piercing infections are most likely to occur in areas where the blood supply is low and cartilage is notorious for a low blood supply, she explains. Cartilage infections can be particularly dangerous just for that reason. In other words, its difficult for antibodies and antibiotics to reach the infection site when its in your cartilage, giving the infection the opportunity to take over.
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Always Wash Your Hands Before Touching Or Treating Your Piercing
Minor infections can often be treated at home, but its important to make sure you are doing so with clean hands. Make sure you do not have a fever or swollen lymph nodes, which suggests you should seek a doctor for further evaluation, notes Chang. Avoid excessively touching or manipulating the infected site as this can worsen the irritation and inflammation. If touching the area, make sure to wash your hands thoroughly beforehand. Soap and water, please!
If you dont think the jewelry is the cause, then the source of the infection is probably bacterial. The way to fix that is to kill and/or clear the bacteria. The best way to accomplish this is to start cleaning the area twice a day and doing sea salt soaks twice a day basically treating it like a brand new piercing. The heat and the salt both help to draw out pus and other fluids that may contain bacteria. Hopefully, following that regimen for a few days will clear up an infection in its early stages. You can do this with a q-tip and sterile saline or saltwater . Remember to clean both the front and back of the earlobe.
Avoid alcohol or hydrogen peroxide to the affected area, as these can further irritate the skin and slow down the healing process, says Chang.