Pierced ears

[VN2NJ]

Ok I got DD's ears pierced the week before X-mas this past year. I cleaned and rotated them 2 times a day ever since. The right one is fine and freely spins and hole looks normal. The left one has been giving us trouble. Once in awhile it will not spin, so I will look at the back of her ear and there is always dried blood mixed with puss stuck bwtn the ear and the earring back. I will clean it really well with the antiseptic they give you and check it. It will be fine and spin freely after that. A week later the same thing! This has been going on for 4 months! Today, I took the earring out it bled a decent amount. I cleaned it up and felt the hole and it feels like there is a lump there. It should feel flat. So my question is...what could this be? Scar tissue or something? I took both earrings out and cleaned the holes really well. I am thinking about just letting them close up b/c it is beginning to become a serious pain in the butt. I am constantly checking them and cleaning them and I don't ever remember having this much trouble with my pierced ears. Anyone have any advice? She looks so darn cute with pierced ears so I am torn!

[MammaTurtle]

What are her earrings made of and where did you get them pierced? She may have an allergy to what they are made of (I had this problem). Usually it affects both ears (both not healing instead of just one) but that is still probably a possibility. It sounds like she may have a tiny abscess in the one that hasn't healed and is infected. I would take her to the Ped and have the infection treated but wouldn't remove the earring as he/she will likely request, removing the earring will let the hole heal and "close in" the infection. I'd also get her some completely hypoallergenic earrings, made either out of surgical grade steel or (preferably) titanium. My girls' ears were pierced by their Ped, who used Blohmdal (sp?) earrings which are made of titanium.

[staceyc]

We had the exact same issue with one of dd's earlobes, I don't remember which side. It had a lump-sometimes it would bleed a lot-often seemed to have pus that built up behind the back. My pediatrician never seemed concerned-she was the one who pierced them for us. I am happy to report that after several months, both look fine. I do still rotate her earrings frequently because even after a year, the skin tends to grow around the posts if I am not diligent. Sorry if that's TMI!

edited to add: we had trial and error to see what kind of earrings worked best once we took the studs out from the dr.'s office. Sterling silver seems to work the best for her-and Target actually carries some cute kids earrings that are sterling.

[VN2NJ]

Thanks guys! Will they still close up quickly if they were pierced 4 months ago? I took the earrings out and used the cleaner. I want to let the infection clear up. It is just weird b/c that ear will be clean and perfectly fine for over a month and then the blood/puss will come out of nowhere. It will clear up and then a few weeks later it is back! I am just getting tired of worrying about it. I guess I will give it a week or 2 and see how it looks. If it closes up then it closes up. Should I put anything else on it? Neosporin or anything?

[Liese]

This would happen to my dd if she did not get the nickle free earrings. I used to put a gob of neosporin on the post part and the back and put them back on (with good earrings). They would heal up nicely. I still need to make sure she uses only certain earrings.

[Jacqueline&David]

What kind of metal are you using? That happened to me when I got them pierced as a teen (which was a horrible ordeal and painful for a few months!) Anyway, I can only wear sterling silver or 14 k gold and anything else makes them sore, swollen and tending to bleed. Even now 25 years later!

[VN2NJ]

They were pierced at piercing pagoda. They are 14k gold piercing studs. I am guessing there was an infected bump (cyst/absess) inside the hole and it was fine unless the ear was bumped or slept on and caused the bump to open up and release the blood/puss. It would be perfectly fine and the earring would spin and move back and forth freely. Then one day it would be a mess. It was fine this morning and this afternoon I did my normal spinning and it wouldn't budge. It looked like at some point during the day it was disturbed and the stuff leaked out of the back of the hole and dried up. This has probably happened about 4 times in the last 4 months (about once a month). I would think that after the first time it would have dried up with the puss/blood able to leak out and having the cleaning solution applied. It just seems to keep re-appearing every few weeks. I don't think she is allergic to the 14k gold. The hole isn't red or swollen or painful. They only way you would notice it is to check the back of the hole for the fluids and to hold both sides of the hole and feel the bump inside.

[staceyc]

They will close up VERY quickly at this age-our pediatrician told us that for the first year, to always keep earrings in.

[The Princess Mom]

I have always had to put polysporin on my earrings to keep from getting an infection when first getting them. Try putting neosporin, polysporin on the earring and ear everyday for a week and see what happens. I put it all over the stud and then put it in.

[Corrin IA]

I wouldn't take the earing out and leave it out or it will close up. I agree with the others who suggested putting some neosporin on the stud and then putting it in the ear. If my ears get red or irritated I do this and it clears them up. YOu may want to do this daily for a while to try to clear it up.

[Kerin in DE]

This is exactly what happened with dd's left ear the first time we had them pierced. No matter what we did, we had problems. It was really difficult because she had to take her earrings out for cheerleading, so we were always having to deal with the "yucky" ear. Eventually, we let them close up. We ended up waiting a couple years and she had them repierced -- no problems since then.

[VN2NJ]

This is exactly what happened with dd's left ear the first time we had them pierced. No matter what we did, we had problems. It was really difficult because she had to take her earrings out for cheerleading, so we were always having to deal with the "yucky" ear. Eventually, we let them close up. We ended up waiting a couple years and she had them repierced -- no problems since then.

This is exactly our issue. I feel like no matter how much I clean them or watch after it, it is still gross and gooey! I took them out last night and cleaned them really good. I am just going to let them close up and wait a few years and try again. Thanks so much for all you advice everyone!

[MamatoMKB]

I would say scar tissue. I think it is a good thing to feel a lump in there, means the hole is still there.
We had DD's done in Sept.. A little after Thanksgiving I changed the earrings to a pair that weren't that high of quality (didn't really give it a thought at that time). Well the ears both got infected. I took one earring out one night and could not believe how much it bled. Anyhow, it really hurt DD of course becuase they were so infected. So in the end I took the earrings out then when I tried to put them back in she would have none of it. So now the holes are healed over and we will have to wait til she is older and try again. She looked so dang cute with them and I kick myself all the time for ever changing from the pair that she had her ears pierced with. Oh well - live and learn I guess.

[Kim & Todd]

Bummer they keep getting infected!
Neosporin does amazing stuff!


Bella has finally decided that she wants hers peirced...
How long do you have to leave the original earrings in before you can change them into different ones... seems like when I was a kid it was for a few weeks!

[VN2NJ]

I was told to wait at least a month. My DD got hers pierced about 4 months ago and I never changed the earrings (took them out and cleaned them but used the same studs). From what I understand, it can take over a year for the holes to completely heal, so I am not sure why it is a good dea to take the earrings in and out or change them before that. This just turned into a disaster for us!