How to Handle an Infected Ear Piercing

Video Transcript

"Hi I'm Kerri at Zebra in Berkley and I'm here to tell you how to handle an infected ear piercing. The first thing that you are going to want to do when you notice that your ear may be infected is go straight to your local piercing shop, ideally a good one that has been there for a while and ask them if they see signs of infection. A lot of times people mistake irritation for allergies to either the metal or the cleaning solution as infection. If that mistake is made it's as simple as changing the jewelry or changing your aftercare process in order to clear it up. Sometimes with jewelry people use substandard metal or even just switch their jewelry a little bit early. Ideally you are going to want to wear surgical steel, 14 karat gold or better or Titanium in your piercing until it heals. If you do in fact have an infection and the piercer that you went to go consult with shows some concern then you are probably going to want to go see a doctor or a practitioner who can prescribe some oral antibiotics to you. Sometimes you can avoid this but it is not recommended by using a triple antibiotic ointment such as Neosporin or Basotracin. Again that is not recommended you should never treat yourself especially when a professional has told you to seek some advice or help from a doctor so ideally you will go to the doctor and get it taken care of properly."