How to care for pierced ears

Having one’s ears pierced is a rite of passage for almost all women, however, one has got to ensure that one’s ears are pierced and treated right.

Ears are one of the most delicate parts of the body and yet the most tampered with because they are the most appropriate for adding beauty to a woman’s face.

Ear piercing is also one of the oldest kinds of piercing. Pierced ears are very prone to infection because anytime the skin is broken there is risk of infection. Your ears can be open to infection in the first weeks and even long after they have healed. Such infections are called ear piercing infections. They can give you hard time therefore it is best to know the symptoms, treatment, prevention and causes.

Care while piercing
John Paul Milenge, a stylist from Sparkles Saloon says, “One should be sure that the pins used during the piercing should be original so that there is no problem or cause of any infection”. He also advises against piercing the same spot on the ear in case one had blocked their hole and would wish to re-pierce because this could cause keloids.

Care after piercing
“One should take care of their ears carefully after they have been pierced by cleaning their ears day and night with surgical spirit and warm water with salt, within two to three days the piercing should be showing signs of healing totally”, the stylist also adds.

He goes on to say that “when one starts to get dark circles around their ears, this could be a sign that their earrings are too tight and that they should begin to remove their earrings every before going to bed which allows fresh air to pass through the piercing and also blood circulation through the ear.”.

First determine if you are prone to infections
If you are in fear of having an ear infection from your piercing it is best to consult a doctor who can help you because there are antibiotics and creams that can be prescribed to treat an ear piercing infection.

Doctor Emmanuel Atuzarirwe, an ENT specialist of Precious Clinic Wandegeya says, “For one to know that they have an ear piercing infection, they will have scanty discharge around this area. Wounds will appear around this area and there will be swelling and pain on the side of the ear.”

DrAtuzarirwe says there are antibiotic creams that can be applied to the infected area after one has contracted the infection on their pierced area and oral tablets and pain killers can also be administered.

“Once someone has contracted an ear piercing infection, they can switch their pins with a small wood en stick, because people do not react to sticks, they do not hurt and they do not easily get contaminated, since metal rusts and once this rust enters into the blood it can worsen the infection,” he adds.

In case of infections
Pharmacist Norah Prossy Namaganda of Vine Pharmaceuticals says, that once you have contacted an infection you can be given antibiotics like Ampilox caps and Augumentin tablets which will deal with the bacterial infection and also creams like Tetracycline ointment and Neomycin cream which all contain antibiotics can be applied to the pierced area.

In case you are prone to keloids, have sensitive skin, suffer from fast bleeding, and are prone to skin infections it is better to avoid piercing your ears.

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