[saskiaburbach]

I pierced my ear 2 days ago and I made sure I'd sterilised everything but now it still hurts 2 days on, it's red and swollen and it's letting out a bit of clear liquid which gets stuck to the ear-ring. I clean it every day but it isn't getting better, I was wondering how long it usually takes for the piecing to stop being red and swollen, also is this normal or should I go to the doctor? Thank you

[ramona_]

First off, it was a stupid idea to do it yourself but as for your question, it will be red for the first week or two and it will be swollen for that amount of time as well. If the discharge is clear/white its just healing itself but if its yellow/green or close to being that colour then its infected and you need to see a doctor.. BUT Don't TAKE IT OUT because that can make it worse. Just keep on cleaning it with salt water or a saline solution and it should be okay but next time.. go to a professional piercer!

[Babehgirl12]

I've been having on for 3 years.. It's fairly normal for the redness and swelling.Just keep cleaning it and twisiting the earring once a day. Give it 2 weeks and if it still hurts as it does now I suggest going back to the piercer or the doctor.

[braleighb13]

By sterilized you mean you used an unused needle straight out of the package? Used latex or nitrile gloves, disinfected your skin and used sterilized jewelry?

If it was actually sterile, which I doubt... it could take up to three weeks for you to stop producing blood plasma depending on the size you pieced at, how clean everything really is, placement and how much aftercare you're doing. (That clear ooze that turns into crunchies.)

Get saline at the drug store or you can find a recipe online to mix your own using sea salt and bottled water.. . do sea salt/saline soaks three times a day until it clears up and stop touching it. That's probably why it's red.

[braleighb13]

Oh and for the love of god, don't twist jewelry. It's archaic advice from when gold was used and your skin would latch onto the jewelry. Surgical steel will NOT cause this problem. And rotating jewelry will, can and often does cause more trauma