Infected earring hole, ten months later

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amother

OP ↓

Wed, Sep 04 2024, 8:56 pm

Got my daughter's ears pierced at eight years old. A couple of months later they got infected and it took a few weeks to get it under control.

It's now ten months later and again one of them is infected. She's wearing 14 carat gold earrings. Everyone is telling us to do something different, from the earring lady to her pediatrician (who honestly doesn't seem all that knowledgeable about this)...and google has so many conflicting opinions.

Should we put alcohol/hydrogen peroxide?
Should we remove the earrings for a few days? Will the holes close since it's less than a year, even though it's close to a year?
Should we put on bacitracin or ask for a prescription cream?
Salt water?
Anything else?

amother

Dodgerblue

Wed, Sep 04 2024, 8:59 pm

I’d remove and put Neosporin/ bactraban on. She might be allergic to gold. Gold has a coating that wears off over time and she is probably reacting to being exposed the gold now. Try surgical steel earrings instead.

amother

Aubergine

Wed, Sep 04 2024, 9:07 pm

It's extremely rare to be allergic to pure gold. But pure gold is too soft to keep its shape as jewelry for long, so it's combined with other metals. If she's reacting to 14K gold, you can try 18K gold- my sister was only able to handle 18K gold and it could be she takes her earrings out at night.

Don't forget about the earring back- if that is causing the reaction, switch to plastic/silicone/erasers.

And of course, wait until the infection clears up before trying again- I'd use an antibiotic ointment 3 times a day and see if it clears up.

Hatzlacha!

michimochi

Wed, Sep 04 2024, 9:14 pm

My sister had her ears pierced multiple times from infancy to yers later, and it got infected and closed up over and over and over... she only was able to successfully pierce them in adulthood. This may sound crazy, but try a thicker earring. I think my sister and other people with similar issues may have more of a problem with healing the wound than with allergy per se. This is just my theory. But I would say try a thicker earring stem and follow any of the cleanimg routines you have been told. (I personally for my holes that took 8mo to heal washed with tea tree oil soap daily and slept on a donut/travel pillow with my ear in the hole part.)

m987

Wed, Sep 04 2024, 9:17 pm

I had this issue as a child and had my ears pierced three times. The third time was with surgical plastic which should be difficult to be allergic to. The earrings were kind of junky and warped over time but after a year or so I switched to surgical steel and now I wear gold with no issues
This is the company I had
https://blomdahlusa.com/earrin.....age=2

amother

Rainbow

Wed, Sep 04 2024, 9:27 pm

My daughter kept getting little infected wounds by the backings, where it would stay moist and I'm assuming bacteria would grow, soap might accumulate etc. We switched to hoop earrings (no backings) and the wounds healed and she never got an infection again.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Wed, Sep 04 2024, 9:27 pm

For all of you who were allergic to earrings, were you still able to go a long time without having an infection? It's been over six months since the last infection cleared up...why would it suddenly start up again now?

So does an infection mean that she's definitely allergic? Or can we just treat it and make it go away, and maybe it's just a one-time thing?

(And what should I treat it with? Alcochol? Hydrogen peroxide? Bacitracin? Something else?)

amother

Blonde

Wed, Sep 04 2024, 9:31 pm

amother Rainbow wrote:

Exactly our experience. Change to hoops (gold). I also sprayed the area with a colloidal silver spray

Chayalle

Wed, Sep 04 2024, 9:35 pm

My sister is a pediatrician, and I remember when DD got infected she told me to put a drop of hydrocortisone cream on each side of the ear twice a day. It healed pretty quickly. Some kids are just more sensitive than others. But if you treat it right away it usually goes away quickly.

amother

Petunia ↓

Wed, Sep 04 2024, 9:43 pm

Another vote for an allergy. Most likely the outer coating of gold or whatever is wearing off and the inner metal is triggering an allergy. Hoops work best for us as well. Or plastic earrings. Anything with a post and a back eventually triggers an allergic infection. Treat it with antibiotic ointment.

srbmom ↓

Wed, Sep 04 2024, 10:31 pm

Two of my DDs can't wear gold (haven't tried 18k)
They both are fine with real sterling silver. I think it's some trial and error until you find a material that works

amother

Valerian

Wed, Sep 04 2024, 11:14 pm

My girls whose ears are quite sensitive and have had many infections can only wear 14k gold but it also neeps to be hoops - this way the ear can "breathe".
Since getting them hoops none of them have had an infection bH.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Thu, Sep 05 2024, 11:05 am

She really doesn't like the look of hoops...Would "leverback" earrings be the same?

The first time they got infected she had leverback earrings, either surgical steel or sterling silver, I'll have to look back and see which. They were really hard to clean around (this was a short while after the piercing) and to "turn," which is why we went back to studs.

It's possible that everyone is responding to my question, but can you specify -- Are you all saying that if someone is allergic to a material (in this case, gold), it can be in their ears for over 6 months before getting infected? Or if your girls are allergic to a material, did the infection set in much sooner than that?

Each time it gets infected it's a whole ordeal, really hard for me and painful for her. (She has a hard time sleeping, which means her sister does too...she has a hard time sitting still so I can treat her ears...) In addition, we got her ears pierced for her birthday because she had been desperately wanting it for a while, but it was a stretch on our budget. We then had to buy her a new pair of earrings a couple of months later. And now it seems it can be a few more pairs until we get it right...

We took them out because her doctor said they wouldn't be likely to close up at this point unless we left them out for more than a few days. But there's a lot of pus still leaking out (sorry tmi) and they hurt. It's been about 24 hours. Do I keep them out for the weekend and put them back in on Sunday or so?

She really doesn't want them to close up. I personally wish we'd never gotten them at this point and had waited until she was older and could deal with the repercussions herself. But we're not getting them repierced any time soon if they do close up, for multiple reasons. She's going to be so, so disappointed if that happens.

Any advice would be very, very welcome. She has older brothers, but she's my first girl. My husband just keeps on saying that he has no idea why people put their daughters through this (granted, not every kid is this sensitive) and I honestly agree at this point.

amother

Ultramarine

Thu, Sep 05 2024, 11:19 am

We had this once and it was in fact impetigo.

↑ srbmom

Thu, Sep 05 2024, 12:00 pm

I'll try to answer some of your questions

Yes, my DD's did not get infected until a few months after she got her ears pierced. I think the material on the earrings when she got them pierced was fine, but over time that top coating gets worn out and whatever was underneath is what must have caused a reaction

Leverbacks work for us, as well as huggies, which are much smaller than hoops

Can the doctor prescribe antibiotic to clear up the infection quicker? I would be very hesitant to leave the hole with no earring for more than a day or two. I find that the infection makes it close up much faster than if you were just not wearing earrings for a few days

I would try and do whatever you can to get something in the hole for now. Put ice to numb her and then coat the hole with antibiotic cream front and back, and then smear a lot of Vaseline all around the hole back and front and on the post of the earring. This should hopefully make it slippery enough that an earring can slide in more easily

Most earrings marketed for kids especially in Jewish stores are not pure gold or silver. And yes, it's expensive. But my girls have had the same earrings in their ears for 4 years and 2 years, and bh we've never taken them out or changed them, so it's a worthwhile investment

Last edited by srbmom on Thu, Sep 05 2024, 12:52 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

↑ Petunia ↓

Thu, Sep 05 2024, 12:36 pm

It's very hard to put them back in after the infection. I've had three holes close up among my kids from people taking out earrings during infections so I would try to avoid it. I find that the more space between the front and back of the earrings and the ear itself, the better.

amother

↑ OP

Thu, Sep 05 2024, 2:22 pm

amother Petunia wrote:

Oy, how long did you leave them out for before trying to put them back in?

amother

↑ Petunia

Thu, Sep 05 2024, 2:41 pm

amother OP wrote:

Oy, how long did you leave them out for before trying to put them back in?

I'm not sure.. what happens is that during the infection it swells up so it's difficult to get in and they freak out if I try to get the earring back in. And then as it heals it starts closing so it becomes impossible.

amother

Snapdragon

Thu, Sep 05 2024, 7:44 pm

My ears were too sensitive for any earrings. I let them close up after years of trying everything from 18k gold to pure silver to surgical steel...

Some people cannot wear earrings.
We waited for my daughter in case she was sensitive too. She wasn't but she didn't turn the earrings around after a few months and the earring bent in her ear. So it cut the ear and got an infection but BH minor. We just switched earrings and kept it clean and twisted it around a few times a week.

Try triple antibiotic ointment and even if she doesn't like the other style it is worth it so it doesn't close up.

amother

Purple

Thu, Sep 05 2024, 9:28 pm

As a young girl I was like your dd. Every so often my ears would bleed and get infected (21 karat gold earrings) I would clean my ears wait a week or so and put them back in.
teenage years I couldn’t wear earring for more than a few days at a time which worked fine I put them on whenever I wanted and took off a day or two later. Hoop earrings were better and I could wear for bit longer.
Since I was about 17 I became extremely allergic to earrings I cannot wear for even 2-3 hours without getting infected. I cannot wear earrings anymore.
Never tried silver because I don’t like look of silver on my face.

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