We recently talked about constellation piercings, the new trend! Today we want to talk about how to heal an infected piercing, so if you’ve had a piercing done recently and you don’t know what steps to take to cure your infected piercing or you want to prevent it from getting infected, you’re in the right place, keep reading!

How to tell if an industrial piercing is infected

When you get a piercing, no matter where you get it, one of the things to watch out for is signs of infection. You may feel discomfort and warmth in the area for the first few days, but you should pay attention to the following symptoms of an infected industrial piercing to determine whether it’s healing well or poorly and you need to treat it to prevent infection or eliminate it.

Redness

It’s normal that, from the time you get the piercing until two days later, you have the area around the hole a little reddened, as the body is in the process of healing. However, if after a few days it’s still slightly red, without improvement, or if it has spread, it may be a sign that an infection has started!

Inflammation

Inflammation is another of the most confusing effects for people who are new to this world. The body needs to recognize the foreign element it has just received, so it’s normal for the area to look a little swollen. However, if the inflammation doesn’t stop even with anti-inflammatory drugs and is accompanied by more of the symptoms on this list, it’s most likely to be an infection.

Pain

Getting a piercing hurts at the time of piercing and during the following days, and the process of healing is slow. However, this type of pain, over time, ends up being bearable, without hindering your daily activities. If, on the other hand, the pain doesn’t stop, gets worse, or prevents you from going about your day-to-day life, you should think that your piercing is healing badly!

Pus

Pus is the main indicator of infection in piercings. You may have a small scab around it for the first few days that you shouldn’t touch to speed up healing, but if a yellowish liquid starts to ooze out, there is no doubt that your piercing is infected.

Lump

A small or large lump may appear right at the site of the piercing. This lump may be hard or soft and contain pus, which will come out and need to be cleaned and disinfected. If you notice a lump, pay attention to it and try to cure the area well, as it may mean that it isn’t healing properly or that there is an infection.

How to treat an infected industrial piercing

If you know that your piercing is infected, you must try to stop it as soon as possible. We recommend that if it doesn’t stop after a few days, you should quickly go to seek medical advice and care for your health, but, to begin with, we leave you with a list of tips to treat the infection of the industrial piercing 😉. 

Cleanliness

Wash your hands well every time you go to handle or clean your industrial piercing so that the infection does not go further.

Remove pus

If you have pus, use a cotton swab to try to remove it without removing the scab to help heal.

Saline solution

Either from the pharmacy or by mixing 1/2 teaspoon of salt with 1 cup of warm water, apply this solution with a cotton swab to the infected area and let it air dry.

However, as we said, if the infection is getting worse, you’ll need to see a doctor as soon as possible to prescribe antibiotics ointment and have your wound assessed before determining any type of intervention.

Industrial piercing care

If luckily, you haven’t reached the point of infection of the industrial piercing or if you have already overcome it and you want it to heal and cure as quickly and better as possible, here is a list of care for the piercing in the ear.

Wash your hands

Every time you are going to handle or touch your piercing you should wash your hands to avoid infecting the area.

Neutral soap

You should wash the area twice a day with neutral antibacterial soap. With the help of our little finger, we must reach the areas behind the ear and the metal rod and then try to rotate it with the help of the two little balls. Therefore, you’ll remove the dead skin and clean all the areas so that dirt and bacteria do not accumulate.

Serum

In the same sterile saline solution that we mentioned in the previous section, you can immerse the pierced ear for 5 minutes or apply it by dabbing it with clean gauze, leaving it to dry on its own.

Consistency

This piercing usually takes up to 6 months to heal, so the key to success will be the consistency of care, avoiding touching and moving it, and being careful when sleeping or wearing clothes so that it doesn’t get caught.

As you have seen, getting a piercing requires commitment and responsibility for the results to be good and to take care of your health, but don’t let this put you off because if you follow the instructions given to you in the piercing studio, in principle, everything should go well!

👉 Final Tips

1. Never apply alcohol to an infected piercing!
2. Always use anti-allergenic materials.
3. Make sure that the studio you go to follows all safety and hygiene measures.

Perhaps your tattoo got infected as well? Don’t miss our article about infected tattoos then 😉