3) It is normal for dried blood or serous fluid (yellow crust) to form around the edges of your piercing. DO NOT pick it away while it is dry. While showering or bathing clean the jewellery and the piercing. Leave the soap on the piercing no more than thirty seconds.
In fact, they're a sign that the body is healing itself and on the road to recovery. But, that doesn't mean the area should be neglected. Dry, crusty patches should be cleaned regularly until fully healed—a process that can last anywhere from two to five weeks.
Another option is to dip a cotton wool ball or Q-tip in warm saline solution and apply that to the piercing site for a few minutes. These items are especially good for removing dried or crusted lymphatic fluid or blood from the jewelry or piercing site.
The skin around a new piercing might be swollen, red and tender for a few days. It might bleed slightly. If the swelling, redness and bleeding last longer than a few days, contact your doctor. Prompt treatment can help prevent potentially serious complications.
Signs of an infection
Your piercing might be infected if: the area around it is swollen, painful, hot, very red or dark (depending on your skin colour) there's blood or pus coming out of it – pus can be white, green or yellow. you feel hot or shivery or generally unwell.
Use a Q-tip, gauze pad, or cotton swab to apply saline solution to the piercing. Gently clean the area, removing any crust or dried blood. Dry the area by gently dabbing with a clean towel or tissue.
Along with tenderness and inflammation, symptoms of an earlobe or cartilage piercing infection can include redness if you have a light-to-medium skin tone; the area may also feel painful or warm to the touch, and you may see yellowish discharge or pus around the piercing and/or develop a fever (a temperature of 100.4 ...
The first question you're likely to ask when a new piercing becomes unusually painful or swollen is “is my piercing infected?” But more often than not, any discomfort is down to irritation or an allergic reaction rather than an infection. And it's important you know the difference so you can get the treatment you need.
They are generally small, starting soft and getting firmer over time. If the piercing is removed, the lump will almost always disappear. They can be sore, itchy and bleed easily.
If your piercing is actually infected, and you remove the jewelry on your own, you may spread the bacteria. Instead, see a dermatologist, who will likely swab the area for a culture and start a course of topical and/or oral antibiotics to treat the infected skin piercing.
It's normal to notice some itching and tenderness when it comes to new ear piercings. During the first weeks, your piercing might look slightly red or produce a crusty discharge as it heals. If you have a high ear piercing or cartilage piercing, you may also notice a small bump that forms around the piercing.
But make sure you don't use too much salt or not enough water. If you over salt the mixture, you will not only dehydrate the bacteria but also dry out the upper dermis around the piercing, which can lead to microscopic cracks in your skin.
According to experts, one of the signs that your piercing is infected is when the area surrounding it is warm, red, and has red streaks coming from it. It's also possible that you'll see brownish or greenish pus coming out of the piercing. In addition, your lymph nodes may also be swollen.
Crusties—the nickname for the clear or yellow caking that forms around a healing body piercing. Crusties are the result of your body trying to heal itself. This is simply a mix of lymphatic fluid, epithelial debris and dead blood cells which seeps out clear and dries to a yellowish color when exposed to air.
It is also normal to experience a whitish to yellowish secretion coming from the piercing. This is called sebum, which is just your body's natural secretion and what creates crust on the jewelry. It can come an go throughout the entire healing time.
Ear piercing infections may be red, swollen, sore, warm, itchy or tender. Sometimes, piercings ooze blood or white, yellow or green pus. A new piercing is an open wound that can take several weeks to fully heal. During that time, any bacteria that enter the wound can lead to infection.
Pustule, or piercing blister
It is usually safe to treat these infections at home with warm compresses and frequent cleansing. Sometimes, the blisters go away and return. See a doctor if the blister keeps coming back, if it is very painful, or if multiple blisters appear.
Whenever the skin's protective barrier is broken, local skin infections from staph or strep bacteria are a risk. Of all the body sites commonly pierced, the navel is the most likely to become infected because of its shape.
But infection symptoms won't pop up the moment your piercing is exposed to bacteria. "Surprisingly, piercing infections do not typically happen until three to seven days after the initial piercing, sometimes more," Dr. Mankarious says. "Bacteria need time to proliferate."
With proper care, most mild earlobe infections will clear up in 1 to 2 weeks. It is common to have mild infections come back without daily earring care.
Body piercings have become increasingly popular and are a socially acceptable form of body modification. Common sites of piercings are the ears, mouth, nose, eyebrows, nipples, navel, and genitals. Localized cellulitis is the most common infectious complication resulting from body piercings.