I had my ear lobe pierced with a gun (I know it's bad but I only knew it was bad afterwards) and my earring was a 14k gold stud. Then it started getting itchy and I had little bumps so i took off my earrinng and then it healed.
I pierced it again and now the earring seems to be sinking into my earlobe and crusts are forming and it's itchy and there are little bumps again. Perhaps I need to change my stud to a hoop, which is what I'm going to do.
I want to ask though what do I do with the little bumps and itchyness? And the crusts? When I wear a hoop, will the problem go away? I don't know what to do with the itchyness and little bumps.
Sometiems when I try to clean my earrings and ear lobe with alcohol they hurt a bit and they starts throbbing.
Please help.
Just because the earrings state that they are made of 14k gold, its actually plated and the metal underneath is nickel. This is what is causing you your bumps and itchyness. You are having an allergic reaction to the studs.
PLEASE REMOVE THEM IMMEDIATELY AND GET IN SURGICAL STAINLESS STEEL HOOPS!
Do NOT use alcohol on your ear lobes as this will only irritate the situation. Your problem will start to subside (the bumps and itchy feeling) the instant that you change the jewellery.
Good luck
There wasn't surgical stainless steel hoops in Claire's or other jewelry stores I saw but there was hypo-allergenic hoops (silver in color) and I was wondering if these work? I think it does since it's not suppsoed to contain any nickel.
Also, the hoops seem to be hanging down a bit from the hole, that's okay right? If there were crusts forming around, should I wash the crusts away or let it stay there? Also, whenever my hoops move it hurts, is it suppsoed to be like that?
What you did not tell us was when you got your piercings. Since you have had problems and your piercings are quite young, yes, they can hurt when they move. The hypo-allergic jewellery that we have seen have thin wires and this can cut into the fresh tissue.
We recommend the implant grade surgical steel as this would be thicker and smoother and would not do any more damage to your tissues. Turning with the hoops you purchased may be just as irritating and we would want you to clean the crusties off the piercing. So if you have to keep these in, please do warm water compresses to soften the crusties and then with a Q-tip remove them without moving the rings.
Good luck and keep in touch
I had my piercing at the end of June and then after 3 or 4 weeks, i took it off because of the irritation and bumps. then i repierced it around the beginning of August, after a week it was irritated again.
Right now, I'm wearing the hypo-allergenic hoops and I'm gonig to clean the crusts morning and night. The area around the piercing is very dry and whitish. I hope this would go away soon.
Do you know when my ear lobe will heal if I do things correctly? Thanks for your help.
We are so sorry that your experience was unpleasant. Allergies are becoming very common and the jewellery available with the gun are really not gold but plated and the nickel is what many are allergic to.
Ear lobes are very resilant and should handle the crusty removal without too much difficulty. Please only clean if you have crusties, if you do not have any, then leave them alone.
The dry and white colour around the piercing tells us that you have used harsh products to clean and it has dried out the tissues around the piercing. This is why we are telling you to clean the crusties off and do not clean the piercings. They no longer need cleaning.
Do as little as necessary and the dryness will subside and the whitish colour will disappear, its just a sign of how dry the tissues are.
The whitish color disappeared although a bit of bumps are left but I think it will also disappear pretty soon.
Whenever my hoops move, my piercing sort of hurts but I also think that will go away. Although it's hard to go to sleep and wash my hair.
Thanks
Your piercing is still young and it can hurt when the jewellery moves or when washing your hair, be patient.
The bumps will definitely disappear soon as you have informed us that they are shrinking and will continue to do so.
It sounds like your piercing is on the way to healing just nicely. Please write back if you have any problems.
The bumps did go away but the white stuff it still there, a bit anyways. And the piercings are itchy sometimes and i dunno why, since i'm not allergic to the earrings anymore.
Also it's very hard to move my earrings back and forth because the hole seems to be too tight.
It's been that way a long time, why is that?
The white stuff is dry skin and you are itchy probably because of the white dry stuff.
We recommend using a warm water compress and placing on the piercing. This will soften up the dry skin and using a Q-tip you can remove the dry skin. Afterwards, take another Q-tip and a water based moisturizer and rub into the area until absorbed. Do this once in the morning and at night if you see the dry skin.
Otherwise, leave them alone. This is why the piercings feel tight and they do not want to move very much.
