First must thank you for having the best piercing forum that I have found. I hope you can offer advice.
I have my tragus pierced for 3 months. It is a straight barbell, 18 gauge, with plenty of extra length for healing.
It never quite healed completely, and recently it has been getting crustier than usual with a spot of blood. The other day I soaked it with salt soak, but had really been trying to leave it alone as much as possible up until then. It appears to have it's 'good days and bad days' so I just leave it alone as suggested here.
But today, it feels especially itchy around the ear and onto my cheek. It also feels to be radiating heat and looks red.
Is that a sign of infection? If not, what symptoms should cause me to go see a doctor?
Thanks for any help.
For your information, the body heals piercings by secondary intent and once the granulation tissue is completely formed inside then the piercing is completely healed. So your piercing is still in the healing process.
Why you are experiencing problems is because something is still irritating the piercing in some way. You have used salt water which we do not recommend as its harsh and damages tissues. You did not tell us what your aftercare was. How long did you clean it and how often?
Do you sleep on the piercing, or use the phone? When a piercing is healing, it can become itchy so do not be concerned about that. We recommend doing a warm water compress to help relieve some of the problem.
We are concerned about the blood and radiating feeling especially reaching your cheek. Could you please be more specific. Does your cheek feel warmer than usual? The redness is again a sign of irritation. So we need to know what you are doing to the piercing.
Though you are complaining of some problems, you did not tell us what colour the discharge is and so we are unable to confirm if you have an infection or not. So the more information you can give us the better we can assist you in resolving the issue.
