Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with piercings

Why do my ear piercings continue to get irritated after 10 years?

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:42:44 -0800

Almost ten years after I've worn earrings, my piercings continue to regularly swell and discharge pus. What's wrong with my ears, how can I fix it, and will I ever wear earrings again? The (gross) backstory:

Each of my earlobes is pierced twice. Both were done with a gun rather than a needle (bad, I know); the first ones about 20 years ago and the second ones about 12 years ago. I used to use hydrogen peroxide to clean my piercings and earrings (I think that's also no longer recommended).

I no longer have any of the earrings I used to wear, but they were all fairly inexpensive, and were probably made of a variety of metals that are usually used for cheap earrings.

About 10 years ago, my piercings suddenly started getting really irritated, no matter how often I changed/cleaned them. I gave up on wearing earrings for a while.

At one point, after I hadn't worn earrings for almost a year, I tried putting in my original piercing earrings (some fake gold ones with extra-pointy posts); my earlobes were red and swollen within 15 minutes, and it took several days to recover. I haven't attempted to wear earrings since.

A year or so later, I discovered one day that my earlobe was swollen and itchy. I pressed on it from behind and discharged pus through one of the piercing holes -- like popping a zit. It relieved the pressure and pain. In the years since, my piercings have intermittently become irritated in this way, and I can usually "pop" whichever one is irritated and discharge white pus (although sometimes a hole can be irritated but doesn't want to "pop"). Blood never comes out of the holes.

All four holes are susceptible, although it seems that my right side is irritated more often (however, the top hole on the right side is irritated right now, so maybe I'm biased). I estimate that at least one hole becomes irritated every two to four weeks, although I admit I've never kept track. The irritation usually lasts a couple of days.

Obviously, since this has been happening for many years, it has gone on as I've had many different hairstyles, used different hair products, slept on different pillowcases, lived in different apartments, and even lived on different continents. I don't have any medical conditions or allergies that I know of.

My questions:

What the hell would make really old piercings randomly, but regularly, irritated? Is there anything I can do to prevent the irritation? I'd really like to wear earrings again, and I'm willing to wear metals that are better for sensitive ears (stainless steel?), but I'm reluctant to experiment because of the cost of earrings and the pain that's involved.

(Anonymous because I really don't want my coworkers to know about my gross ears...)

How to count piercings.

thirteenkiller — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 08:13:06 -0800

When counting piercings, should a woman's pierced ears (one hole in each ear, pierced at the same time and always used as a pair) be counted as one or two piercings?

How do I get my ears normal?

aussicht — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 22:16:31 -0800

How do I best get my ears more normal(ish) after stretching to 00g? I am thinking of taking out my plugs and trying to get my ears roughly back to their natural shape. I stretched to 00g. I don't want to do anything too drastic, and do realize that stretching is more or less permanent. I was wondering if there is a better or worse method for restoring such as sizing down slowly over time, just taking them out immediately, etc?

Thanks!
todd

Open minded doctors in Austin?

Relly70 — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 07:02:00 -0800

I am thinking of getting some private area piercings, but am hesitant. I know as a female I will have to go to the doctor for routine female exams and I know my current doctor would be disapproving. I would love to find an open minded, liberal general practitioner who would not make me feel like a freak. Anyone have a suggestion on a doctor?

Will the TSA take my PA away?

treepour — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 11:28:18 -0800

New body piercings, too recent to remove safely. Want to travel by plane. What should I expect at security? I've heard reports of people not being allowed on flights unless they remove their jewelry. I've also heard that having "hidden" piercings can result in "further screening" or in a pat-down search. One of the piercings is a genital piercing, so I assume that qualifies as "hidden." I'll drop my pants if I have to, but if there's a significant chance I'll be required to take the jewelry out, I'd rather not waste time and money purchasing a ticket.

My impression is that even if there are official regulations about this sort of thing, they may not be implemented consistently or fairly. Does anyone have recent first or second-hand experience with this?

Pros & cons of getting my tongue pierced?

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 10:36:43 -0800

I'm 28 and I'm thinking about getting my tongue pierced. What cultural & medical pros and cons should I be aware of? I work in a web shop which is really casual (I could go to work in shorts and sandals if I wanted to), so I don't see work being an issue. Then again, if I were to get one, I'd probably take it out for the occasional client meeting. That aside, what about the rest of society? I have piercing-positive friends and they'd probably smile at first and then go about the rest of their day. However, does society at large have preconceptions about people with tongue piercings?

On the health side, this article with coverage of the British Dental Association's stance (from 1999, admittedly) kinda scared the hell out of me. Is that mostly scare tactics or is there a significant chance of the side effects like those in the article? More specifically, I've heard anecdotally that tongue piercings can / tend to chip one's teeth. Is that inevitable, preventable, or just bunk?

How to treat old ear piercing that's always infected?

mintchip — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 17:11:11 -0800

Old ear piercing always gets infected. How to treat it? I have had one piercing in each ear since I was three years old. Over time I seemed to develop an allergy to most metals. I resorted to replacing all of my earring posts with nickel-free posts, which are supposed to be hypoallergenic. Even so, the piercing in my right ear gets infected (hot, red and itchy) a few hours after I put nickel-free earrings in.

The only earrings that don't give me problems are tiny white-gold studs--cute but boring and expensive to replace.

Why does the infection come back to the same ear every time? Is there anything I can do to desensitize my ears and get rid of this infection for good?

Earrings for men

jonmc — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 16:05:06 -0800

Fashion Question. Two months ago I got my ears pierced. I recently bought a few pairs of cheap earrings on the street. I'm sure women learn the tricks of this stuff early, but what type of earrings work best on a guy, without making him look ridiculous or overly femmy?

How quickly will my tongue piercing close?

wilberforce — Fri, 18 Feb 2005 12:15:41 -0800

I'm singing in the chorus of an opera, and the director wants me to remove my tongue stud, because it glints in the stage lights, and it's pretty anachronistic. How long can I have the stud out without the piercing closing over? My girlfriend used to have a nose piercing, but she took it out when she got a cold (yuck) and it closed up very quickly - although hers was still fairly recent, while I've had my tongue piercing for a few years.

I'd like to oblige the director, but I've heard that the mouth heals very rapidly, and I'd be a bit bummed if I couldn't get the stud back in. Am I vastly overestimating my mutant healing factor?

Advice on an infected piercing.

Zosia Blue — Sat, 07 Feb 2004 12:10:05 -0800

Advice on an infected piercing. I got my belly button pierced on a whim when I was 18, and because I was stupid about it, I let it get infected right away and didn't take care of it. Flash forward five years later, it's still on and off infected and has never healed properly. I would like to take the damn thing out completely, but everywhere I've read advises against that as an abscess might form. I've googled on this, and only found advice pertaining to infections within a few months after the piercing, not five years (obviously, because most people aren't as dumb about it as I was). Is there anything, beyond going to the doctor and getting an antibiotic, I can do to help heal it finally? Or is too far gone for my own home remedies?