With ages as young as ten and as old as 30; people from all genders have been quite nifty when it comes to body piercing. As compared to other body parts such as the brow, lips or the belly, the ears are perhaps more commonly pierced and adorned with gold, silver or stainless steel embellishments such as rings, studs or stones.
How to Pierce Your Ear:
Unlike the ear lobe, getting the cartilage of your ear pierced warrants utmost care and affection during the procedure and afterwards as well. Since the ear cartilage has minimal blood supply, any unhygienic or careless methods of ear piercing can result in infections, leading to a long procedure of healing and discomfort.
It is highly recommended to go to an expert in ear piercing, and one who knows that it is highly important to indulge in hygiene and safe methods. Make sure that your ear cartilage does not have any predisposing acne or infection before you consider getting it pierced. It is advisable to clear the ear cartilage with an anti-bacterial cleanser and the piercing expert should rinse his hands with a satisfactory hand sanitizer or an antibacterial soap before getting to work.
You can get your ear pierced with a sterilized needle or a piercing gun. The latter, however can increase the risks of ear cartilage infection since they are used repeatedly on several customers.
Risks Associated With Unhygienic and Dangerous Ear Cartilage Piercing:
As mentioned before, unhygienic piercing guns or the use of other filthy piercing equipment can result in infections or delayed healing. Opportunistic ear cartilage infections are usually precipitated by contamination and are most commonly caused by Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Ear cartilage infections most commonly consist of discharge of pus, swelling and severe pain. In cases of severe inflammation, redness and bleeding can also occur. However, if care and antibiotics are not taken, auricular chondrites, a condition that involves permanent ear deformation can occur.
Your surroundings can also be the cause of precipitating an ear cartilage infection or aggravating it. Stagnant ponds and contaminated disinfectants or antiseptics can at times lead to ear cartilage infections as well.
Treating Ear Cartilage Infections:
As simple as it may seem, the entire healing process of an ear cartilage infection can be broadly divided into two distinctive phases. The first phase, the initial phase, needs more care and attention in order to prevent the ear cartilage from scarring. In this phase, a fistula develops which strengthens in the following phase, leading to complete healing.
This process of healing may span from as less as 3 months to as longer as 12 months. During this process, it is advisable to sooth the infected area and to avoid touching it with unwashed hands. Tea bags and diluted tea tree oil can be used to soothe the infected area. Many people can be seen dabbing hydrogen peroxide or Butadiene on their infected ear cartilage, which is not commendable and proposed to be hazardous.
Zinc and Vitamin C supplements along with aspirin for pain are highly important in speeding up the healing process. In cases where you have bumps over the ear cartilage, crush an aspirin tablet and mix lemon juice with it for better healing results.
Infections can make ear cartilage piercing sound like a complete bummer, but with care and attentive affection, you can steer clear from them and enjoy your piercings by donning them with different pieces of jewelry every day.
Reference:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earring
- https://www.hxbenefit.com/ear-cartilage-piercing-information-dangers-and-healing.html
- http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/the-benefits-of-vitamin-c
- http://www.allhealthsite.com/cartilage-ear-piercing-information-procedure-healing-infection-risks.html
