Your body will heal your piercing by forming a tube of skin called a fistula from the outside-in, so it's not uncommon for your piercing to look and feel healed well before it truly is.
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 might even see some white or clear fluid from the piercing — this is lymph fluid, not pus. Dr. Wexler adds that this is normal and may be noticeable for several days after your piercing. If it persists past a few days it's good to rule out an allergy to the jewelry.
Piercing bumps are small lumps that can appear after a piercing. They often occur following cartilage piercings, such as nose or upper ear piercings. Piercing bumps occur when the body's immune system responds to the wound and initiates the healing response.
An infection
That little bump could be a pustule, which looks like a little pimple or blister — and just like with a pimple or blister, you shouldn't try to pop it. Pustules are a sign of an infection, and they can be filled with blood and even pus.
Mix 1/8 teaspoon of sea salt with water, and soak your piercing blister three times a day until it is completely gone. This can also help to remove discharge from your piercings. "At the end of the day, [piercing bumps] come from irritation," says Smith.
You might recognize the description even if you are not familiar with the term: ear cheese is the icky, brownish-gray gunk that builds up on your earring posts and backs, especially on the rubberized backs or clear plastic bit over the backing. “Ear cheese” is natural and is just a part of having pierced ears.
You might even see some white or clear fluid from the piercing — this is lymph fluid, not pus. Dr. Wexler adds that this is normal and may be noticeable for several days after your piercing. If it persists past a few days it's good to rule out an allergy to the jewelry.
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.
A trained piercing professional will pierce your skin with a sterile razor-sharp hollow needle that will safely remove the section of skin without causing damage to the surrounding tissue.
Surface piercings have the highest rejection rate. Surface piercings such as microdermals as well as eyebrow piercings and navel piercings reject the most because they are closest to the surface of the skin.
It Takes 12 Months for a Piercing to Completely Heal
While you can wear fashion earrings after the initial 6-12 weeks healing period, the wound is still not completely healed. The skin has closed up, but still needs some time to fully rebuild its natural defences and skin flexibility.
The rate at which a piercing heals varies from person to person and can also depend on what type of piercing you get, but typically, a new earlobe piercing will heal in 6-12 weeks. Piercings further up the ear (especially those involving cartilage) can take several months.
Earring holes can start to smell due to a buildup of sweat, dirt, and bacteria. To prevent this, clean your earrings regularly with soap and water. Additionally, switch out your earrings every few days to give your ears a break and reduce the bacteria that builds up around the hole.
In fact, ears sometimes secrete a white to yellow thin liquid while healing from a piercing, and sebum from your oil glands can also collect on your piercings. “If your discharge is light in color and not accompanied by pain, redness, warmth or swelling, it is probably not infected,” Shah said.
There's no reason to rotate your piercing. You could damage the delicate, healing skin by rotating the jewelry. In the past, rotating the jewelry was recommended, but it has been found to cause damage that can lead to infection and scarring. For happy healing, NEVER rotate your body jewelry.
Dead cells mix with sebum to create an awful smell. Sebum is an oily substance created by the sebaceous glands which make the skin waterproof. When an earring hole hasn't been cleaned properly, the sebum will mix with the dead cells caused by the pierced skin to create a gross smell.
The new piercing will weep lymphatic fluid. It is a clear, yellowish discharge that would come out of any wound. THIS IS NOT A SIGN OF INFECTION AND IS NOT PUS. In actuality, it's a good sign, it shows your body is doing what it should and fighting the good fight.
The most common cause is simply increased friction between the ear hole and the earring. This is most easily remedied by putting petroleum jelly on the earring post and then inserting it into the ear. The petroleum jelly will lubricate the earring to reduce friction.
These often are what we refer to as a cartilage bump or nose piercing bump. If untreated they may be prone to infection. They may occur from allergies, genetics, poor aftercare, irritation, trauma, or sometimes just bad luck. With treatment, they may disappear completely.
Ear keloids are a type of scar tissue, so there isn't any pus to squeeze out, like a pimple.
Depending on how long the area has been irritated it can take 2 weeks or longer for bump to go away.