The concept of ear piercings in and of themselves are an odd, if not mildly unhygienic practice. And yet, it doesn’t stop so many of us from getting multiple body parts pierced.
So what happens when the entire process goes a little awry, with infections and injury inevitable?
We decided to crowdsource the Mamamia office because gross stories are a-plenty. And this, friends, is what happens. Here’s hoping you’re not eating.
The foreign one that went wrong
Emily, 25, had her horror experience overseas. Naturally.
“I decided to get my nose pierced while volunteering in a rural town in Ecuador after being dared by the other volunteers. Despite the piercing studio’s lack of first-world hygiene (think no gloves, questionable looking needle, v questionable looking technician), my new nose piercing never once got infected. It did however bleed like crazy when it ripped out, caught on a fibre in the towel I was using to dry my face,” she said.
The ones that got too swollen to handle
“I had a ear piercing middle of the ear, on the cartilage and it blew up went bright red. My ear then expanded like three times and I had to go to the doctor to get it removed because it was one of the screw-ons you couldn’t take off yourself. Oh, and I had to go on antibiotics because it was an ear infection,” Ruby, 27, said.
“When I was about 15 I got an ear piercing at the mall with some friends. At first, everything seemed fine with the piercing, but when I tried to take out the earring I realised the back was jammed. Deciding to deal with it tomorrow I went to sleep and forgot about it, but when I woke up the next morning my earring was missing. When I felt my ear I realised it was really swollen and incredibly sore. It had essentially swallowed up the earring overnight. Ten hours and a hospital visit later it was cut out, and unsurprisingly, I never had the spot re-pierced,” Holly, 29, says.
The one that...popped
"When I was like 12 and got my ears pierced, one of mine ears swelled until I had this purple ball on the back of her ear. It was sooo big, I can't even explain. Then one night in bed it popped and was full of blood," Georgia, 26, says.
The one that's still infected
Another took to Reddit to share their own hellish story, saying after two and a half years, their ear is still infected.
"I got my tragus pierced 2.5 years ago at a professional shop with implant grade metal, I think it's titanium. I've been following the piercer's advice and using sterile saline wound wash to clean it twice a day. It still hasn't healed, and has always been swollen and still crusts," they wrote.
That's cause enough to steer well clear of piercings...for now.
Top Comments
After a few years of not wearing anything, I decided to go a new pair of studs and pop them back in. I'd done this on previous occasions, just had to pop it through the back a little. Clearly I had left my earrings out longer this time and ended up asking a friend to help put it in. Well that hurt too much and told her to stop. Went down to the local Hairhouse Warehouse and got them re-pierced.
The ear that myself and my friend tried to do was a lot more sore than the other side we hadn't touched. I just figured maybe we inflamed things slightly and it would calm down soon. After a week or so of the new studs in I noticed that the tiny little diamante studs kept popping back in to the middle of my lobe. Went back to the store, and they said I really needed to keep them in longer. Struggled for another few days of popping them out and having a really sore ear and then decided to go back.
The girl at the store decided that I just need a new pair of studs with a larger stone/front bit, so it wouldn't continue going back in the lobe, so she changed it over free of charge. I kept on with all the maintenance things, spray etc, but my ear was still sore. After another few weeks I went back yet again, the stainless steel earrings were starting to corrode, so I then had to change over to titanium earrings. This was around 2-3 years ago. I've tried wearing stainless steel/cheap costume jewellery a few times, but always seem to have issues after a day or so. So looks like I'm stuck with titanium :(
I ALWAYS have issues with my ears when I pierce the cartlidge. Ive had the Helix, forward helix x 2 and tragus and all of them were constantly infected and wouldn't heal. Ive ended up taking them all out within a few months of getting them done. The helix one also blew up and had to be removed at the hospital.
The one I'm dealing with now is my nipple piercing. I've had both of them done, (one at a time) and took them out due to constant tenderness/bleeding and just recently had one done for the second time. The first two were vertical so now I have done it horizontally, same thing happens. So frustrating!! Just heal already!! Its been about 6-8 months.