One Ear infected

[holysnikey]

So I stretched my ears maybe 3 or 4 weeks ago and a day ago my ear started to hurt today I noticed it was a little swollen so I took out the glass plug and it was oozing and bleeding a little. I just started doing SSS and rubbing holey butt'r and vitamin E oil on it about a week or so ago. Before this I was using antibacterial soap and H2Ocean. Could this be from stopping the soap and touching it too much with unsanitized oils and cream? It was perfectly fine before this no bleeding or pain when stretching and was fine up until this. I did start taking out the plug like only a week or 2 after and was putting the oil and butt'r in the actual hole too. I must say that I haven't showered the past 2 days because of working so long and being tired (eww). Do I have to downsize? The other ear is fine so I don't know what could be the problem.

[holysnikey]

I think I may have "popped" something because when I pressed on my ear that white milky stuff oozed out with a tiny bit of blood. I have been taking them out frequently since like 5 days after the initial stretch which was 2 months after my last stretch. My left ear is perfectly fine and now my right ear doesnt hurt at all and the swelling is going down after doing SSS for 10 minutes to the ear and plug then antibacterial wash to both then taking a steaming hot shower. I also loosened up the O-rings because they were very tight. Is it possible by cleaning them with the plug out and oiling them with it out then putting them back in with the O-rings very tight something got trapped in the fresh stretch and formed an abscess?

[StrickyCub]

Dude slow down. Seriously.
First you said you didn't take the jewellery out for 1 to 2 weeks after stretching, then you said you started taking it out 5 days after stretching? You need to be really clear if you want us to be able to understand you and help you.

There are some possibilities for what it could be. Since you (said) you had the jewellery in for some time before you had this problem, it could either be that;

It's gotten irritated from you taking it out too much/playing with it and "over cleaning" and massaging it.

You could have had a pimple in the hole or next to it. Although you can usually tell as they feel like a huge lump underneath the skin on your lobe.

It could have gotten pulled/tugged on during your sleep and caused a small tear/rip or some irritation, which would explain the blood and discharge.

I'd recommend downsizing one size, just to be safe, and keeping up with the sea salt soaks until all the tenderness goes away. Don't start taking the jewellery out again for several weeks until you're certain your ear as healed up.

[caadam]

^ Here here!
And yeah... that description of the situation was a bit confusing.

[holysnikey]

Sorry I was on a cellphone and kinda freaking out from the pus thats never happened to me before. But I downsized to a 10G and I'm wearing single flare gorilla glass plugs with one o-ring on the back. I feel like the pus is trapped in my ear. It definitely soaks out after a nice 10 or 15 minutes SSS but still I feel like its trapped and its unhealthy. Am I fine and just freaking out? How long before it heals to the point of not being warm, dull pain and stop oozing? Sorry about sounding like a babbling idiot in my previous 2 posts.

[StrickyCub]

Calm down, it's ok.
A lot of people freak out the first time they have problems with their ear, at least you're doing the right thing with downsizing and doing sea salt soaks.

Just remember not to take the jewellery out or play with it. If you have pain and/or swelling take some Ibuprofen or Aspirin, that will help reduce the pain and swelling and ease some of the discomfort.

If your ear doesn't improve with painkillers and sea salt soaks, perhaps you should visit a doctor just to make sure it's not infected, but to me it just sounds like your ear is really irritated and needs some time to settle down.

Is the discharge more of a clearish white colour? If so it's just lymph (which is white blood cells trying to heal your ear. If it's a yellowish/greenish colour and has a strange odour to it then it's pus (which is infection).

[holysnikey]

It looked like elmer's glue with the same consistency just not bright white. It literally looked like I popped a huge pimple from my ear. I didn't notice any odor really but I didn't take the time to smell my plug either.

[holysnikey]

The earring still bleeds some whenever its barely even touched like when I am dabbing it with toilet paper to dry it off if it moves a tiny bit then it'll bleed. On the plus side there is absolutely no puss and the swelling is down so any advice or just keep on doing what I'm doing?

[StrickyCub]

Just keep doing what you're doing. If you stretched too quickly or skipped sizes, it could be that you tore your lobe pretty badly. In which case it will probably continue to get irritated easily and bleed for a few days.
Just keep sea salt soaking it, and try not to sleep on the irritated ear as that can prolong healing.

If you did skip sizes/stretch too quickly, just consider your lesson learnt
Take good care of your ear and remember to go slow in the future.