Avoid Infection with These Ear Piercing After Care Best Practices

My eight-year-old daughter recently got her ears pierced. It felt like this amazing grown-up moment in her life and was such a fun experience, I am glad she is old enough to remember it forever. I was the same age when I got my ears pierced and I recall one of the piercings getting infected and it was really painful and gross. Carrying that memory with me decades later, I was extra cautious when it came to the after care of my daughter’s newly pierced ears.

Here are a few tips that have been working well for us and have resulted in her piercings staying infection free.

Clean three times a day for the first three weeks This seems like a lot and honestly it can be a bit of a pain. However, on little sensitive ears in particular, crusties and other gross things can form pretty quickly. I have been pleased with this cleaner.

Wash your hands before cleaning Probably seems obvious but be cautious no additional bacteria is transferring to the piercing area.

Use a Q tip I found this works better for little ears than a cotton ball does. You can get into the area easily and it helps to be a bit gentler.

Shift the earring while cleaning Be sure to gently twist the earring in a circular motion to ensure you break up and clean the whole area. You want to clean the pierced area, not just put solution onto the earring. I like to slightly push the earring back and forth as I clean to get the solution all throughout.

Pour the solution if sensitivity occurs There were a couple of times my daughter insisted I not touch the earring. I had her hold a washcloth and lightly poured the solution to the piercing area. This way it was still getting cleaned but not irritating her on the days she was a little more sensitive.

Clean daily after the first three weeks I have known plenty of kids who get an infection months after getting their ears pierced because they stopped cleaning. You can halt the three times a day but make sure they are still getting cleaned regularly.

Leave the original piercing in for 6 weeks I am not a medical professional so this is just my mom opinion. We were told to wait three weeks before changing out the original earrings. But after that amount of time, my daughter’s ears were still really sensitive. By 6 weeks, her ears were much more ready to have the piercing removed and another one put in.

Material of earrings matters Eventually all those fashion type earrings might work but in the beginning, I highly recommend nickel-free and hypoallergenic. You will have to spend a little more but it is worth it to avoid any allergic reactions. Surgical steel, titanium or pure gold/silver are great options. I was also told stainless steel is usually ok but be sure it’s copper/nickel free.

I hope these tips help you and we’d love for you to share any that you have!