Piercings

Also known as infected navel piercing, belly button piercing infection, pain and bumps are all a problem when it comes to navel piercing healing. This type of piercing can add charm to your belly button especially if you have a toned flat stomach attractive to be seen. However, if these piercings are not taken good care of, they can get infections which may make them take several months to heal. An infection does not happen only to new piercing, as many cases have been reported of infected belly piercings after 6 months or even after years of completely healing.

Infected Belly Button Piercing

Due to the location of the navel – a dark and damp place – infections can be common especially if your navel is very deep. According to research findings, the navel is the second most risky place to have a piercing after the eye as the navel piercing hole can be a gateway for infections reaching your abdominal cavities. They say that, since the ring will always touch the clothing, spread of micro-organisms can easily reach your abdominal parts.
Researchers also add that there are inherent risks of injuries, belly button piercing scars, keloid formation, piercing rejection, stretch from weight gain or pregnancy, among other minor discomforts.
The main causes of belly button infections on the piercing include bacteria and allergic reactions. However, fungi, yeast, and other pathogenic microorganism can also cause infections but in minimum levels. These pathogens will tend to thrive if you create a favorable environment such as:

• not clean your piercing regularly,
• touching it with dirty hands,
• poor personal hygiene, injuries,
• unsterilized piercing equipment,
• wrong piercing jewelry (in terms of size or material that cause allergies)

Your belly button can take approximately 9 to 12 months for it to heal completely. For those with low body strength, it can go up to two years. After you have had a piercing, the first few weeks of the healing time should be of great care to the piercing to avoid getting an infection. Your piercer will provide you with aftercare routine which you should follow to the latter to keep yourself away from risks.

Belly Button Piercing Infection Causes

In most cases if you are to have an infection on your navel piercing, it will occur a few days after the piercing. You will start experiencing the symptoms a few days after the piercing. While fresh body piercings can be a source of discomfort even when they are still fresh, it does not mean they are infected. It is also important for you to know that even an old belly button piercing can get infections if good care is not observed.

1. Contaminated piercing equipment

According to some research, a piercing done by a gun more often will cause harm to the customer. This is because these piercing equipment are known to be difficult to disinfect.

2. Poor quality jewelry

The quality of the rings or studs you use on your belly button matters. Navel piercing jewelry, especially cheap and fake ones are a major cause of infections since they break easily and cause irritation on the skin. Some will cause allergic reactions. The risk of belly button piercing is higher if the area has not healed.

3. Poor aftercare activities

This is one of the major causes of infections. It involves things like touching the wound with dirty hands, poor cleaning techniques and lack of ventilation which in turn result to an infection. Contaminating the area can only cause problems and diseases.

Infected Belly Button Piercing Bump

In the extreme point of infection you may end up developing a pimple or bump on your belly button piercing. This is an alarm that your condition requires immediate care response. You can visit your health care provider who can suggest the best treatment that will work well for your condition. If you try home remedies for some time without noticing a change, stop using them and see your doctor for diagnosis and best treatment.
A bubble or bump on belly button piercing
When dealing with lumps that develop on your navel piecing, there are two types of bumps in this case;

• Bump without infection – for example, granulomas is a bump that forms as a result of overgrown body tissue and may not be due to an infection
• Bump with infection – When the bump resembles a pimple and contains a discharge, there is a reason to worry of an infection.

As we said earlier, formation of a bump on your pierced belly button is a common sign that it is infected. This condition usually takes place after the few initial weeks of the piercing. If no quick response is taken to ascertain the cause of the bump and treatment carried out, it may develop into a scar or keloid.
Research results shows that most people tend to get best and quick relief when the use some good home remedies such as tea tree oil followed by the warm saline water compresses.  Piercing solutions have also been found helpful in getting rid of belly button piercing infected bumps.
Moreover, if you follow various ways as outlined by the piercer on how to clean an infected belly button piercing, it can help in getting rid of the bump or bubble on it. There are those who prioritize on visiting their doctors. However, seeking medical attention may be the only option if the infection is not responding to aftercare treatments.

Symptoms of Infected Belly Button Piercing

There are many symptoms that will tell you that your belly button piercing is not in normal condition and this may include an abscess, pain, green pus, serious irritation and sometimes itchiness. The signs and symptoms of the infection may vary from person to person depending on the cause of it. The following are the common signs in details that show your belly button piercing is infected.

1. Cyst or abscess with pus

A swollen pocket on your navel piercing that contains pus is an abscess. Any abscess that forms on your body is a clear indication that you have an infection. The swelling caused by an abscess may be accompanied by some shooting pain. Further symptoms may be witnessed as the cyst or abscess advances to cellulitis. If the cyst punctures, the abscess may discharge a clear liquid. In an advanced stage of infection, the color may change to grayish, then to yellowish pus and green pus.

2. Discharge

You can have a discharge from your piercing even if it is not affected. A clear discharge immediately after the piercing is not from infection. For an infected navel, the discharge may be accompanied by some pain or change of color. While urachal cysts are the main cause of drainage from belly button, causes relating to your piercing may include thrush, yeast infections and bacterial infections. If you see a discharge of any color oozing from your navel, see a doctor immediately for treatment.

3. Green pus

As I have said above, a clear fluid oozing slowly from the navel, especially with a new piercing, might be normal, as it is usually just lymph fluid. However, green pus discharged from the navel can mean an infection is in an advanced stage. A yellowish to greenish pus is likely to have a foul smell. Most people notice that their belly buttons smell like cheese or poop due to these infections.

4. Bump or keloid

The bumps that result from infections may look like small pimples or a rash on your navel area. It is important that you get them treated fast. Fungal infections on a pierced belly button are common and may have signs such as rash or pimples. Keloids on the other hand may develop from the healing process. Keloids worsen if the area has an infection that won’t go away or keeps recurring. Keloids are likely to form closer to the navel piercing ring.

5. Irritation, redness and swelling

Irritation and swelling is normal for new piercings. This should however not last for more than a week or two. Swelling and redness are signs of belly button infection, especially after healing. The irritation comes from the activity of bacteria on the skin. If your navel is swollen, apply a cold pack to relieve the swelling as you seek proper diagnosis and treatment.

6. Pain, hurt or aches from navel piercing

Pain and discomfort are major signs of something having gone wrong. For fresh piercings, a little pain is normal, but for already healed navel piercings, hurting or throbbing aches are a sign of a developing infection. While a slight pull of the belly button ring can make it hurt, the pain should subside rather quickly instead of increasing in intensity.

7. bubble, blood blister or red spots

A blood blister is a small pocket filled with blood. These usually form around the piercing hole. Red spots are not always due to infections on navel piercings. Mishandling of the ring can cause a bruise around the hole, causing a blood blister to form. You may also see red streaks and red spots. However, in some instances, red spots and blood blister bubbles can be a symptom of an early cyst or abscess forming.

8. Itchy belly button piercing

Itching is one sign of either a fungal infection or an allergic reaction. While itching can be caused by foreign irritants such as belly button lint, contact dermatitis and bruising, if the piercing is still not healed yet it starts to itch, an infection is likely to have occurred.

Healing Belly Button Piercing

Although these piercings look great, the belly button healing process takes a long time. Within this duration, it is possible to experience a lot of events that could delay healing. To make sure that the belly button piercing healing is smooth, you need to pay attention to the aftercare procedures. Keep the piercing clean and avoid any trauma being exerted on it.
Healing belly button
To facilitate healing, it is important that you clean up the piercing thoroughly and regularly. Use a fragrance free mild soap to wash the piercing. Avoid cleansers that contain alcohol and dies as well. The navel piercing should also be given saline soak treatments twice each day. Once done with cleaning the area, it is advisable to use paper towels to pat the area dry. Avoid rubbing the wound with a towel as this could irritate the piercing. Also watch out if you are using a towel. It has to be sterilized to avoid transferring micro-organisms to the wound which could cause infections.

Belly Button Piercing Abscess

Swelling can occur in both a new or old piercing. In the initial stages of healing, redness, swelling and itchy feeling are normal. These tend to reduce with time. In case they do not subside or occur past this initial stage, this may suggest an infection. This should be monitored closely as persistent swelling that occurs along pus, redness around and hurts could be a sign of infection.
With old piercings, swellings could occur if the piercing is subjected to trauma and one side is scarred and hard as a result of formation of scar tissue. To get rid of the swelling and red coloration, apply ice on the piercing. Ensure it is wrapped up and apply it on and off for five minutes until you feel better. You could also try chamomile tea soaks to reduce irritation.

Rejected Belly Button Piercing

In doing a belly button piercing, there is always a chance that the piercing will migrate or will be rejected. This can be very frustrating, not to mention unsightly. Rejection happens when the body doesn’t accept the metal from the ring. The immune system will push out the body piercing and will heal the skin until the piercing no longer sticks. The piercing can migrate to another part of the abdomen. What increases the risk of piercing rejection and what can be done about it?
Symptoms of Belly Button Piercing Rejection
There are some signs you can look out for that can help you know if you are suffering from piercing rejection of belly button. Here are the signs:

• The skin is getting so thin that you can see the ring just beneath the skin.
• You have a great deal of skin sensitivity and a continual soreness in the area of the belly button.
• The pierced holes become bigger in preparation for navel piercing rejection.
• The ring or bar around your belly button hangs looser than it was when you first had it pierce.
• There is drainage coming from the belly button holes.
• You are developing a keloid scar in the area of the piercing.

Belly button piercing rejection can lead to a scar, which is the most worrisome sign. This is the last stage of a migration of the pierced ring out of the body. Because of the chance of scarring, you should take the ring out as soon as you realize your body is rejecting it. It doesn’t always happen as soon as you get the piercing and can take up to three years to reject the ring.
If you develop a very big scar, it can be difficult to get rid of and they fade very slowly. If the scar bothers you, you can seek the advice of a plastic surgeon or dermatologist who can help resolve the scar or lessen its appearance.

Infected Belly Button Piercing Pictures

For us to give strength on our case on signs and symptoms, we have included a few infected belly button piercing pictures in this post. They will help you to assess your case to know if you are under an infection or not. The photos and images should be important in helping you visualize how an infected belly piercing does look like.

How to Treat an Infected Belly Button Piercing

Treatments and care options can help get rid of infections on the belly ring area. If you practice proper aftercare before and after healing your piercings, you might be able to prevent infections. After an infection though, here’s how to treat an infected navel piercing.

1. Antibiotics to cure infected navel piercing

If you get an infected belly button piercing due to invasion by bacteria, antibiotics are recommended for curing the infection fast. Prescription antibiotics are highly recommended to over-the-counter antibiotic medications.
As soon as you see any of the signs and symptoms discussed above, and severe ones such as fever and nausea, see a doctor immediately for proper treatment. Your doctor may prescribe topical creams or oral antibiotics depending on the type and severity of the infection.
Antibiotic creams and ointments can be used especially if you have a skin rash around the navel. These can also help if your belly button is itching. However, if the area starts to develop a rash after you start applying the OTC ointment, stop it because it could be an allergic reaction. If you apply antibiotic ointments on body piercings, remove any excess. This will ensure that the pierced area is well ventilated to prevent any anaerobic bacterial activity that can make the wound rot.

2. Tea tree oil home remedy

Tea tree oil is one of the best home remedies for infected navel piercings and rings. It has both antibiotic and anti-fungal properties. If you are looking to heal a navel piercing naturally at home, you can apply this treatment.
According to Almostfamousbodypiercing.com, tea tree oil tea tree oil will fix the belly ring infection by dehydrating it. It will get rid of bumps in the navel area. If the infection comes from gram-negative bacteria, this home remedy will get rid of them. Do NOT use tea tree oil if you have a sensitive skin.

3. Use sea salt water

A saline solution made from sea salt will also treat an infected belly piercing. This treatment should mostly be applied after washing or bathing in order to reduce dampness in the navel area. According to the National Health Service (UK), a saline solution will remove any water and discourage the growth of bacteria. Here’s how to fix an infected belly button piercing using sea salt solution.

4. Epsom salt for navel piercing infections

Another saline solution to treat a navel piercing infection at home is using Epsom salt. Epsom is magnesium sulfate and can help to not only reduce chances of an infection but also heal it altogether Epsom salt is easy to use. Simply have an Epsom salt bath and have it regularly

5. Apply a cold compress

A cold compress is helpful especially of the piercing is swollen, inflamed or is aching. If your belly button piercing infection is bruised and swollen skin, wrap a cold pack in a clean towel and apply it on to the infected area. Avoid placing ice directly onto your skin. It will damage the tissues and slow down the healing process.

6. warm compresses

When dealing with infected piercing, this will help improve the flow of blood to the infected area. This will speed up the healing process.
Ensure that you apply a warm compress on the navel daily for about 20 minutes. This will make pus (if any) drain faster and make the infection heal faster.

7. White vinegar treatment

You can use this to stop the discharge from a belly button piercing infection. According to research findings, an acid in white vinegar and can help stop infections from spreading. Here’s how to heal a pierced belly button with infection using white vinegar.
Just mix two parts of warm water with two parts of white vinegar. Soak a cotton ball in the mixture and apply it on the belly button piercing wound. Rinse the wound using warm water after 15 min.

Apart from the inspiration from numerus celebrities who have it, the craze on tragus piercing is trending now than ever. However, there are a number of good reasons for getting your tragus pierced. This is because it is more pleasing, super easy and less painful. Get insights on tragus piercing pain level, infection aftercare and healing.

What is tragus piercing?

This mode of ear piercing is named after the location of ear that is pierced. Someone can even hide this piercing easily either with her hair or with clothing like scarf if necessary. The small triangle part connecting your face with outer portion of cartilage is known as tragus. It is located in front of ear canal. This portion of ear helps us to hold ear phones and make it fit within.
Anti -tragus ear piercing
Anti-tragus is located on the elevated fold of the ear which is located just opposite the tragus .It is the place where anti tragus is pierced. Though cost and care for both of these variations come close to the same, due to its risky location, it is important to check with the piercer’s portfolio before getting it done. Unlike other piercings, you don’t have lots of places to play around for anti-tragus. Also bear it in mind that, Anti -tragus piercing is widely known for its tough healing process.

1. Types of tragus piercing

There are two types of tragus piercings which include vertical and surface tragus piercings and are both known as double tragus piercing.

• vertical tragus piercing

Vertical tragus piercing runs vertically on your tragus from outside to inside and to the outside again. As you are creating 2 channels, it will create a little more pain as opposed to the plain tragus piercing. It is also known as sideburn piercing.

• surface tragus piercing

This piercing is very similar to the vertical tragus piercing except the fact that it traverses through the flesh of cartilage without making any hole. About the pain level, it’s needless to say that it is the most painful than all other piercings.

2. tragus piercing: gun vs. needle

A major question that is repeatedly asked in all forums is about the tragus piercing pain level of piercing using gun Vs. Needle. To be truthful, gun shots are less painful than the needle. But most of the professional piercers argue that Guns are not suitable and should not be used even for your earlobe.
They add on that gun for piercing any body part is not good, as it poses high infection risks. In case of needles, it is very easy to sterilize so the healing process will be smooth and speedy. If you want to use guns to avoid the minute of pain, you will be needed to endure the pain that lasts for 2 months. Above all, some people claim that pain level of tragus piercing is the same in both Gun and Needle.

3. tragus piercing step by step process

This process of Tragus piercing is quite different from many of the other piercings. It involves the following steps:
Step 1:
To get the tragus or anti tragus piercing, you should lay your back so that the piercer can easily access and work at the piercing site.
Step 2:
Since tragus has thick cartilage, the piercer may need to apply more pressure than all other piercing while making a puncture. In order to avoid the accidental damages to ear, the piercer will place a cork inside the ear canal.
Step 3:
A straight or curved needle will be pushed through the skin (outside to inside). Once the necessary hole is made, the initial jewelry most preferably a barbell will be added to the piercing.
Step 4:
This Jewelry should not be changed until the tragus piercing completely heals.
Once you get your tragus pierced, you might expect a slight bleeding and a bearable tragus piercing pain for few minutes. The bleeding may be accompanied by Swelling around the pierced area. However, few people reported a Jaw pain soon after piercing. Under normal circumstances, it could even last for 2 to 3 days.
Normally, this jaw pain is a soar triggered by tragus piercing which gives a feel as if the jaw hurts. This pain will worsen each and every time you smile. The pain will go away on its own within few days. However, if it lasts beyond 3 days then it is a sign that all is not going well. Check with your piercer and treat the infection before it gets worse.

Tragus Piercing Pain Level

If you compare tragus pain when piercing to pain from other piercings, tragus piercings has very few nerve endings. That does not mean you will not feel any pain in tragus piercing. As the needle breaks the skin, there will be a little discomfort like pain of a sharp pinch or cut. Usually this pain is bearable and last up to few minutes.
However, if you are considering a piercing on your tragus, it is worthwhile knowing more about tragus piercing pain level. This is due to the fact that different people can tolerate different magnitudes of pain. Of course, you do not expect to miss some level of discomfort completely.  It will be there, but to very bearable levels.
However, if you have a thicker cartilage, you might experience some more pain than the people with thinner cartilage.
Factors That Influence Tragus Piercing Pain Level

The amount of pain experienced during this process is never the same across the board. Apart from the few factors we will discuss below, the pain level one is about to experience you have also to consider a good clean place to get your tragus piercing.

1. Piercer Skills

Just as the skilled piercer can do his / her job in a precise manner, it plays a major in reducing the pain. It will also ensure safety and faster healing.

2. Piercer Experience

Experienced piercer knows the right way to handle your tragus no matter whether it is thick or thin. She knows to get the job done probably in just a single stroke. So the sharp pain will go off without even you realize it.

3. Tragus Jewelry Choice

Regardless of where you get your tragus pierced, your piercer will only recommend the long bar bell jewelry as an initial jewelry. It is not supposed to be taken out until the wound get completely heals. Some people have reported the increased pain after insertion of wrong Jewelry.
To keep off these complications, always go with the noble metal or Titanium or hypo allergic Jewelry which will make your healing process smoother and faster. Once the tragus piercing pain has gone and it is perfectly healed, you can use barbells, bead rings, studs or anything that suits your tragus.

Tragus Piercing aftercare

For you not to languish in pain, the main essential factor for the fast healing of the tragus pierced is to follow the tragus piercing aftercare measures efficiently. For at least 4-8 weeks you should take good care of your tragus piercing for the smooth healing of your tragus. However, the healing duration also depends on the skin type which may either be oily or dry, its immune levels, as well metabolic disorders such as diabetes wherein any wound or infection takes a longer time to heal.
Tragus Piercing Aftercare
The new wound on your body usually has higher risks to infection. A part from that, it is easy to avoid the infection with proper care. To some people even the extreme care will worsen the infection. Follow your piercer’s advice on aftercare activities and stick to it thoroughly. With proper care, your tragus piercing would heal without any issues.
What to do for tragus piercing pain and fast healing

• Tie your hair up and make sure your hair or any other products does not come in contact with the pierced site.
• Never share personal belongings like comb, towel etc. .

What not to do on tragus piercing

• Do not at any cost remove or change the Jewelry by yourself until the piercing heals completely. It may trap infection to other body parts.
• Do not use alcohol or any other dehydrating solutions to clean the piercing.
• Never touch the pierced area with your bare hands even if there is any irritation.
• Avoid sleeping on the same side until the piercing heals.
• Do not answer the phone call or hold the headset in the pierced ear. Use your other ear to carry out these tasks

More at home care activities

1. Keep the tragus area clean

The tragus piercing area must be kept clean and tidy by soaking a clean cotton ball in a disinfectant or a saline solution and gently applying it in and around the pierced area. The solution should be applied in such a way as to allow it to seep into the pierced hole. The tragus piercing jewelry must be twisted gently as and when required in order to ensure the even distribution of the solution all around the tragus. This cleaning procedure must be followed twice or thrice a day.

2. Avoid touching the tragus area

Always Wash your hands using antibacterial solution or antiseptic soap before and after cleaning (touching) the piercing site. You should not touch the pierced area with dirty or uncleaned hands as it may cause bacterial infections and lead to tragus piercing complications. If there is any kind of irritation in the pierced area owing to the tightness of the jewelry or the discharge of any kind of fluid from the affected area, you should carefully loosen or change the jewelry or wipe the fluid by a hand washed properly by an anti-bacterial soap.

3. Change your pillow covers every day until few weeks.

Always make sure that when you sleep you lie on a clean bed on the either side of the ear affected. The pillow on which you rest your head should be cleaned and changed on a regular basis so as to avoid the area to get infected. Vigilance is also required while sleeping to restrain oneself from touching or irritating the ear affected.

4. Do not the tragus piercing pain area

Try so much to refrain from scraping any kind of crusty formation over the tragus. Any such irritable cause must be carefully dealt with following the guidelines that have been laid down by the experts and the doctors.

5. Avoid clothing and helmets that touch the wound

No such clothes should be worn which may touch the area pierced. Pull-overs and T-Shirts with collars must be avoided during the healing process as it may hurt the pierced area and aggravate the vulnerability of the same.

6. Avoid the use of earphones during the tragus healing period

Putting up earphones on the tragus pierced is very unhygienic as it may transfer micro-organisms to the wound. You should be extra vigilant using the cellphone as under no circumstances the cell should be brought close to the affected ear.

7. Salt Water Soaks

Clean the piercing site and the surrounding area twice a day with the saline solution. Use 3 to 4 Q-tips or cotton balls to clean the piercing. You can also use sea salt water solution for cleaning. Cleaning a recently perforated area helps keep it safe from dirt and germs and prevents bacterial infection. Add a tsp of sea salt into a glass containing 8 ounces of water.

Tragus Piercing Infection

Failing to follow strictly the instructions you might end up infecting the tragus, thereby delaying the healing process and leading to tragus piercing complications. Any injury to the pierced area may make it vulnerable to infections. So you must take extra care of the ear and have to avoid swimming for as long as it does not get completely healed as the water is chlorinated in swimming pools.
Also, the infection may cause the occurrence of a keloid or a boil or may also lead to a swollen tragus piercing pain. This can be treated by the application of tea tree oil with warm diluted water over the affected surface in a calm and gentle manner. One may carefully change the jewelry if required but changing tragus piercing jewelry frequently is staunchly prohibited. However it is advisable to consult a dermatologist.
Signs that indicate the Tragus Infection
You are advised to seek medical care if you feel any of the following symptoms beyond 3 days.

• Continued bleeding
• soreness around the piercing site
• jaw pain
• yellow or green discharge
• swelling
• foul smell emerging from the pierced area

You are not supposed to fear, if you suspect that your piercing is infected. Just be calm and fix an appointment with dermatologist. Never remove the Jewelry by yourself. It may make your infection even worse.
When to visit your doctor
Though experiencing the above symptoms are completely normal after tragus piercing pain, if it continues beyond 3 days and it does not respond well to your home remedies, fix an appointment with a dermatologist immediately. You can also contact your piercing studio. They will help you to get a speedy recovery.
One of the most common difficulties of tragus piercing is for it getting infection. The risk of getting affected with an infection is high as the tragus is exposed to environmental hazards. There are various symptoms or signs that may indicate the occurrence of infection.

• Swelling and pain for a few days is common and may ebb away in a week’s time. However, if these symptoms persist for over a week or two, then this is an anomaly which may indicate underlying infection.
• Redness and inflammation of the punctured area also indicates prevalence of infection. Intense pain may also be felt due along with these signs.
• Appearance of pustules adjacent or on the punctured area is a common indication of infection. There may be bumps filled with liquid in the back of the front of the tragus.
• In severe situation of infection some individuals may also experience foul greenish or yellowish discharge with bad odor from the pierced region.

Tragus Piercing Healing Time

For a tragus piercing, there is no set time in which it would certainly heal. The time needed for the perforation to heal may vary significantly according to each individual. For some individuals it takes around 2 months while for other it may take even 6 months. However, the average healing time needed for tragus puncture to be cured is 2 months to 4 months.
Moreover, the healing time will depend on the aftercare techniques. For example, in eastern regions it is believed that applying warmed coconut oil in tragus puncture speeds-up the healing process. However, it is better to consult a doctor who will suggest assured way to heal the perforation. Even if you experience any infection with tragus piercing approaching a doctor is the best option you may have.
Though it takes 6 month for the tragus piercing to be considerably healed some people say that it may take around 8 to 9 months for pain or sensation to stop completely. No matter how long your puncture takes to heal, you should follow proper aftercare methods as it does not only avoids infection but may also speed up your healing process.

Tragus Piercing Jewelry

A jewelry type you are supposed to wear after a tragus piercing depends on the pace at which the pierced area gets healed. You should as well be cautious as not to wear funky artificial accessories or earrings made of poor quality as it may have a harmful effect on the tragus.
Many people prefer to wear tragus piercing rings, studs, barbells or earrings made of sophisticated metals such as those made of gold, silver, platinum, or titanium which are of non-corrosive nature and shall not cause harm to the ear. The jewelry must be of a good quality and should not be very tight but of a comfortable nature. It must also suit your personality well
Jewelry types for tragus piercing
There is a wide range of options of jewelry for pierced tragus. Conventional starter jewelry for freshly pierced tragi would be 14 or 16 gauge micro curved barbell earning or CBR. It is believed that most people with pierced tragus prefer CBR than barbell earning. Some other suitable options may include

1. Rings

These are the most common and conventional choices for tragus piercing. You can choose from a range of rings for your ear. These may include smooth segment rings, beaded rings, circular barbell rings and many more.

• Beaded rings are often adopted by women as it suits them better and looks more fashionable.
• Ball closure earrings are also available and are preferred for their simply attractive look.

2. Studs

They are also a nice choice for those looking a unique look. They are simply ear adornments add stylishness to your character. Usually, they are extremely suitable for those who want to look fashionable but at the same time maintain their professionalism. The reason why these studs are used is because they do not block the ear canal. These studs come in various forms and design providing you a spectrum of options to choose from.

3. Barbells

This is an eye-catchy piece of jewelry which is suitable for pierced tragus. The barbell earrings are highly suitable for those who want to portray their wild side. These are highly exotic adornments which are available in different patterns. One of the highly preferred design for these barbell earing is circular arrow barbell earing. However, using complicated barbell initially is not suggested.
More references

1. Tragus piercing pain: http://www.medhealthdaily.com/tragus-piercing-pain/
2. Tragus piercing care: http://www.skin-artists.com/tragus-piercing-care.htm
3. Tragus piercing pain and risks: http://doctordecides.com/tragus-piercing-pain-infection-risks-healing-time-cost-jewelry-types/

Does cartilage piercing bump go away? Piercing of the earlobe has been there since before, but many people have started showing interest in cartilage piercing nowadays. Cartilage is the upper part of your ear.it is one of those areas on the body where piercings can be quite dangerous and lead to infections. Bumps that form here are never easy to be dealt with, as they do not respond to antibiotics treatment that fast. The infection rate for cartilage piercings is 34%, as compared to the rest of the body’s 22%.

Cartilage Piercing Bump

When you get a bump on your cartilage it usually indicate that you have developed an infection, but there are several other symptoms that will follow few days later. Some of them will include the following:

• You will experience severe pain upon touching the pierced area.
• redness of the skin around your piercing with tenderness
• Pain on the cartilage.

When the condition is worse, some of the signs you are likely to see include:

• Discharge of yellow or green pus from the affected area
• Hotness on the area around your piercing
• Fever in serious cases, especially if Pseudomonas aeruginosa is responsible for your infection
• Prolonged bleeding followed by a crush formed on your piercing

Apart from the bump, these are some of the most common signs of an infected cartilage, and then you have to make plans to schedule for your doctor’s appointment.

Cartilage Piercing Bump Causes

For a bump to arise on your cartilage piercing, there are a number of things that you may have done to it. If not, there are some conditions you allowed to take advantage of your ear. Let us look at some of the reasons why you developed the lump.

1. Unsterilized piercing equipment

Consider this as one of the biggest suspect. Some piercers do not put hygiene as a priority as they use unsterilized equipment, such as gun and needle. Allowing your piercings done with unsterilized equipment is a sure bet that you will get infected because bacteria can transfer from person to person.

2. Poor quality or Inappropriate Jewelry

This will also lead to infections and development of cartilage piercing bump. Wearing an earring made from material that you are allergic to can result to an infection. Nickel is one of the elements that are known to cause allergic reactions. The jewel that can do better will involve those that are made from gold, stainless steel, or titanium.

3. Poor Personal Hygiene

This can as well causes you do develop cartilage piercing bump. Always be on the watch to keep your pierced area clean and dry while it is still healing. Also, ensure that your hair doesn’t touch your piercing as it transfers germs to the delicate area.

4. Trauma or injury

Also know that, you may end up getting a cartilage piercing as a result of some physical injuries, over cleaning of the piercing, and the use of a piercing gun. Regularly touching your jewelry may also cause an infection.

Cartilage Piercing Bump on Back of Ear

A lump that appears on the cartilage piercing can be in front or at the back of the ear. In most cases, the bump usually forms at the back maybe because there is a bit much flesh there the inner side. Often, cartilage piercing lump is caused majorly by the pathogens known as the Staphylococcus Aureus as well as the Pseudomonas Aeruginosa. Following is a brief study of the symptoms that could be brought about by bumps that are at the back of the ear and also the infection.
Redness
Among the many symptoms of infected cartilage piercing is indicated by the skin that is around the piercings is turning red or even to a color which is different from that of a skin.
Pain
When your piercing is very painful to touch, this is a clear sign that your ear is under an infection especially when the signs of reddening or even aching are present.
Oozing
If it is in normal condition oozing after the piercing is a common thing. To some persons, however, it might even be normal to have the white or even the very pale yellow discharges. In my opinion I would not agree with that. But, if you observe a green or even brown pus-like discharge or even leaking from the ear cartilage piercing bump then there is something that is not right. This shows that the infection is at the higher levels.
Bad smell
If the bump at the back of the cartilage is producing a bad smell, it is also a sign of a serious problem that should not be ignored. A bad smell can come from the piercing without having to take the jewelry out necessarily.

Cartilage Piercing Keloid

A keloid is described as the scar tissue that grows and rises in or around a cartilage piercing. These growths are commonly confused with hypertrophic scarring in ear cartilage piercings. However, Hypertrophic scarring is a temporary condition and is treated by changing the jewelry and subjecting the ear piercing to sea salt soaks remedy. Prescriptions and surgeries from your health care provider are the only treatments for a permanent keloid condition.
Causes of keloids

• Hereditary

In some cartilage piercing bumps, keloids are inherited down along the family members. Those with close family members, such as parents or siblings, with keloids are most likely to keloid in connection with ear cartilage piercing. Piercing the ear cartilage, no matter the method, results in keloids around, inside or outside of the piercing location. Receiving a piercing with a sterilized needle from a professional body piercer that provides thorough aftercare guidelines decreases the possibility of keloid formation.

• Melanin and Sex

The amount of melanin in the skin and the sex of the person receiving a piercing are also factors in the possibility of keloids from an ear cartilage piercing bump. African Americans and women are more prone to keloids from piercing, according to a research finding by Milton S. Hershey Medical Center College of Medicine. Potential piercing candidates are likely to be aware of keloid condition before having the ears pierced.
If you have ever experienced chicken pox, acne or surgery in the past, keloids will most likely form at the site of the skin trauma and indicate a predisposition to keloids from ear cartilage piercing. Avoid body piercings completely if you have past or current keloids.

Swollen Cartilage Piercing

Swelling of the cartilage is a bit different from the formation of a bump at the cartilage piercing site. Swelling may be due to trauma performed on the skin while a cartilage piercing bump is a clear sign of things gone wrong especially if it is associated with the symptoms we have talked about.
Meanwhile, you can avoid having tight necklines that can be able to pull on the ear. Keep away from swimming with an ear cartilage piercing that has not healed as it can also cause swelling. Also, avoid submerging the piercing in the bath as it is able to harbor bacteria. Don’t sleep on top of the piercing. Protect the new piercing from being bumped against as it hurts resulting to swelling.

Hypertrophic Scar Cartilage Piercing

A hypertrophic scar is a cutaneous condition characterized by deposits of excessive amounts of collagen which gives rise to a raised scar, but not to the degree observed with keloids as we stated above. Like keloids, they form most often at the sites of pimples, body piercings, cuts and burns. They are said to contain nerves and blood vessels.
Hypertrophic scar on ear cartilage piercing is seen in red or pink in color, however can fade to a lighter tone. They are fleshy bumps that stay within the boundary of the piercing, often forming in a ring shape, or as a dome off to one side. Other characters may include being itchy, with dry skin which flake from them without any pus or drainage.
These scars should not be confused with keloids, which are darker in color, spread far beyond the bounds of the piercing site with no real specific form, often tender, painful and itchy. They are red or much darker than the normal skin tone, they carry a lot of collagen, and they can often develop months or years after the piercing.

Cartilage Piercing Bump Treatment

If you have developed a cartilage piercing bump, it is important to identify the best treatment option to correct the issue. You need to understand that your cartilage piercing will heal in three stages:

• The first stage is the inflammatory stage in which your wound is still open.
• The second stage is growth stage in which your body produces collagen.
• The final stage is remodeling or maturation stage in which disorganized collagen fibers repair and realign. You can experience issues in any of these healing stages, but you can look for treatments that are suitable for your condition.

Treating Inflammation
A reddened bump doesn’t imply infection. In some other cases, inflammation is able to develop at the area from the irritation from the piercing rather than an infection. With an inflammation, the redness is normally localized, improving with time, don’t spread and don’t have a foul smell.
Draining an inflamed cartilage piercing bump fluid won’t help at all, because it doesn’t have the infected material. Injecting of the bump with cortisone normally assists to reduce the inflammation, although you may require more than a single treatment, depending on the size of the inflamed skin area.
Potential Complications
Trying to pop an infected skin area yourself might make an infection to be worse, more especially if you make use of a contaminated object and introduce even much more bacteria into the wound. A serious infection that usually enters the blood stream might be much fatal.
Let the doctor determine whether a bump that usually develops at the skin area of the body piercing requires any draining. Only a medical professional should perform the procedure.

1. Tea Tree Oil

Pure tea tree oil is a naturally potent anti-bacterial treatment. It is normally applied in treatment of the acne and all other forms of mild infection.
If you have an intention of using this method of treatment, then you should make sure that you use about 100% of the pure tea tree oil. Any other type of ingredients might worsen the problem and can then irritate the skin even more.
All you are required to do is use the oil directly to the affected skin area by use of a cotton swab. If the skin is much sensitive, then you should dilute the oil using water for it to be essential for your cartilage piercing bump.

2. Salt Water Soak

This is one of the most versatile solutions that is used to any piercing related problems. Saline solution is a very powerful stuff. It’s easy to make. All you are required to do is stir a quarter of a teaspoon of sea salt or even the rock salt into a glass that has warm water.

• You then take a clean cotton pad and then soak it in the salty liquid.
• Use the salty liquid to the piercing and let the salt work as required.
• Not much else is needed to be done.

3. Chamomile Salt Soak

Most of the people have applied the use of chamomile so as to soothe and also relax the body and also the mind before sleeping.
Chamomile is a very versatile herb. The soothing properties that it has are not limited to the mind and also the muscles. It is also much soothing and very much calming to the skin. Simply brew a cup of chamomile. Except that you will not add a sweetener as you normally would. Instead you will add a quarter of the teaspoon of the sea salt to sooth the skin and also fight infection as the same time. Apply the brew to the cartilage piercing bump by use of a cotton swab about three times a day. You will begin to observe the results within a number of weeks.

4. Aspirin

Aspirin is indicated for its health benefits. It is equally said that it can be applied to treat keloids. It is a simple yet much effective treatment that you should try.  All you are required to do is crush up the aspirin tablet. Mix it in with a very small amount of water so as to form a thick paste.
Use the paste to the cartilage piercing bump on the piercing. Then just wash it off by use of a sea salt soak. The anti-inflammatory properties that are in the aspirin should have the keloid reduce in size in no time.

5. Honey

Honey is a very powerful antiseptic. Infections don’t normally stand any chance once you add some honey to it. It is also perfect for use on the sensitive skin because of the fact that it is natural and also gentle.
All you are required to do here is use a dab of honey to the bump about 3 times a day. You might even try to add some amount of honey to the chamomile and also sea salt brew.

6. Lemon Juice

This is nature’s way of keeping everything very fresh. Not every other person has success with use of the method, but some other people swear by it. Squeeze the juice of one half of a lemon into a cup. Dilute it using 50% water. Use it to the piercing by use of a q-tip.
Monitor the results over a period of two or three weeks. If you see any difference, then keep it up. If not, then you should try something else.

7. Hydrogen Peroxide

Application of the solution on your cartilage piercing bump is indicated to dissolve the dead cells that are present and assist so as to reduce the infection.
Dip an ear bud in the hydrogen peroxide and also slightly move the jewelry so that it is able to be applied to the base part of the skin. Also, depending on the given skin sensitivity, apply the method in one week.

Infected ear piercing? Ear-piercing is a practice that has been carried out since very long time ago.it is a way of adding beauty as some people easily describes. If you have plans have piercings on your ears, you need to ensure it is done carefully and you carry out best after care activities to ensure the area is not infected. Pierced ear infection is a common problem that affects people who pierce their ears and assume that is the end of the story.
Knowing that you have infected ear piercing is very simple. The symptoms for the condition can range from a mild to moderate or even severe.it is important for you to know the reason why your ear is infected, and this can be easy if you know the symptoms that accompany each condition. Treatment and care for the ear piercing is a key factor after knowing the disease causing agent.
Apart from all the efforts and safety procedures that are followed to not to get infected, some people, still are caught up in a mess of getting infected. If by good or bad lack you get infected, instead of worry get to know what caused the condition. You should keep the infected area always clean and follow the remedies as prescribed, and it won’t take long before you see your infections getting improved.

Infected Ear Piercing Causes

Infection can take place into a new ear piercing or on the piercing that has been there since. There are different things that will affect an old ear piercing and a new one as well. The discussion will cover sections like, how infection would occur during piercing or healing and after healing. However, have it in mind that, the main cause of infection is due to germs which include bacteria, fungi or certain viruses.

1. Causes of new piercing ear infections

Regardless of the place your ear piercing was done; infected piercing can get anybody who gets a new piercing.

2. Use of unsterilized equipment

You can get an infection on your new piercing if your piercer uses piercing equipment either contaminated with dirt or has already been used on somebody else.

3. Touching

When your ear piercer keeps own touching your ear pierce, chances are that you may transfer disease causing germs from the piercer’s hands to tools or directly to your ears. This may also happen while inserting the posts because the whole procedure must have a contact between the source of contamination and the ears.

4. Bad or poor quality earrings

Your new ear piercing may get infected on condition that the first pair of earrings results in an irritation which causes itching hence a disease. Through a continuous itching, your skin may be perforated exposing it to micro-organisms that result to diseases. Some researches reveal that, microorganisms act as antigens, which triggers the body’s immune system, leading to formation of pus after inflammation.
Apart from cheap and poor quality, tight earrings can as well lead to infected ear piercing. Heavy metal bars from earlobes can leave earring hole stretched with pain.

5. Old infected ear piercing

A number of people don’t believe that already healed and long lived ear piercing can get infected.  Do not be surprised to get your completely healed or old ear piercing infected months, or years after. Some of the common reasons through which they get infected include:

1. Contaminated touches

Touching with dirty hands or allowing your friends to touch or hold the earrings may result into a disease. Also, exchanging or swapping your earrings with friends may lead to your ear piercing infection.

2. Removing or changing the earrings

If you are a person who likes changing and removing earing occasionally, you may cause an irritation to them. Maybe the ones you changed to are bigger or with strong metals which can result to irritation.

3. Injury on earring hole

Some people force through big earrings to their piercings hence causing them to overstretch. However if your piercing has closed, make arrangements to visit your piercer again rather than doing it yourself in a bad way, as it may result to trauma.

4. Bacterial infections of the ear cartilage e.g. perichondritis,

Bacteria are well known as the common cause of diseases. You should at all time not give a chance to any condition that will allow bacteria to infest on your ear piercing.
Other causes may include:

• Swimming in contaminated water pools, etc.
• Inserting your earrings to a new piercing without a mirror might make it get hurt as it is still recovering.
• Allergic reactions to the materials of the posts especially nickel which is known to cause allergic reactions as well as an itchy feeling.
• Injuries causes by earrings especially if inserted at a wrong angle by kids.

Infected Ear Piercing Bump

If it happens that you developed a bump at the site of the pierce, draining the infected ear piecing bump should at any cost never be done by yourself. This may lead to it turning red, swollen or painful, or drains pus, could indicate a staphylococcus infection or other bacteria. Instead, just visit your medical provider as they may choose to drain the bump and send the fluid for testing to observe the type of bacteria in it. In the meantime, the doctor put you on an oral antibiotic.
At any case a wound develops on the skin like a body piercing, and then you run the risk of developing an infection. The problem can get worse if the equipment that is used to create the opening is not scrupulously cleaned and sterilized between uses.
Some of the symptoms you should observe on an infected ear piercing bump are tenderness, a yellow discharge, redness, and some swelling. As we have said above, the major cause of infection is piercing the ears with unsterile equipment, inserting unsterile posts, or frequently touching the earlobes with dirty hands.

Infected Cartilage Ear Piercing

Ear cartilage piercing is also trending these days. However, I read somewhere that is one of those piercings that are very painful. Some researches done in America have revealed that people can lose their ears cartilages if the ear piercing practice is not done in good condition or by a rightful person. For me, think this should be enough to help you know the need to treat an infected cartilage piercing immediately as well as the need to go to a professional piercer.
In short, piercings on the upper part of the ear, the cartilage, are much more dangerous than earlobe piercings and they are prone to infections that are much harder to treat since they hardly respond to antibiotics. Moreover, there is a higher prevalence of infection on cartilage than earlobe as research reveals. It is said that there is a 22 percent infection rate for body piercing overall and a 34 percent infection rate for cartilage piercing, according to ABC News.

Ear Piercing Infection Symptoms

Symptoms will help you to know if you have an infected ear piercing. Some of these symptoms may show up during the process of piercing. You need to know how old the piercing became compromised with infection for you strike the cause. The following are some common signs and symptoms you should be aware of your ear piercings.

1. Redness around the piercing

This is one of the signs of an infection is marked by a noticeable change in color especially around the earring hole. Redness involved with persistent pain should be taken seriously. Sometimes there may be inflamed streaks or thread-like marks or lines that radiate from round the infected ear piercing.

2. Swelling and discharges

Secondly, it is expected that slight swelling should occur after you have pierced your ear. It could be pierced earlobes or cartilage. However, if the swelling does not subside after the second day, that could be dangerous. In some cases the swelling may extend to the glands in the neck region and you should have a sore feeling in your neck or jaw.
Swelling may be worsened by drainage from the piercing holes. A discharge with brown, grey, yellow-greenish color marked by a bad, foul smell will indicate there being an infection. Piercing experts have argued that a clear discharge is normal while your piercing is healing. This discharge would actually be lymph fluid.

3. Bumps

Going on with signs to look for in an infected ear pierce, are formation of bumps especially when they appear reddened. This is less unlikely and not always the case as inflammation can develop at the site from irritation from the piercing rather than infection, according to some research findings

4. Bleeding

Another sign to observe is blood oozing from your pierced ear site or earring hole bleeding. This sign/symptom can point out the fact that you may have a problem with earring material or complication or you injured it. Besides being an infected ear piercing on the earlobe symptom, bleeding excessively must not be taken lightly when it occurs frequently.

5. Tenderness

Tenderness to touch in skin around the earlobe, conch or cartilage is another probable symptom of infections. Children will complain more because they have tendency to touch whenever they feel an increased sensitivity or irritation.

6. Fever

This is a well-known common symptom of infection. Unless you have a cold or flu infection or other-related infections, fever should be a cause of worry when you are fine.
For you to know that you have an infected ear piercing is by checking out on the symptoms i.e. you are certainly going to know you have such an infection by looking at some of the pierced ear infection symptoms that can never miss. Some the common signs and symptoms to check for include:

• Tenderness on the pierced site, kids might complain of this tenderness.
• Swelling around the piercing site that persists 48 hours after a new piercing.
• Infected ear piercing bleeding in extreme cases, especially for new piercings.
• Discharges from the piercing that include pus that might be yellow or your piercing might “secrete thick, green, smelly pus” [livestrong.com].
• A bump on earlobes that could be white or red.
• Fever especially in children
• Stuck earrings i.e. you will be unable to rotate them.

These are not the only infected ear lobe piercing signs or symptoms you might have. There are many others to check out for. By the way, your ears are very important. The moment you notice anything abnormal with your piercings, do not ignore them. Do not be like most people who tend to waiting until “infected ear piercing pus” starts oozing out before they begin looking for pierced ears infection treatment options.

Ear Piercing Infection Treatment

Treatment will rely on the information based on ear piercing symptoms. We shall focus on treatments provided by health centers and then how to treat pierced ear infections with home remedies.

1. Antibiotics

There are two broad categories of these medications which include the non-prescription and strength prescription antibiotics.
Most of the topical drugs available at your locale or over the counter medications are non-prescribed. They are widely used on speculation that they cure minor infection symptoms like swelling. They include oral drugs, ointments and creams for instance, Neosporin. Before taking them to cure symptoms after piercing, patients are advised to ask relevant health practitioner for safety usage.
Considering it on the other way, prescription medicines will treat persistent infected ear piercing symptoms such

as fever, severe swelling, discharges, etc. These drugs must be taken under a doctor’s instruction only to control or cure severe signs and symptoms after ear piercing.

2. Pain relievers

It involves use of drugs such as Aspirin, acetaminophen or ibuprofen to kill pain that may accompany other symptoms. Note that pain killers do not guarantee cure for infections.
If you experience severe symptoms such as frequent pain, high fever and excessive bleeding you should see your doctor who will determine what the problem is and which best treatments that you need in case of an infection.
Treatment process
Recognizing the infection is the very first step for treating any infection. Before telling you how to treat an infected ear piercing, let me tell you how to recognize the infection and the factors that triggers the infection. Read on.
Infected ear piercing home remedies
When the signs of infections are minor home remedies should clear them in a few hours or days. Not all home remedies will help cure an infected pierced ear. Some are only take away symptoms.

1. Tea tree oil

Tea tree oil is safe and easy to use at home. It contains an antiseptic property to fight germs and bacteria. You can apply tea tree oil as an alternative best of aspirin or chamomile tea as natural treatment.

2. Sea salt solution (home-made saline)

After receiving medication, you can soak your infected earlobe piercing in a warm solution of non-iodized salt. Add about 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt to shot glass of warm water.

3. Rubbing alcohol

Apart from using alcohol to clean a piercing while enhancing healing, this product can help to clear symptoms by keeping infection causing germs at bay. Apply rubbing alcohol in front and at the back of infected earlobes.
NOTE: avoid using rubbing alcohol to clean newly pierced ear in order to quicken healing.

3. Warm/cold compress

A warm compress is ideal to bring down swelling and infected ear piercing bumps especially if the pierced ear is aching. On the other hand, apply a cold compress when you feel mild pain but not on a piercing wound symptomatic of bleeding.
Ear piercing care
Learning how to take care of a piercing is important whether it is an infected pierced ear or free of infection signs and symptoms. Practicing proper ear piercing care will not only be prevention against occurrence of an infection but will also promote quicker healing and greatly help an infected pierced ear. You should observe piercing care for good health more so your baby and children.

1. Cleaning

This is something you should do routinely (daily) regardless of a newly pierced, healing or old piercing. The best cleaning solutions should have been given by your piercer and it is expected that you follow the recommended procedures. However, you need to use saline, alcohol or an antibiotic solution. Before you touch your ears ensure your hands are clean and dry.
Using small cotton swabs, apply saline or alcohol in front and behind the piecing sites. Ensure you do not cause mush disturbance to the studs, bar or earring while cleaning fresh piercing wounds.
Do not use alcohol or solutions containing alcohol if you have increased sensitivity in skin. This may lead to further irritation make skin around new piercing become more inflamed. Another caution you must take is never use alcohol or allows children with piercing use alcohol.

3. Anti-bacterial solutions (soaps)

This solution is what every kind of body piercing requires to keep infection causing microorganisms away from the wounds. Besides being a common cleaning agent for hands as well as the pierced sites.

4. Do not remove the ear jewelry

Removing can easily contaminate or cause germs being transferred to the earring bars leading to infection in earring hole after placement. Besides, it may cause unnecessary injury and lead to bleeding. Unless it is an old piercing or you are instructed to remove ear jewelry in order to clean properly, leave them alone.

5. Avoid causing injury

Be careful while removing your tops and avoid clothes with loose strips (strings). Otherwise get used to wearing shirts, open (zipped) tops or with buttons.

6. Keep tidy

Wash your hair regularly and protect it from coming into contact with your new piercing. Moms should also keep your daughter’s hair clean or short.
Keep off swimming pools for at least 2 to 3 weeks to allow for efficient healing especially if you have any kind of ear cartilage piercing.

How to Treat an Infected Ear Piercing without it closing

While treating your ear piercing or when taking care of it, you may realize that yes it healed but the hoe closed. No one would want to undergo piercing process over and over. Therefore, there are steps you can follow to avoid closing the hole in the name of treatment. You can treat minor infections at home by keeping the infected area clean and using sea salt soaks to draw out irritants. However you can follow the steps below while caring for your infected piercing:
Step 1
While the first earrings are intact, use antibacterial or antimicrobial soap to wash your hands to avoid introducing new bacteria to the infected area. Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds with the soap.
Step 2
Make a solution of 1 tbsp. of non-iodized sea salt in 8 ounces of warm distilled water
Step 3
Soak the infected ear piercing in the salt solution for three to five minutes. If possible, fill a small cup with the solution and submerge the infected lobe. If this is uncomfortable or you have an attached earlobe that makes this difficult, soak sterile gauze or cotton swabs in the solution and apply generous amounts of the solution to the infected area.
Step 4
Rinse your ear piercing with clean, warm water and dry with a clean paper towel. Do not use a hand towel or washcloth because they can transfer germs to the wound.
Step 5
You can repeat this method at least once a day in conjunction with your regular cleaning regimen until the infection clears.
More references

1. How to heal cartilage piercing bumps: http://www.wikihow.com/Heal-Cartilage-Piercing-Bumps
2. How to drain infected earlobe piercing: http://woundcaresociety.org/drain-infected-ear-piercing
3. How to treat an infected piercing: http://www.healthline.com/health/beauty-skin-care/how-to-treat-an-infected-ear-piercing#overview1

A daith piercing is pierced through the fold of cartilage closest to the ear canal. Whether or not you can have a daith piercing will depend on your anatomy – there must be enough room for a bar or ring. Daith piercings are cartilage piercings so they may take a while to heal – if your daith piercing refuses to heal we recommend BioFlex piercing jewelers, which is known to reduce healing times. Depending on anatomy most people wear either a ball closure ring or a curved bar in their daith piercing and luckily we have a huge range of BCRs and barbells to.

What is a Daith Piercing?

It is the perforation of the small fold of cartilage above the ear canal. A unique type of ear piercing, this one can only be done if you have a well-developed innermost cartilage fold.
A Daith piercing is an ear piercing that passes through the ear’s innermost cartilage fold, the cruses of the helix. In most areas this piercing is pronounced “day-th” which can be compared to the word “faith”, which is nonstandard. The standard pronunciation is “doth” like “goth”.
The piercing is located in an ‘awkward place’ due to it being in a curvy place, and is usually pierced with a straight hollow needle. Curved barbells, BCR/CBR (ball closure ring/captive bead ring) and Hearts and moon for the Daith piercing are the most common jewelry to wear.

How to do daith piercing?

Search for a sophisticated piercing studio that offers high standard facilities. Since daith piercing is a bit complicated, it must be carried out by an experienced piercer. After initial cleaning, a sterilized curved needle is pushed through the thick cartilage fold. The jewelry is then inserted into the pierced region.

Daith ear piercing pain

Cartilage piercings are quite painful. You might experience a throbbing pain once the needle is taken out, but after a while it reduces. It is normal for a newly pierced cartilage to bleed. So, do not panic as it will be handled well by the piercing professional.

Daith piercing infection and complications

Accumulation of dirt around the fresh piercing might cause infection and other complications. Therefore, keeping the pierced area clean is essential to ensure normal healing. Although a new piercing causes redness, soreness and swelling, take medical help if it becomes severely infected. If you experience irritation and pus discharge near the pierced region, then there is a possibility of a jewelry rejection. It would be better if you get the jewelry removed by a professional piercer before the piercing migrates.

Daith piercing jewelry and it started

A client of Erik Dakota, who is said to have been studying Hebrew in college, first named this piercing “da’at” (meaning knowledge). Her reasoning was that the piercer must have been very “smart” to figure out how to do the piercing. This piercing was first brought into the public eye in Fakir Mustafa’s body play magazine, in the same issue that also showcased the Industrial Piercing, the Apadydoe, and a large dermal punch in the outer conch.

Daith Piercing Jewelry

Captive bead rings are ideal during the healing process as they fit comfortably on the piercing. You can also opt for curved barbells that take less space. Large gauge jewelry should be tried out only after the pierced area heals completely.

Types of Daith piercing

Double daith piercing

As the name suggests, two perforations are made on the innermost cartilage fold. Although double piercing gives you an elegant look, it can only be done if the cartilage fold is big enough. Double spiral rings fit this style of piercing.

Triple daith piercing

Three perforations are made on the cartilage fold. However, there must be sufficient space to accommodate multiple piercings.

Best Jewelry for Daith Piercing

There are lots of different types of daith ring including ball closure rings, circular barbells and smooth segment rings. Each one offers a different look and they come in a wide choice of materials to suit you’re piercing and your style. You can also accessories any of these daith piercing rings with clip-in accessories or threaded body jewelry accessories. To see more options click on any of the rings or categories.

Daith Bars and Rings

Barbells are a great option for your daith piercing because they will not move around in the piercing, thereby reducing the potential for irritation. We recommend wear a curved barbell in your daith piercing, as it will probably sit more comfortably in your ear.
If you are having problems healing your daith piercing you might benefit from using a multi-use piercing tube, a new flexible type of bar that you can trim to size. Here you can see out most popular daith piercing bars – to see more bars lick on any product or category.
We have lots of clients with concerns about metal allergies in body piercing. They tell us things like, “My ears always get infected when I wear jewelry” or “I can only wear gold because my ears are sensitive.” or “I’m allergic to all types of jewelry.”  We hear these things from people who are very young as well as our older clients.  While sensitivity to jewelry is not uncommon, it is usually easy to deal with. In most cases, the solution can be as simple as changing over to high-quality jewelry.
Why Oh Why?
In order to understand how to deal with metal sensitivities/allergies, it’s helpful to understand why it’s happening in the first place. Sensitivity or an allergy to certain types of metal/jewelry is similar to seasonal allergies or food allergies. There is something (an allergen) in the metal that irritates your body. With any allergy or sensitivity, your body’s immune system kicks in to gear to try and deal with the allergen. If your body is unable to deal with allergen, then you have an allergic reaction.
The degree to which a piercing “freaks out” depends on how sensitive to the allergen your body is; how much it bothers your body. If you have a minor sensitivity, the symptoms can be very mild: slight itching, a small amount of redness and/or the piercing will just feel a little “funny”.
If your body is highly-sensitive to the allergen, the piercing may become very itchy, red, swollen, painful and it may throb. It may also secrete a mostly-clear, sticky liquid. In some cases the piercing hole will appear to get bigger as the skin tries to pull away from what is irritating it.
It’s common for people to think they have an infection in their piercing when they are actually having an allergic reaction.
Like most allergies, if your body is sensitive to something, the sensitivity gets worse the more you are exposed to the allergen. Many people find they are able to wear any type of jewelry when they are younger, but as they get older they began to have more frequent, and more severe, reactions. Eventually, a reaction can occur with even the slightest amount of contact.
Of course, there are some people who are very allergic from birth and have problems starting with their very first time they come into contact with the allergen.

Gold Daith Jewelry

Titanium Body Jewelry. Barbells, Ear Gauges, Captive Bead Rings, Gem Ends for Internally Threaded Jewelry. Navel Rings, Nipple Barbells and Industrial Barbells. All of our Titanium body jewelry is Implant Grade and made in the USA. We carry only high quality Titanium jewelry from Anatometal, Industrial Strength, NeoMetal, Leroy and Intrinsic Body.
Suitable Types:

• Captured bead rings
• Rings are much cheaper than barbells. Special pliers may be required to remove or replace the bead, especially for thicker gauge jewelry.
• Avoid sleepers as the sharp edges at the joint may damage your piercing.
  Barbells
• Either choose internally threaded barbells or, if the bar is externally threaded, be sure that no threads are exposed.
• Studs can work very well providing there is sufficient room to exposé the piercing when cleaning.
• Suitable Sizes:
  Only 18 gauge or heavier jewelry should be used. Smaller gauges will migrate out through the skin.

Suitable Materials: 
Surgical Stainless Steel, 18 carat gold, titanium, niobium, PTFE.
Do not use 9 carat gold, silver, or gold plated jewelry in new piercings. In a healing cartilage piercing the gold plating will wear off the jewelry before the piercing is healed. This is not such a problem in healed piercings

Daith Heart Jewelry

Though rare a number of Daith piercings can be done and even expanded into a number of helix piercing as the Helix begins its ascent around the ear. Also it could be combined with a Rook piercing to create Industrial or Orbit piercing, however this would greatly depend on the piercee’s anatomy and the skill of the piercer.
The pressure caused by combining the two piercing could cause a great deal of stress to a healing piercing which could lead to migration, scaring, prolonged healing or other problems.

Jewelry Types

It is my experience that rings are the best option for healing a Daith piercing. There is couple of reasons for this including the security of Captive Bead Rings over threaded and thread less jewelry but also the location has limited space. With a ring it is much easier to hold the jewelry or adjust it if needed. Also it allows additional room for swelling and doesn’t block the entrances of the piercing which may impede discharge.
A curved barbell would be the other option and the main advantage is that it has a lower profile during healing than that of a ring. However, since the post will need to be much longer than the tissue being pierced, it may be more prone to getting snagged on clothing, bedding, combs, etc.
I suggest piercing with a ring and then changing out to a properly sized barbell after the healing is completed. I also suggest that the jewelry is professional changed because especially with threaded jewelry specialty tools maybe needed to close the jewelry.
18 or 16 gauge are best for the piercing because they are thin enough to be pierced correctly but are not so thin that it might cause tearing or rejection. Larger gauges are possible if there is enough tissue to allow for the thickness of the jewelry but the added weight may cause additional problems. I’ve found that 16g works best and allows the client a wider selection of thread jewelry than 18g would.
The width needs to be at least 5/16 to 3/8 of an inch wide. However with most anatomies 3/8 tends to be a better choice, especially with rings because it allows the piercing to form as straight as possible and lays more comfortable and is less likely to want to stand straight out of the body.

Procedure involved

After disinfecting the area, comes marking the piercing. If you read my blog on marking, you know that I feel it is important for the piercee to study the marking beforehand. With this piercing because of its location it is often hard to see. What I would suggest is try to use two mirrors and angle them so you can see inside the ear. When marking this piercing, I will mark a line around the area.
This is to insure that when I do the piercing that it is angled correctly but also the end of the line on each side is the location of the two piercing holes. I use this method with a great deal of piercings where it is impossible to see both exit and entrance holes at the same time.  In some cases I will also cross the line with a center point line to insure that the piercing is even.
Since this is anatomy defining piercing the direction that the piercing is done is dictated by the shape of the area. Ideal the piercing should be done top to bottom exiting in the space of the ear canal. The needle should be curved or slightly bent to allow an access to the area. I’ve found that a slight hand bent needle works best for me. To gain access to the entrance placement, I will set my hand against the top of the ear which will cause the area to open but still not distort the piercing area.
I will then rest the needle against the piercing entrance and with my other hand hold a cork against the other side. Then I will do the piercing, remove the cork from the needle tip and then use a needle receiving tube to guide the needle safely through the piercing. Then insert the jewelry, stop any bleeding and clean up.
The piercing can be more an uncomfortable experience then a painful one because of the stress put on the piercing area. Most say on a scale of one to ten that the piercing is around a 3 or 4.  With most ear piercings it is common to experience warmth or heat in the area right after the piercing and/or a throbbing pain for a few minutes right after the piercing is done. Also, there might be a small amount of bleeding.

Daith Jewelry Moon

Gets the ideal jewelry for your daith piercing with our range of daith piercing jewelry. A daith ear piercing is placed in the fold of ear cartilage at the centre of the ear, so it is important to choose the right jewelry. If you have trouble on healing your daith piercing, try Bioplast piercing jewelry or Blackline piercing jewelry, both of which reduce healing times.
In which piercings can you wear straight barbells? Which piercings require captive bead rings? Can you wear plugs anywhere other than your earlobes? Can a daith heart be worn in anything other than a daith piercing? If you think you know the answers to these questions, challenge yourself by taking our Body Jewelry Match-up Quiz!

Body Jewelry Quiz Instructions

We’ve listed a variety of types of piercings and body jewelry below, followed by a series of questions regarding which styles of body jewelry are typically worn in which piercings. Use the types of piercings and body jewelry listed as many times as needed to answer the questions below. When you’re done, scroll down to see our answers, and give yourself a point for each one you get right… and bonus points when you get the bonuses right! Your total score will put you into 1 of 4 categories:

• If your final score is less than 18, you’re a Piercing Pupil and need to educate yourself by reading our body jewelry and piercing articles.
• A score of 19-26 makes you a Piercing Apprentice–i.e. you’re learning, but you should keep studying our Info Center articles and body jewelry blog posts.
• A score of 27-32 earns you the title of Body Jewelry Genius.
• If you score 33+, you’re an absolute Piercing Pro! (There are a total of 37 points possible with bonus points.)

If you feel more like shopping than taking a quiz, just click on any type of body jewelry or image below to go right to that section of our Retail Store.
Body Jewelry Quiz Questions

• Can you wear anything other than abelly ring in a navel piercing? If so, which types of jewelry can you use?
• French hookand stud are two styles of jewelry often worn in which type of piercing?
• What two styles of body jewelry are most popular for eyebrow piercings?
• Smiley piercings and frowned piercings are also known as which type of piercing from the list above?
• Atongue ring isn’t actually a ring at all. What is it?
• In which piercing would you wear a fishtail?
• Piercers typically offer one of two styles of starter jewelry for cartilage piercings (including helix, rook and daith piercings). What are the options?
• Two columns of rings may be placed side-by-side in someone’s back, neck, side, calf, and other locations on the body in preparation for which type of piercing?
• What are the two most popular styles of jewelry to wear in stretched earlobes and other stretched piercings?
• Candermal tops be worn with any other types of jewelry besides dermal anchors? If so, which ones?
• What style of body jewelry is considered aneyebrow ring even though it isn’t actually a ring?
• What types of jewelry can you wear in anostril piercing?
• What’s the most popular style of jewelry worn in upper ear cartilage piercings when they’re done as a pair, with two holes spaced an inch-and-a-half or so apart?
• Which types of jewelry can you wear innipple piercings?
• D-ringsare a popular style of jewelry for which two piercing types?
• What type of jewelry is a piercer most likely to suggest for a hand web piercing?
• Straight barbellsare often standard starter jewelry for which types of male genital piercings (e.g. frenum piercings and dydoe piercings)?

Piercing Tools & Aftercare
At Body Jewellery Shop we don’t just sell piercing jewelry; we also have everything you need to care for your piercings and your body jewelry. We have an excellent range of professional quality piercing aftercare products, body piercing jewelry pliers and stretching tools to make sure you get the most from your piercings.

Daith Jewelry Cost and Reviews

In most reputable piercing parlors, the price of the piercing falls between $40 and $50. Daith piercing is located at the inner cartilage of the ear which is said to have a pressure point. It is suggested that the Daith piercing can mimic the effects of acupuncture when it hits the pressure points in the ear.  There is very little research about how effective Daith piercing is when it comes to eliminating or minimizing migraines. Nevertheless, whether you like to get rid of your migraines or just have a fun and new look, Daith piercing is for you. However, it is very painful to pierce a daith as compared to earlobe.
More references

1. Daith piercing rings: http://www.bodyjewelleryshop.com/body_jewellery_shop/body_piercings/daith_ear_piercing_jewellery.cfm
2. Daith piercing jewelry: https://www.diablobodyjewelry.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=72
3. Daith piercing heart jewelry: http://axiompiercing.com/content/daith-piercing-beaten-death

Daith piercing is located at the inner cartilage of the ear which is said to have a pressure point. It is suggested that the Daith piercing can mimic the effects of acupuncture when it hits the pressure points in the ear.  There is very little research about how effective Daith piercing is when it comes to eliminating or minimizing migraines. Nevertheless, whether you like to get rid of your migraines or just have a fun and new look, Daith piercing is for you. However, it is very painful to pierce a daith as compared to earlobe.

Is Daith Piercing Painful?

A kind of piercing that is done on the cartilage is very much painful. You may experience a throbbing pain once the needle is taken out, but as the days goes by; the pain reduces during daith piercing healing. It is very normal for a newly pierced cartilage to produce blood. So, at any point does not panic as such will be handled well by the piercing professional.

What is the Most Painful Ear Piercing

Of course, this is subjective and every individual will have their own experience, so whilst we can’t tell you for sure which piercing will hurt you the most we have done our research and put together a pain rated list based on customer feedback.
All piercings are over in a matter of minutes and if you really want one, don’t let a little bit of ouch put you off! With that in mind, never choose to have a piercing or any of the body modification done simply because you think it will be the least painful, choose the one you really want because after all, it’s going to be there every day and you don’t want it to be a reminder of the time you chickened out…

Least ear piercing pain: Ear Lobes

Ear lobe piercings are one of the most popular piercings and is one of few that can be done legally under 16; in fact ear lobe piercings can be performed from the age of five with parental consent. Not only is this piercing widely fashionable but because of the fleshy nature of the area, they are also considered the least painful. Many people describe a lobe piercing as a minor sting that lasts a couple seconds and is less painful than a bee-sting.
In terms of healing, lobe piercings are relatively easy to care for with minimal soreness, all you need to do is make sure you clean your piercing using salt water and cotton buds (with clean and dry hands). Your ear lobe piercing should be healed enough to change your jewellery in 6 weeks and there is a huge variety of earrings to choose from! This piercing is perfect for piercing virgins and looks great no matter what your style is.

Most painful ear piercing; Daith piercing

The Daith piercing is growing even more popular recently and that’s due to the fact that it not only looks cool but there is strong evidence to suggest it serves another function. Judging by feedback from people who suffer from migraines, it is now widely believed that the Daith piercing focuses on an acupuncture pressure point and can relieve the frequency and severity of migraines and headaches.
The Daith piercing goes through the inner most cartilage of the ear, which means it can be a little more uncomfortable than a lobe piercing, but not unbearable. The piercing takes on average 3-6 months to completely heal and the most popular jewellery for the Daith piercing is a heart shaped ring.
I didn’t find the tragus painful at all. I also have a daith. That was a bit uncomfortable to get done, because it was such a thick piece of cartilage to go through, but I wouldn’t have called that painful either.
What people say about daith piercing pain
I can’t comment on the rook, as I don’t have that one. I thought that one was pretty anatomy dependent and not everyone has enough of a ridge to pierce. Not sure about that though. Good luck with whatever you decide.
Oh, I have 2 14g outer conches. They didn’t hurt to pierce but were a bit troublesome to heal. They bled quite a bit when they first got done. They still flare up occasionally, though they are several year old now. They don’t like it when I change jewelry and will get tender when I do.

How long does it take for a Daith Piercing to Heal

A daith piercing is a body part that is located just above the tragus and the piercings always appears very similar. It is a piercing through a very thick section of cartilage that does make the piercing itself appear to be much more dramatic. But the fact is, there is minimal or even no pain with these piercings and the aesthetic reward is certainly worth any discomfort.
The daith piercing healing process may be a bit longer and very complicated than most other piercings. Daith piercings are magnet for dirt and germs that are around us. And it also needs more attention just because it is a larger wound than a thin cartilage piercing. It is imperative that you might keep it clean and strictly follow the doctor’s aftercare instructions.
As with all ear piercings, it is also recommend that an individual avoids contact with makeup, hairspray, and perfumes; you should also change the pillowcase every other day and cleanse the ear after talking on the phone or wearing earphones, earmuffs, etc. for a faster daith piercing healing.
As with all cartilage piercings, in a perfect world it should only take about 6 weeks to heal, but most of the people encounter some kind of problem(s) along the way. Those setbacks make most cartilage piercings actually take 3-6 months to finally heal completely. It just takes persistence and patience to get to that point. Don’t give up if you experience any problems – they’ll eventually disappear.
Before deciding to pierce the upper portion of your ear, familiarize yourself with the health risks associated with cartilage ear piercings.

How easy is it to Clean a Daith Piercing

The piercing process only takes a few moments. The piercing expert will start by sterilizing the area to be pierced followed by marking the exact points where the needle would pinch through. The piercer may take the time to ensure that the piercing is done seamlessly. Due to the different natural curves in the area, the piercer really needs to focus on the piercing process.
Daith Piercing Pain and Procedure
When it comes to the pain caused by the procedure, most people would say that on a scale of 1-10, with ten being the highest, Daith piercing is around 3-4. Commonly, people would experience warmth in the pierced area and encounter bleeding. Some even go through a throbbing pain a few minutes later, but it will definitely decrease.
Piercing Aftercare Spray
This Piercing Aftercare Spray is enriched with over 60 trace elements and minerals from the richest coral reefs of the ocean along with natural antibacterial enzymes which kill bacteria & help protect healthy living cells. Natural Healing & Cleansing Solution H2Ocean safely removes dried discharge and lymph secretion when used every 2-3 hours.
Daith piercing aftercare

• Soak a cotton ball in warm salt water and gently press against the piercing
• Use a mild soap to clean the piercing and jewelry while bathing
• Dry the pierced area by gently patting with a disposable paper towel
• Do not allow ear wax to accumulate in the ear canal
• Be careful when putting on scarves and hats to avoid any friction
• Change your bedding regularly
• Avoid wearing headphones and ear buds
• Protect the piercing when you use shampoos, conditioners, skin lotions, and perfumes
• Avoid physical activities that cause undue stress on the piercing

Daith Piercing aftercare

There are several number of things that you should and shouldn’t do during the daith piercing healing process, no matter the type of ear piercing you have. Use the guidelines as indicated as a supplement to any ear piercing aftercare instructions the piercer provides. If you follow these guidelines and the piercer’s instructions and clean the ear piercing(s) regularly, you may have new earlobe piercings to heal within a period of 4-8 weeks
The healing process can be longer and more complicated than most other piercings. As with all ear piercings, I also recommend that you avoid contact with makeup, hairspray, and perfumes; you should also change your pillowcase every day and cleanse your ear after talking on the phone or wearing earphones, earmuffs, etc.
Before deciding to pierce the upper portion of your ear, familiarize yourself with the health risks associated with cartilage ear piercings.
Daily Care Routine

• Do not touch your piercing unless you are cleaning it. Unwashed hands carry bacteria and your piercing is a point where these bacteria can penetrate below your skin and cause an infection.
• While healing, your piercing will need to be cleaned once daily.
• Cleaning more often than this will harm your piercing.
• You will need to use an antibacterial soap that contains either chloroxylenol or triclosan

The step-by-step procedure is:

• Wash your hands with antibacterial soap.
• Wet the piercing with plain water.
• Put a few drops of antibacterial soap on the piercing and work them into lather with a cotton bud.
• Try to loosen any crusted discharge and float it off the jewelry and your skin with the cotton bud.
• Leave the antibacterial soap on the piercing for two minutes while rotating the jewelry back and forth, allowing the disinfectant to penetrate the piercing.
• Rinse with water and air dry thoroughly. Do not dry with a towel, which may carry bacteria.

Suitable Types:

• Captured bead rings
• Rings are much cheaper than barbells. Special pliers may be required to remove or replace the bead, especially for thicker gauge jewelry.
• Avoid sleepers as the sharp edges at the joint may damage your piercing.
  Barbells
• Either choose internally threaded barbells or, if the bar is externally threaded, be sure that no threads are exposed.
• Studs can work very well providing there is sufficient room to exposé the piercing when cleaning.
• Suitable Sizes:
  Only 18 gauge or heavier jewelry should be used. Smaller gauges will migrate out through the skin.

Suitable Materials: 
Surgical Stainless Steel, 18 carat gold, titanium, niobium, PTFE.
Do not use 9 carat gold, silver, or gold plated jewelry in new piercings. In a healing cartilage piercing the gold plating will wear off the jewelry before the piercing is healed. This is not such a problem in healed piercings.

Daith Piercing Infection

The signs of inflammation will be available with perichondritis during the daith piercing healing process. A daith piercing painful and red ear is the most common symptom of an ear infection, according to the doctors. Pain will happen in the cartilage portion of the ear. The redness surrounds the area where the injury has happened. Ear lobe swelling might occur with an infection of the ear cartilage.
Accumulation of dirt around the fresh piercing can lead to infection and complications. Therefore, keeping the pierced area clean is very essential to for normal healing.
Although a new piercing can lead to redness, soreness and swelling, take medical help if it becomes severely infected. If you experience irritation and pus discharge near the pierced region, then there is a possibility of a jewelry rejection. It might be better if you get the jewelry extracted by a professional piercer before the piercing migrates.
Pus might collect between the cartilage and even surrounding perichondrium with a severe infection. This pus collection might sometimes result in the death of the cartilage. This occurs as the cartilage receives its blood supply and nutrition from the perichondrium. This might lead to a deformed ear. An untreated severe infection of the ear cartilage might change the shape of the ear and thus result in cauliflower-shaped deformity of the ear.
Severe cases of ear cartilage infection can result in fever, discharge that is seeping from the wound and even itching of the ear. A severe ear cartilage infection can also lead to crusts in the affected area and pus like discharge. The infection from the ear might spread to soft tissues of the face and neck,

How do you know if your Daith Piercing is infected

You need to first, know the signs, symptoms, and causes of an infection. For most people, when their piercing starts acting up they immediately think that it is infected. Keep in mind you put a hole through your body that’s not meant to be there. Infections are likely to come from a home piercer, meaning friend, non licensed personal, or yourself. You need to have knowledge of equipment, anatomy, and jewelry before performing a procedure like piercing.
Symptoms of infection
Discharge from piercing site: Yellow isn’t always a scary color, but when it starts turning green then you should worry. The discharge will have a foul smell caused by the bacterial infection. You will notice the discharge when your jewelry is moved or it may even seep around the jewelry as it is stationary. If you have a white discharge, this indicates there is no infection.
Burning sensation due to allergic reaction: You may have yellow discharge due to the burning sensation of an allergic reaction. This may be from not cleaning your piercing or your body is allergic to the jewelry. Typically, most shops use surgical steel, which is a top grade metal that no one is allergic to. But if your jewelry is stainless steel, nickel, sterling silver, and other metals this could be likely. Other causes to check would be if the jewelry is too tight or to loose.
Swelling, Redness, and Tenderness: Swelling, bruising, and redness are major signs of infection. Although, if you got the piercing done it will be tender. Some piercings like cartilage, navel, and some surface piercings take month to heal and can easily be disturbed. The difference of know if your piercing is just pissed off or infected is the pain. If the piercing is painful rather than annoying I would suggest having it get looked at by a professional.
Abscess and bumps: Abscess, which is basically “a swollen area within body tissue, containing an accumulation of pus” is caused by either poor drainage on the piercing or presence of a foreign material that causes the body to defensively reaction to that foreign material. Hypertrophic scars can also cause bumps which will have some discharge which will not be pus. This is a sign you have repeatedly irritated your piercing.
Bleeding: This is NOT a common sign of an infected piercing, especially an old piercing. For new piercing, bleeding is normal but it should last for a short period of time. Trauma and injuries can also cause bleeding of a piercing site. This might not indicate any sign of infection but will potentially increase the chances of getting an infection.
You have an open wound, so it is more susceptible to bacteria. If you have bleeding, you can apply some pressure on the piercing to stop bleeding before going back to the piercer for further treatment. Furthermore, avoid wearing your piercing without mirrors if you cannot see the piercing site well, ensure they do not get tugged by anything as they can be torn away easily causing serious injuries.
Fever, Nausea, Chills, and loss of function: The other sign of an infected piercing might include cold chills, nausea feeling and fever. This is a likelihood of a more serious infection especially the bacteria or pathogens have become systematic (infected your blood). You need to see your doctor immediately for further treatment since ignoring it could cause a more serious life threatening infections. In this instance, your piercer will not be able to help treat you.

Daith Piercing Compared to Tragus

Ear piercings are no more a store of Indians. It comes next in notoriety among piercings worldwide after ear piercings. Before you get one anyway, you may need to realize a percentage of the best ear piercing types that exist.
We have to clear up that despite the fact that there are different parts of the ear where piercing might be made including the tragus, ear cartilages, this article will rather focus on the different sorts of ear piercing adornments that you can use on the pierced ear.
Tragus piercing
Tragus is a piece of our ear which is placed at the opening of the ear and is shaped of a decently thick piece of the ear cartilage. The methodology of tragus penetrating includes little gage piercing needles and the jewelry generally worn in the tragus is of the type of hostage globule ring or flimsy roundabout wire rings.
Despite the fact that it is a similarly hearty manifestation of ear piercing, however it may turn touchy now and again. Wearing headphones amid the mend time could be dangerous in this kind of piercing; however the possibilities of tearing or extending are low.

Daith Ear piercing

Daith piercing happens in the inward ear cartilage that is placed simply over the ear trench opening. This inward ear cartilage is punctured to offer approach to thin wired adornments. The needle utilized for performing daith piercing is normally bended or have little collector tubes at the inverse end, in order to avoid harm to other ear parts. Little globule ring sort adornments are worn in daith piercings that make it look cool and in vogue.

More references

1. Most painful ear piercing: http://forum.steelnavel.com/showthread.php?2272-Most-painful-ear-piercing
2. Daith piercing healing: https://www.medhealthdaily.com/daith-piercing-healing/
3. How to clean a daith piercing: https://www.quora.com/How-do-you-clean-a-daith-piercing
4. Daith piercing aftercare: http://www.skin-artists.com/daith-piercing.htm

Migraine is a primary headache disorder manifesting as recurring attacks, usually lasting for 4 to 72 hours and involving pain of moderate to severe intensity. Typical characteristics of the headache are unilateral location, pulsating quality, moderate or severe intensity, and aggravation by routine physical activity. Sufferers may also experience auras, photophobia, phonophobia, nausea and vomiting. Migraine is a common disorder as research show and it attacks 2.5 times higher in women than men.
People with migraine can be treated when the attacks occur, but some need prophylactic interventions, as their attacks are either too frequent or are insufficiently controlled in this way. Several drugs are used in the prophylaxis of migraine in an attempt to reduce attack frequency, but all these drugs are associated with adverse effects.

Reason behind daith piercing migraine

As many as one in five Americans suffer from chronic migraine headaches, an episodic condition caused by a lack of consistent treatment options. Many migraine sufferers struggle to avoid known triggers but inevitably experience periodic episodes. Perhaps owing to the hit-and-miss nature of migraine treatment, anecdotal claims about preventing, alleviating, or even stopping migraines altogether abound online.
In mid-2015, sufferers began spreading an article that maintained a specific kind of ear piercing (daith piercing) could alleviate migraines. The article was published by a student-run web site at State University of New York (SUNY) Purchase and titled “A ‘Piercing’ New Alternative for Migraine Relief”

How acupuncture can help

There have now been many controlled trials of acupuncture for migraine, with some large, high-quality ones in recent years. The acupuncture is significantly better than no treatment/basic care for managing migraine, and appears to be at least as effective as prophylactic drug therapy, with few contraindications or unpleasant side effects.
Acupuncture has a similar or slightly better effect than sham procedures, which themselves can perform as well as conventional drugs, indicating that sham acupuncture is not an inactive placebo but a contentious alternative intervention. Acupuncture has been found to be cost-effective. As well as prevention it may also be used to alleviate symptoms in acute attacks. There is preliminary qualitative evidence from patients that acupuncture can increase coping mechanisms as well as relieve migraine symptoms.
Migraine is thought to begin as an electrical phenomenon in the cerebrum that then affects blood vessels, biochemistry, and causes neurogenic inflammation.
Acupuncture can help in the treatment of migraine by:

• Providing pain relief – by stimulating nerves located in muscles and other tissues, acupuncture leads to release of endorphins and other neurochumoral factors and changes the processing of pain in the brain and spinal cord.
• Reducing inflammation – by promoting release of vascular and immunomodulatory factors.
• Reducing the degree of cortical spreading depression.
• Modulating extra-cranial and intra-cranial blood flow.
• Affecting serotonin (5-hydroxytriptamine) levels in the brain.

With an open mind these [migraine treatment] alternatives are capable of being the answer, and there is a new one on the market, which is simple, inexpensive, and doubles as a piece of jewelry.
Daith piercing migraine
The daith piercing is a small ring that pierces the inner cartilage of either ear, running through a pressure point, which for some will relive migraine pain. It is a relatively new procedure, mainly preformed at tattoo and piercing shops with not many statistics to back it up yet.
Those who are specialized in headache relief, says that they always encourage their patients to try things like this as alternative relief measures to medication. It could just be too new, and in the blogs, but often that’s where these things get started.
Evidence presented about the efficacy of daith piercings for migraine relief was purely anecdotal and the source of the claim unclear. Many people go around looking for daith piercing migraine relief. It’s a much cheaper alternative to medicine and even acupuncture, and many of their doctors recommend it to them, and if you’re into piercings that’s even better.
Essentially it’s the same concept as acupuncture, the piercing hits a pressure point which then relieves the pressure in your head. Those who know recommend getting it done on the ear that corresponds with the side of your head where most of your migraines hit.
In the long run it’s a tossup, it may not cure your headaches but you will be left with an ear piercing. Hence, you win some you lose some.
Daith piercing migraine compared to medication
At this juncture, it’s worth noting a specific aspect of the daith piercing migraine claim. While body modification may be inexpensive as compared to other alternative health options, it involves an aesthetic commitment that might not appeal to sufferers.
Slightly less common than ear lobe piercings, a daith piercing likely wouldn’t physically harm a patient desperate for relief, but many sufferers could feel pressured to try it despite personal considerations (such as employer dress codes or discomfort with a cartilage piercing).

Does Daith Piercing Help Migraine

The severe headache usually appears as a throbbing pain at the front or side of the head and often causes feelings of nausea, vomiting and increased sensitivity to light and sound. But a growing number of migraine sufferers believe they may have found an unusual way to ease symptoms: daith piercings.
A daith piercing is a piercing in the innermost cartilage fold of the ear. Advocates say it works in the same way as acupuncture, targeting pressure points on the body’s surface to ease discomfort. Many people on social media have come forward to share their positive experiences of getting a daith piercing.
What people say
The managing director from Arizona said on facebook that: “I’ve now had this (piercing) for over six months and can honestly admit that is has worked for me. I have seen a reduction in frequency and intensity of my migraines where nothing else seemed to help. My husband noticed it before I did (and that’s saying something). Maybe I just wasn’t willing to admit that it was actually working.
“Since getting it, I think I’ve had less than five migraines. Only one of those has actually made me fully non functional for a day. I’ve dramatically reduced my use of drugs to deal with the migraines.”
Natalie Thompson is another fan of the procedure. When he appeared on BBC radio Leicester, she described how she’s had a constant headache for the past three and a half years, as well as regular migraines.
She appeared on the show four weeks after getting a daith piercing migraine. “My headache has gone from a five or six out of 10 down to a three. It’s still there, I’m not headache free. I’m still on the medication and I haven’t changed anything that the consultants have given me. But since the piercing it has dropped considerably.” She said.
So, does the piercing really work?
There isn’t a lot of hard science behind the correlation between daith piercings and headache relief. Some people have found relief with this method, but it certainly won’t work for everybody.  Although daith piercings appear to be a recent trend, the location of the piercing has actually been targeted by acupuncturists to help cure headaches in the past.
“Acupuncturists target this area during sessions, and many people experience short-term headache relief after treatment,” he says. Simon Evans, CEO of Migraine Action, also points out that daith piercings may not work for everyone.
“We are always pleased when people gain some measure of relief from their migraine. Migraine is a term covering a range of similar conditions in which headache can be a symptom,” he tells Huff Post UK Lifestyle.
What you should know about daith piercing migraines

• The daith does not come anywhere close to stimulating points that acupuncture experts use to treat migraine headaches.
• Clinical experience suggests that body piercings offer temporary (1-2 weeks) therapeutic benefit at best. They definitely do not represent a long term cure for any condition, including migraines.
• The daith is an advanced piercing that is often done incorrectly and with inappropriate jewelry. A bad piercing and/or the wrong jewelry are likely to result in excessive pain and serious problems with healing, including the formation of unsightly (and sometimes permanent) bumps around the piercing, as well as potentially serious infections.
• All cartilage piercings require diligent aftercare (including daily washing and soaking with saline) for the entire six month period of time that it takes to heal. During the healing period ear buds and swimming must be avoided.

Most of this is not exactly unfamiliar territory to those having normal ear piercing. Ear infections are not only painful but far too close to the brain and other delicate structures to be allowed to develop. However, we understand that this type of piercing in this area is slightly more dangerous, although for a professional assessment you might have to talk to someone who specializes in this kind of work.
We would be remiss if we did not mention that traditional acupuncture has a good record in treating migraines, as our factsheet shows

Daith Piercing Migraine

Just because a topic is getting a lot of attention on social media, doesn’t make it reputable news. I haven’t seen any links to The New York Times, Washington Post, or any other leading newspaper. It hasn’t been on the evening news. It’s so new and unproven that it hasn’t even made it onto a daytime medical TV show! You would think that if there really was something to this procedure, some big shot journalist would have run with it by now.

Acupuncture claims

The claims that daith piercing works are based on the assumption that the piercing is in the same location is used by acupuncturists to treat headache pain. Even if we assume that migraine involves a headache which isn’t the case, I find it doubtful that some tattoo artist or piercing technician can accurately pinpoint an acupressure point.
Not one article has interviewed an acupuncturist. The lack of comment from these practitioners is either glaringly bad journalism or unwillingness on the part of acupuncturists to be associated with this unproven fad. So I started digging through old school books and checked out some reputable websites for a listing of commonly used acupuncture points.
I can find no evidence of a documented or widely used acupuncture point in that anatomical location. There are points above and below the cartilage ridge that are used for digestive issues. There is also a point on the ridge itself, called Point Zero or Wonderful Point.
Traditional Chinese Medicine teaches that acupuncture at this point stimulates a return to homeostasis. To impact this point, the piercing would have to go through the ridge in a horizontal line perpendicular to the body. Daith piercings simply do not impact a single acupuncture point that would have any impact on the neurological condition of migraine.
Is it acupuncture? Does acupuncture help migraine?
There have been a lot of anecdotes about the success of acupuncture in treating migraine. It’s been studied in clinical trials numerous times and shown to be slightly better than a sham procedure. The difference is so slim that it is not recommended as a first line treatment.
However, some patients who are uncomfortable with medical treatments or unresponsive to these treatments may consider trying acupuncture. Many headache specialists view acupuncture as a “can’t hurt, might help” therapy. There is no clear evidence that it works. There is also no clear evidence that it doesn’t.

Tragus Piercing for Migraine Relief

Management of these headaches can be quite simple, from avoiding specific triggers to the use of Excedrin. However, sometimes those management techniques prove ineffective, making the headache hard to treat. One of the non-traditional treatments beyond medication has been acupuncture. One of the areas of needle placement has been in the ear, and commonly in the same general area where Daith piercings are placed.
Recently, some people who have received a Daith piercing have coincidentally found improvement with their migraine headaches. It is not universal, and it is has not been studied formally. The correlation is based on the success for some people with acupuncture in the same region of the Daith piercing.
If a person enjoys ear piercing and suffers from frequent headaches, it may be worthwhile to consider getting this spot pierced. Since body piercings are generally less than $100, this may be a very economical treatment alternative. If you suffer migraines and are very unsure whether you want a piercing, trying acupuncture first would be a good alternative to determine if this treatment may be successful.
If this is not working, and the migraines are not being well managed, further discussions with your medical practitioner about treatment options are warranted.

Daith Piercing for Anxiety

These terrible headaches can be triggered by everyday tasks, eating certain foods, or even fluorescent lighting and excessive noise. While scientists aren’t sure why they affect some people and not others, there doesn’t seem to be a one size fits all cure for them so sufferers are left to try pill after pill and treatment after treatment. And while some of these alternatives help some, others are left frustrated- but eager for the next possibility is to enter the daith piercing migraine.

Daith Ear Cartilage Piercing

The process takes about 10 minutes and costs around $45. While acupuncture works for some, and this process is similar, it costs FAR less because it’s a onetime cost. Again, the piercing is similar to acupuncture in that the piercing hits a pressure point which relieves the pressure in your head. Some acupuncturist will also embed a little steel ball into a pressure point.
When you are feeling stress, nausea, a headache- whatever the pressure point is being used for- you simply push on it for relief. I cannot imagine what it must be like to suffer from regular migraines or even headaches, so this seems worth a try. Plus, if it doesn’t work, you’ve got a pretty sweet piercing.

Daith Piercing for Migraines Reviews

There has been a lack of information and efficient data about the daith piercing for too long. Thanks to many wonderful people in our community at Migraine Pal, we’ve been able to conduct exclusive research with 380 individuals with migraine and the daith piercing to find out just how effective it is.
A special type of daith ear piercing has been circling in the press and social media as a potential migraine treatment. But does it really work? When it comes to actually getting all the facts, it can be difficult separating hype from reality.

Here’s what you need to know about daith piercing migraines

A daith piercing is a piercing located in the innermost cartilage fold of the ear. It’s a specific type of piercing in the ear cartilage midline toward the front of the ear. This type of piercing has been done for thousands of years, but can be quite painful due to the bony cartilage and care is required to keep it clean and prevent infections.
As many of us know, when traditional approaches for treatment fail we often turn to complementary alternatives.
Acupuncture is a common alternative approach.  Supporters claim the daith piercing is effective because it occurs on the same pressure point on the ear that is used by acupuncturists to treat migraine.

Acupuncture for migraines

There are at least 22 trials have investigated acupuncture in treating migraine headache. 6 trials have looked at adding acupuncture to an existing treatment regime. The findings showed those who had acupuncture had fewer headaches.
14 trials compared true acupuncture to placebo or fake acupuncture treatments where needles were inserted superficially and did not penetrate the skin or at incorrect points. In these trials both groups had fewer headaches than before treatment, but there was no difference between the effects of these two treatments.
In 4 trials where acupuncture was compared to a proven medicinal treatment, participants receiving the acupuncture treatment reported a noticeable improvement in their condition and fewer side effects.
Medical science suggests acupuncture for migraine holds little risk but the true clinical efficacy remains unclear despite extensive research. Whether these benefits translate across to a piercing in a pressure point location is another matter entirely.
What do the experts think?

With several practice locations around NSW raised a few interesting points:

• The upper insertion point of the Daith piercing seems to correspond with the large intestine point used in Chinese auricular acupuncture. Large intestine channel points are often selected for the treatment of headaches and migraines, and other forms of head pain, due to that channel’s pathway across the face; however the large intestine ear point is not one commonly used for these complaints.
• There are other points on the ear which are more important for the treatment of migraine.  Other points near the Daith piercing location target the small intestine, appendix, mouth and esophagus – similarly, none of which have a particular affinity with the head or migraines.
• Another thing to note is the location of acupuncture points on the ear is very specific. If the piercer was intending to pierce one of these points, they would really need to know how to accurately locate the point.
• Would there be any issue with having a permanent structure, or hole, at the site of an acupuncture point? I can’t say for sure, but there are plenty of examples of traditional techniques for altering the tissues at the site of a point. These include scaring the point by cutting, burning or chemically irritating the site with herbal pastes. These techniques would leave a permanent scar over the point.

Do you have an infected navel piercing? Get insights on some of the symptoms to expect and the various treatments of healing infected bellybutton. You will also learn how it look like from the various pictures and photos.

Infected Navel Piercing Signs

Navel piercing is also known as bellybutton piercing. It is a common body art that is done by many women as a show of beauty especially those with toned belly. However, it requires good piercing techniques and hygiene to prevent it from becoming infected. Pierced bellybutton may get infected before or after healing. Therefore you need to take good care of it throughout. You are able to notice an infection by observing the following symptoms:

• The pierced part and the areas around persistently becomes red, tender and inflamed. Redness and tenderness is normal for the first 1-2 weeks of piercing, when this symptoms persists for more than this, then it can be a clear indication of an infection.
• Prolonged swelling of the affected area. Your bellybutton may become swollen in the first one week of piercing but when it prolongs for more than two weeks then it should worry you.
• Yellow or green discharge from the pierced area. Small amount of yellow discharge is normal in the first week after piercing. However extreme yellow or green and smelly discharge is a major sign of infected navel piercing.
• Persistent bleeding from the affected area. Bleeding is normal immediately after piercing, it is supposed to stop after a short time. When blood comes out of the piercing several days after piercing then you should consider visiting your doctor for infection treatment.
• Constant sensitivity and soreness that may cause irritation from the touch of clothing.
• Excessive crusting on the wound is also an indication of infection. Crusting may occur but it is not supposed to be excessive.
• Delayed healing process. You are supposed to stop feeling any un-comfort within a month from the session.
• Irritation and inflammations of the piercing.
• A blister may develop on your pierced bellybutton after several weeks from the session.
• You may experience fever, chills and nausea after several weeks from the session.
• Warmth at the piercing site.
• The pierced hole can become enlarged

Bellybutton infection is common especially when you do not follow the aftercare instructions well. An infection is either caused by a bacteria or yeast.  The above symptoms will help you how to know if navel piercing is infected. Visit your doctor right away for treatment when you observe such symptoms.

Why is my Belly Button Piercing Infected?

Bellybutton piercing is a way of adding attraction to your body but such breaks in your skin may also become a source of infection. The pierced site may be invaded by a bacteria or a fungi that can cause an infection especially when good hygiene is not taken or when wrong piercing techniques is used. However, there are several factors that may contribute to an infection as described below:

1. Poor self-hygiene

Poor self-hygiene plays a big role in causing bellybutton infection. It gives the bacteria a good chance to enter the pierced site to cause an infection. Bathing daily using anti-bacterial soap may help to reduce the chances of infection. However, you need to perform an extra cleaning on the pierced site to remove the soap deposits and other dirty that may cause an infection.

2. Poor piercing techniques

Bellybutton piercing has become popular all over the world. Some people especially women may perform the session by themselves. Some may not have the required skills and equipment’s that are necessary in performing the session. Wrong piercing procedure may lead to infection and excessive navel piercing pain.

3. Regular touching with contaminated hands

Regular touching of bellybutton with contaminated hands increases the chances of infection. Dirty hands may contain bacteria and fungi, the hands may transfer such micro-organisms to the pierced site and hence leading to an infected navel piercing. You are supposed to avoid regular touching, wash your hands thoroughly using antibacterial soap before touching the pierced site during cleaning.

4. Certain piercing jewelry

Cheaper piercing jewelry made of silver plated metal or gilded can easily result to breaks and irritations in the pierced site. This may delay the healing process and also, it gives the bacteria a chance to enter into your body through the tiny breaks. Consider buying piercing jewelry made high quality material such as steel, titanium, silver or gold.

5. Swimming in public and open water pools

Public swimming pools and showers may contain fungi and other types of micro-organism that may cause an infection. Swimming in such pools before healing of your bellybutton piercing may cause an infection

6. Improper piercing equipment

There are certain piercing equipment’s that are difficult to disinfect such as the piercing gun. You are supposed to ensure that the piercing equipment are well sterilized before the procedure.
After piercing there are various aftercare instructions that you are supposed to follow to ensure that it heals successfully. Although it is rare but an infection can also cause navel piercing rejection. The rejection signs and symptoms are same to those of an infection. The only difference is that, rejection may even occur after the healing process.
Some of the skin care products such as soaps, lotions, creams and spray may also lead to an infection. You need to be very careful with such products. When you notice infection signs early, it is easier to cure using the various treatments.

How to Heal an Infected Navel Piercing

The bellybutton is deep and it can become damp from sweat, soap and other dirty. This may provide an ample environment for multiplication of bacteria that causes an infection. After piercing, you need to be very careful in following the aftercare instruction to avoid such infections. However, if you are already infected, there are different treatments you can use to get rid of it as described below:

• Apply a warm compress

Application of a warm compress on the pierced site can help to relieve pain, swelling and other discomforts. The heat also aids in promoting the healing process. To use this remedy, deep a clean wash cloth in warm water, wring it to get rid of excess water and place it over the affected area. Repeat the procedure for several times a day until the pain is relieved.

• Use warm saline solution

You can prepare warm saline solution while at home using sea salt. This solution is effective in killing the bacteria that causes an infection. It may also help in preventing new infections on the pierced site. You simply add half teaspoonful of sea salt in warm water and stir well to mix. Use a cotton swab to apply the solution on your infected bellybutton piercing.

• Take over-the-counter pain relieving medications

Taking non-prescribed medications can help to relieve aching, paining, swelling and other discomforts that are caused by an infection. Such medicines are also effective in treatment infected belly button piercing. You are only required to take as recommended by manufactures instruction.

• Keep the pierced area clean

Keeping your pierced navel clean helps to prevent further growth of bacteria. It also promotes the healing process. Do not over-clean as it may also delay the healing process. Cleaning 2-3 times a day is enough, you may use antibacterial soap while taking shower to kill the harmful bacteria that causes infections.

• Use prescribed oral antibiotics

When the infection is severe, you may be required to visit your doctor for treatment.  Prescribed oral antibiotics are very effective in treating infected navel piercing. The doctor will diagnose your condition and provide the best treatment. He or she may recommend antibiotic creams such as bacitracin, Polymyxin B, or Mupirocin. Take the medication as recommended by your doctor.

• Apply tea tree oil

Tea tree oil is also effective natural treatment for infected bellybutton piercing. This natural oil contains antibacterial, antifungal and antiseptic properties that are effective in treating various skin infections. To use this treatment, you simply mix 5 drops of tea tree oil in 1 teaspoonful of coconut oil and apply on the affected area using a cotton ball or swab. Repeat the procedure 2-3 times a day until your condition improves.

• Apply a cold pack over the affected area

Applying an ice pack over the pierced area can help to fight an infection by reducing the pain and swelling. Wrap an ice cube in a cotton cloth and place it over the affected area. Do not apply the ice directly on the affected area as it may damage your skin.

My Navel Piercing is Swollen

A swollen navel piercing is quite normal in the first 1-2 weeks from the session. It normally decreases as the healing process starts. However, a swollen bellybutton may be an indication of an infection or a rejection. The swelling that results from infected navel piercing is accompanied with other symptoms such as redness, pain, presence of yellow or green discharge, formation of a bump on the affected area and delayed healing process among other symptoms.
Migration or rejection may also cause a swollen and sore navel piercing.  Rejection may occur before the healing process is complete or even after the healing process is done. This normally results from your body’s reaction to foreign objects or as a result of an infection. You are supposed to ensure that you use a navel piercing jewelry that does not react with your body. Also consult an experienced piercer about the best piercing jewelry.
Poor navel piercing aftercare may also lead to swelling. You are supposed to strictly follow the aftercare instructions given by your piercer. Swelling and pain can easily be controlled by applying a warm compress over the affected area twice or thrice a day. Visit your doctor if the swelling persists after two weeks from the session.

Do you have a new navel piercing? Get insights on navel piercing pain, aftercare instruction and healing. You will also get more enlightened on itchy bellybutton piercing and keloids. 

New Navel Piercing

Navel or bellybutton piercing is one of the top rank body piercing done by most people especially women around the globe. New navel piercing are prone to infection, rejection or increased healing duration when performed poorly. You also have to take good care of your new piercing by strictly following the aftercare instructions.
Therefore, you need to find a certified trained piercer who has skills and experience in body piercings. New navel piercing is supposed to be carried out in a piercing clinic using the procedure described below:

1. The piercing room and the environment around should be clean. It should have a bed or chair that has clean covering.
2. Ensure the piercer washes his or her hands well before putting on the gloves.
3. The piercing tools should be assembled and sterilized before starting the session.
4. The professional piercer will use a surgical scrub to clean the areas around and inside the navel.
5. He or she may apply or not an anesthetic over the area that helps in reducing the navel piercing pain.
6. The piercer will grasp a thin layer of your skin and puncture it by using a needle. You may experience mild pain during the piercing that goes away after 2-3 seconds.
7. The needle will be replaced by a navel piercing jewelry.
8. The areas around the piercing will be cleaned
9. You will be given the aftercare instructions that you are supposed to follow strictly.
10. You will now be ready to leave the clinic.

Navel Piercing Pain

If you are planning to have your bellybutton pierced, you may be having a number of questions that you don’t have the answers. You may wonder whether it hurts much or not. Am sure after reading this article, you will have found most of the answers to your questions.
Like any other type of body piercing, navel piercing may hurt for a while. When you compare it with other types of body piercing such as ear, nose and septum, bellybutton piercing is lesser painful because the concentration of nerves is lesser on the belly skin than the face surface.
However, the degree of pain varies from one person to the other. Each person will have a different experience after the session. Some people have reported a sharp pain that goes away after a few seconds after the session. The pain may be compared to a small prink that results from the pressure of the needle as it passes through the soft tissues of your bellybutton.
When you are planning to have a double piercing, then you should also expect to go through the pain twice as each piercing is done differently. The navel piercing pain level is not much agonizing to an adult person, therefore the bellybutton piercing is recommended to individuals who are above the age of 18 years.
The pain level is also determined by the size of the piercing needle. Bigger size needle may cause more pain as compared to smaller needle. You will also experience some pain when the jewelry is being inserted in your new piercing.
You are not supposed to conduct the piercing procedure by yourself as it may be much painful. You are supposed to find a professional piercer who has skills and experience in navel piercing. A professional piercer also has the required tools such as the different gauges of navel piercing needle and anesthetic solution that helps in reducing the pain level.
The navel piercing pain after the session may be an indication of an infection. The aftercare instructions must be followed strictly to avoid the chances of an infection. You are supposed to ensure that the affected area is cleaned twice daily using antibacterial soap or salt solution to kill the germs.

Navel Piercing Aftercare – instructions

After bellybutton piercing there is a number of things you are supposed to do to prevent infections, rejection or migration and reduce the healing period. There is also certain things you are supposed to avoid. The navel piercing aftercare instruction may also be applied to other types of body piercings. They involves the following:

• Wash your hands thoroughly using anti-bacterial soap prior to touching the piercing. It helps to kill the bacterial and other types of germs that may cause an infection on the affected area. However, you should only touch the affected area during cleaning only.
• Keep your beddings and clothe clean all the time. You should also avoid tight blouses that may cause irritation, wear breathable clothing especially the first month after the session.
• Clean your piercing twice a day, in the morning and evening before going to bed. Use warm salt water to clean, most of the bacteria does not survive in a salt solution.
• Consider taking shower rather than bath, the bathtub may harbor bacteria that may cause an infection. In case you have to bath, ensure you rinse your piercing with clean water to remove soap and dirty residues that may cause an infection.
• Perform gentle exercise that will enhance the flow of blood and nutrients on the pierced area. Such exercise helps in facilitating the healing process. Avoid rigorous exercises that may trigger navel piercing pain.
• Embrace a healthier lifestyle that will promote faster healing. Take a balanced diet and have enough time of resting or sleeping.
• Avoid public swimming pools and hot tubs during the healing process. They can contain bacteria that may enter your body through the piercing to cause an infection. You may cover the affected area temporarily using a water proof bandage if you have to use such facilities.
• Remove the crusting that may accumulate around the navel piercing jewelry by moving it up and down. Avoid rotating the jewelry as it may delay the healing process.
• Be careful with your sleeping position, sleep on your side rather than on your stomach. You should also avoid rolling as you may damage the affected area.

As you read earlier, there is also a number of things you should avoid during the healing process. Some of the wrong aftercare practices may also cause an infected navel piercing or delay the healing process. They include the following:

• Avoid applying antibacterial ointments on the affected area, it should remain aerated all the time. Such ointments covers the bacteria inside that may delay the healing process.
• Do not change the jewelry during the healing process. Changing the jewelry before healing may result to migration or cause the piercing to close prematurely that may lead to scarring.
• Avoid cleaning using alcohol and peroxide. Their chemical components may irritate the skin around the piercing to cause navel piercing pain. They may also corrode the jewelry.
• Avoid over-cleaning as it can delay the healing process.
• Avoid applying or spraying beauty care products on the affected area including the lotions, creams and sprays.
• Do not hang other objects on the jewelry such as charms and beads before it heals completely. They may widen your piercing to cause migration.
• Avoid stress and minimize the use of drugs such as alcohol, caffeine and nicotine.
• Avoid trauma on the pierced area that may result from playing with the jewelry or friction from tight clothing.
• Avoid direct contact with fluids from other infected parts of your body or from other people.

Cleaning Navel Piercing

It is important to clean your navel piercing properly twice a day. Keeping it clean helps to prevent infections as well as speeding the healing process. There are various tips you should have in mind when cleaning your piercing. They include the following:

• Wash your hands prior to touching the piercing. Clean the hands thoroughly using antibacterial soap before washing your pierced bellybutton. It helps to prevent transferring of bacteria to the affected area.
• Rinse the piercing twice daily. Wash the affected area twice daily using clean water and antiseptic soap. Remove the soap residues, crusting and other dirty using a cotton swab. Avoid over-cleaning the area as it may cause navel piercing pain.
• Soak the piercing in salt solution. Salt solution helps in killing various germs that may cause an infection. Place some salt solution in a cup and flip it quickly over the piercing. You may lie down on a sofa for 5-10 minutes to allow it soak.
• Remove the crust. Remove the crust that may be accumulating around the jewelry. Turn the jewelry up and down only when it is wet to remove all the dirty and crusting.
• Use a disposable paper towel to dry the piercing properly. After cleaning, dry the piercing using a paper towel instead of a bath towel. The bath towel may contain bacteria that may cause an infection.
• Avoid using alcohol or hydrogen peroxide while cleaning. They contain chemical solutions that may cause irritation or delay the healing process.
• Apply lavender oil on the affected area. This natural oil helps to promote the healing process by reducing swellings and tenderness.

Navel Piercing Healing

The navel piercing healing process varies from one person to the other. Some people may heal after 1 month while others it may take up a year to heal completely. In general, a new navel piercing normally takes 3-9 month to heal completely. Your piercing is likely to heal faster when you adhere to the aftercare tips provided by your professional piercer.
Knowing how to clean your piercing aids in promoting the healing process. Cleaning helps to keep away the bacteria that cause an infection which may delay the healing process. You are supposed to clean your piercing twice daily using antibacterial soap. You may also soak it in a salt solution to kill the germs that increases the healing process.
During the healing process, you are not supposed to change your jewelry. Removing the jewelry may cause navel piercing pain or irritation that may delay the healing process. Your navel piercing jewelry should be long enough to account for any swelling and pressure that may be encountered during the healing process.
Rejections and migration may also delay the healing process. Your body may react with the cheap jewelry that are available in the market. Consult your professional piercer about the best jewelry that does not cause a reaction.

Itchy Navel Piercing

An itchy navel piercing may be quite normal during the healing process. It can be indicating that the healing process is taking place. In some cases, an itchy navel piercing should worry you especially when it is accompanied with other symptoms such as swelling, redness, tenderness, pain and presence of yellow or green discharge.
An itchiness may also result from navel piercing rejection. Rejection occurs when the body reacts to foreign objects. The body reacts by pushing such objects away which will eventually come out. Itchiness may also result from both rejection and infection. You need to be careful in observing the other symptoms that results from an infection.
An infection results from poor aftercare tips. Failure to clean the affected area with antibacterial soap or salt solution may encourage the growth and multiplication of bacteria on the pierced site. Follow the aftercare instructions given by your professional piercer to avoid the chances of an infection.
Navel piercing pain, itchiness, swelling and tenderness is quite normal for 1-2 weeks after the session. However, when they persist they may be early indications of an infection. You may consider using natural remedies that contain antibacterial and antiseptic properties to treat the infection.

Navel Piercing Keloid

Keloids are overgrown scars that may develop on your pierced navel. Different skin injuries may cause keloids on your skin such as burns, piercings, wounds, vaccinations and surgical incisions. They may vary in size depending with the cause. Some people are prone to keloids than others. You are likely to develop them when your other family members have the same problem.
Small keloids formed after navel piercing may disappear on their own without treatment. However, there are various treatments that can be used to get rid of bigger keloids. The various treatments includes: freezing, laser treatment, and surgical removal and injection corticosteroids.
Further References;
http://www.piercingbible.com/piercing-care
http://www.md-health.com/Belly-Button-Piercing.html
http://info.painfulpleasures.com/help-center/piercing-information/belly-button-piercing-healing-process
http://www.wikihow.com/Clean-Navel-Piercings

What is navel piercing rejection? Explore more about the bellybutton rejection and migration signs. You will also learn from the various pictures showing rejected piercing.

Signs of Navel Piercing Rejection

Rejection and migration is frustrating when it comes to body piercings since there is little you can do to avoid. Before you get to know the various bellybutton rejection signs, it is better to understand the meaning. Rejection happens when your body reacts to foreign objects for one reason or another. The body will therefore respond by pushing the object out of the body as it heals the skin behind. The following signs will help you to notice a rejecting piercing:

• The navel piercing becomes more painful, tender, sore and swollen over a long time
• The piercing refuses to heal within the required period of time, it may take more than a year without healing
• Your belly button becomes red and sensitive. You can easily see the jewelry through your skin due to reduced skin thickness
• The jewelry starts to move closer to the skin surface and eventually comes out of your body as the area behind heals
• Presence of increased yellow or green discharge from the affected area
• The navel piercing jewelry hangs more loosely than initially

Most of the signs of rejection are similar to those of infected navel piercing. Therefore, you are supposed to strictly follow the aftercare instructions provided by your professional piercer to avoid infections that may contribute to rejection.

Navel Piercing Rejection – Rejecting Navel Piercing

Rejection does not occur to everyone who undergoes a body piercing, it depends with how your body reacts to foreign objects. What does it mean when your body rejects a piercing? Your body may consider the jewelry placed in the navel piercing as a threat to your health. It will therefore respond by pushing it away from the body. In some people, it may migrate and settle in a new area permanently.
Although some of the surface piercings such as navel and eyebrow may reject, but the chances increases when they are done closer to the skin surface. You are supposed to find a professional piercer who will pierce through enough flesh without damaging the underlying skin tissues. However, piercing through enough flesh only decreases the chances. It may still reject when your body doesn’t want foreign objects.
Unfortunately, there is little you can do to prevent piercing rejection. When you start noticing the rejection signs it is better to visit your piercer to remove the jewelry and allow the affected area to heal and close. When you fail to remove the jewelry, the migration will cause a big hole that may heal and cause scarring or keloid.
When your body rejects your first bellybutton piercing, that should not be the end of your road in exploring the various beauty on your body. Most of the navel piercing rejection occurs when the jewelry is made from certain materials. Therefore, when your body rejects stainless steel, consider using other materials such as titanium, biocompatible plastic or niobium for your second attempt.
The heavy gauges jewelry may also cause rejection when used by some individuals. If you used a heavy gauge of 16 to 18 in your first piercing that rejected, you may consider using lighter gauges of 14 to 12 in your second piercing. You may also try horizontal piercing if your vertical piercing rejected.
Best aftercare practices are very important on how to prevent your bellybutton ring from rejecting. It helps in preventing infections that facilitates rejection and migration. It is normal for your piercing to become red, tender, swollen and produce some discharge in the first week from the session. However, when such symptoms persists for more than 2 weeks, then it may be an indication of an infection that results from poor aftercare tips.
Follow the aftercare instructions given by your professional piercer carefully to decrease the chances of navel piercing rejection. You are supposed to clean the affected area twice daily using antibacterial soap, antiseptic cleanse or a salt solution as directed by your piercer. It helps to prevent navel piercing pain and other infections that may cause a rejection.

Rejected Navel Piercing

When you are keen enough, you will be able to notice the early symptoms of a rejection. As you read earlier, they are similar to those of an infection. The only difference is that, it is difficult to control the symptoms of rejection and they take longer time to heal unless the jewelry is removed. Those for an infection can easily be treated or prevented by the aftercare practices.
You can easily differentiate a rejected bellybutton piercing from an infection through close observation of the symptoms. Redness may be normal during the first week after the session but when it becomes persistent, it may be a rejection or an infection. When the piercing becomes red and you are able to see the jewelry through the skin, then it is a clear indication of navel piercing rejection.
The pierced hole may increase in size as the jewelry moves close to the skin surface. This is a clear indication showing that your body doesn’t want foreign objects. The skin behind the jewelry may start to heal as the ring is expelled out of the body. Removing the ring on time when you realize the migration may help to reduce the scar that will be formed after healing.
An itchy sensation is believed to be an indication of the healing process but when it comes to body piercings, you need to be careful about it. You are supposed to prepare yourself psychologically on the outcome that may come along with it. Prolonged itchiness may also come with a rejected bellybutton piercing.
Pain, tenderness and soreness is normal for new bellybutton piercing. However, it should worry you when it becomes persistent. Pay a close examination on the affected area to determine whether it is a rejection or an infection.

Navel Piercing Rejection Pictures

Before going for a new navel piercing, it is good to prepare yourself well both psychologically and physically. You have to understand that not all body piercing are successful. You need to have more knowledge on bellybutton infections, rejections, migration and about what can be done to avoid or decrease the chances of having such incidents.
Apart from reading the information, you need to see the various pictures of rejection. By looking at the pictures, you are able to have a clear image on what to expect in case your belly button is rejected. You may find such pictures from the internet through your mobile phone or computer. The various tattoo and piercing shops also has different pictures that has a lot of information about rejection and infections.
The various rejection symptoms can be seen from the pictures such as: increased piercing hole, redness, swollen bellybutton and presence of discharge. Your professional piercer will help you in understanding them better before the session. The pictures may also help you in choosing the right navel piercing position depending with your belly.

Navel Piercing Migration

There is a difference between navel piercing rejection and migration. Migration occurs when the piercing jewelry moves from one location to settle in a new location while rejection is when the jewelry is expelled out of the body completely. Migration only moves for a few millimeters from the original position to a new place. For a navel piercing, the jewelry normally moves closer to the skin surface.
Migration is a gradual process that may take several years to happen. If you are not keen enough you may realize your jewelry migrated after it has already happened from the belly button piercing scar tissues. Therefore the symptoms bellow will aid you in noticing the migration:

• The piercing jewelry hangs loosely than before
• The jewelry moves nearer to the skin surface and the bar bell becomes from visible than they used to be.
• The piercing hole becomes bigger in circumference.
• The affected area may become red, swollen and tender over a long time.

There is little you can do to stop a navel piercing rejection and migration. The best thing to do is to remove the jewelry all allow the hole to close completely. When you fail to remove the jewelry the hole may become bigger and cause a big scarring or keloid up on healing.
Choosing the right jewelry may help to prevent the chances of migration. When the metal object is pushed out of the body, it simply means your body doesn’t want it there. Therefore, before the piercing session, consult your piercer about the best jewelry material that does not cause migration.

Navel Piercing Scar

Scarring is one of the problem that is associated with body piercings.  A scar is a normal healing process that you may experience after navel piercing. Small scars may disappear as the healing process is accomplished. However, bigger scars that results from navel piercing rejection may be stressful as they may fail to disappear on their own.
A scar occurs when your piercing is traumatized before the healing process is complete. Trauma may result from infection, migration, rejection or an injury from rotating the jewelry before healing. However, some people are prone to scarring than others. Darker skinned individuals are likely to develop scars and keloids than light skinned individuals after a body piercing.
There are various condition that may force you to remove your jewelry before healing and therefore the hole that is left will close and form a scar. For instance, when your piercing rejects or migrates, you have to remove the jewelry. Pregnant mothers may also remove the jewelry before healing due to the pressure of the baby bump.
The scars may go away on their own as you age. However, there are various treatments you can use to get rid of them. They can be treated naturally by using different remedies such as tea tree oil, sea salt solution, virgin olive oil or germ seed oil. The scars can also be removed through surgery among other treatments.