How to Care for a Ear Piercing in Cartilege

Intro: There are basic hygiene steps one must take for any type of body piercing. However, one must be extra vigilent about caring for a piercing which goes through cartilege, such as the upper ear. If you are not careful with your care, you run the risk of great dangers.

Step 1: You should clean your piercing three times a day for 12 weeks during which time you should not remove the piercing. Soak a cotton ball in alcohol, hydrogen peroxide or the cleaning agent provided to you by the company that pierced your cartilege. Push the piercing as far to one side to and soak it with the cleaner. Then, push the piercing far to the other side and do the same.

Step 2: You should rotate your piercing often during the course of a day. Rotating your piercing keeps the skin from adhering and binding with the post or backing. Simply turn the post or backing with your fingers.

Step 3: If the backing gets too tight against the skin, the skin can actually grow around it and as gross as it sounds, try to accept the backing as part of the skin. If the backing is too close to your hole, pull it back a bit so it has room and will not be engulfed by the ear.

Tips: If the piercing is on one side of your body, try to sleep on the other side or your back or stomach. The pressure of laying on your piercing can cause the backing to get too close to the hole and if unattended, allow the skin to adhere to it as noted above.

Warnings: Do not keep the piercing in your body if you experience pain, swelling or redness after 24 hours after the piercing is done. If so, it is likely infected.

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