Cartilage piercing & sepsis

[syasya]

I got a helix piercing almost four months ago which doesn't look too good. I'll admit I've played with it, accidentally slept on it a few times and slacked off on the hygiene. It's a ring and I have long hair so sometimes it gets caught. Started sea salt soaks a couple of days ago since a red bump formed around it. It bled while I was cleaning it too. It's a little painful and sometimes my whole ear feels like it's aching, but the rest of my ear doesn't seem to be swollen or red. So so so worried about sepsis as I've been feeling run down and fatigued lately, like I have a constant headache and I'm sometimes a bit shaky. I'm living in a foreign country and it's even scarier for me to go to a doctor here, so.. how do I tell if it's infected or just irritated? How likely is it for an infection to lead to sepsis? Could my symptoms just be a result of stress/tiredness? :weep:

[heyitsmeyou]

Very likely just anxiety. Still, if the piercing site is not looking too good then it should be looked at and treated.

[Fishmanpa]

The constant headache and shakiness combined with the new living situation will most likely be stress/anxiety but I would get the ear checked out as it sounds like it's getting infected. At the very least get some OTC bacterial gel/remedy and get back on the proper care/hygiene train.

Positive thoughts

[Jackrabbit]

It sounds like its infected. Ive had a total of 8 piercings in my ear at one point ( only three now lol) and some of them got infected despite my best efforts. Everything else the headaches and what not sound like anxiety and stress. Piercings, if not taken care of, most likely will get infected. You have to be diligent about your care with them and you've admitted to not being that. So my advice is to go back to the shop and have it looked at. They may suggest you take it out and let it heal naturally...which it will...or continue to try and clean it up with water and unscented soap. Salt water is one of the worse things for ear piercings because it can cause the hole to widen and the ring will fall through. Ive had that happen once to me when an unexperienced piercer pierced my lower lobe.

[syasya]

It sounds like its infected. Ive had a total of 8 piercings in my ear at one point ( only three now lol) and some of them got infected despite my best efforts. Everything else the headaches and what not sound like anxiety and stress. Piercings, if not taken care of, most likely will get infected. You have to be diligent about your care with them and you've admitted to not being that. So my advice is to go back to the shop and have it looked at. They may suggest you take it out and let it heal naturally...which it will...or continue to try and clean it up with water and unscented soap. Salt water is one of the worse things for ear piercings because it can cause the hole to widen and the ring will fall through. Ive had that happen once to me when an unexperienced piercer pierced my lower lobe.

Well, the lady who pierced it didn't speak English and I live about 2 hours away from the shop, so that makes it difficult. I also can't go to a doctor unless I have someone with me who can translate, so I'll have to wait until Monday and keep doing salt soaks until then. There's no way for the piercing to fall out though since it's a closed ring.

[Jackrabbit]

It may not fall out but it'll fall through the skin. Trust me, you don't want to do that. The best thing to do is soap and water and if you want to maybe, spray a light salt spray when its dried. I'm dating a tattoo artist and piercer and have about a total of 16 piercings. In short, I know what I'm talking about. Soaking it in something that heavy will hurt it. I will say it again, the best thing to do is to simply clean it with soap and water and DO NOT touch it. If you do touch it make sure your hands are completely sanitized. If it doesn't get better in a week or two, my suggestion would be to take it out. Because infections are nothing to mess around with.

---------- Post added at 02:49 ---------- Previous post was at 02:48 ----------

Also, whatever you do...do not use anything with alcohol in it.

[nicola1980]

Hi I had 3 cartilage piercings done at the same time in December and last week I had to take them out as I was getting the bumps around them which were painful and when I tried to burst them....yes I know you shouldn't...they were puss filled, my ear also looked swollen at the top and they were very painful to sleep on even after this length of time so I had to admit defeat and remove them and immediately my ear felt so much better, it didn't hurt etc. I also have had quite a few piercings in my time so I knew something wasn't right but I've always been told to use the sea salt method as a way to clean them, I also tried using an antiseptic cream but unfortunately nothing helped so I had to remove them ××