Be careful! These signs means that you’re bearing an infected ear piercing.

Signs of an infected ear piercing:

Piercings are an easy way to change up your look, but there’s nothing worse than an infected ear piercing.  Even if you do go to a sanitary, skilled piercer and are diligent about cleaning your ear piercing, there’s always a chance that it can become infected. It’s an open wound, after all. If you’re experiencing prolonged tenderness, swelling, discharge, warmth, or redness, these are all signs that you may have an infection, says Rebecca Marcus, MD, a dermatologist in Dallas and founder of Maei MD skin care.

Infected piercings - NHS

Symptoms of an infected ear piercing:

If you just got a piercing, it’s going to be a little red, painful, and swollen. After all, you did just put a new hole in your body. So, even if you’re seeing some clear drainage, it could just be part of the new piercing process, explains Sarah Lacy, BSN, RN, senior manager of piercing research and innovation at Rowan, a piercing studio led by nurses.

“Everybody heals differently, but generally, you can expect these symptoms to subside on their own within one to three days,” Lacy says.

If the drainage is yellow or green in color, or if the other symptoms don’t resolve quickly, there’s cause for concern. Dr. Marcus says that in some cases you could even experience a fever. (All data is from How to Treat an Infected Ear Piercing, According to Experts written by Lisa Desantis)

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