Infected piercings - How do you know if your piercing is infected?

Published: June 2025

Infected piercings can be troublesome, painful and potentially serious if not properly looked after or incorrectly inserted into the skin. However, if a piercing becomes infected, there are several steps and tips to follow to treat the infection and heal the damaged area.

Learn more in this article about treating infected piercings, what they look like and how to prevent them in the future.

Naturally, you may notice early signs of an infection, such as visible changes to the skin at the site or around the piercing. This can include:

• Skin appears red or darker than your usual skin colour
• A pale fluid that forms a crust on or near the affected area
• Blood or pus oozing out of it, which may be green, white or yellow
• The affected site is becoming swollen, warm to the touch and painful
• Itchiness at the site
• You start to feel hot, shivery or generally unwell
• Feeling of tenderness when touched

Depending on the type of piercing, such as for an ear or nose cartilage piercing, small lumps can appear around it. These lumps are often referred to as granulomas, which are trapped fluid underneath the skin. To treat these lumps, they are best addressed by soaking a pad in warm water and pressing the pad gently against them once a day.

It’s important to seek medical advice immediately if you feel the condition is getting worse very quickly or if you suspect that cartilage has become infected.

Ear piercings come in two types, and these are through the earlobes or through the cartilage of the ear.

• Earlobe piercings are ideal as they are fleshy and fatty, meaning there is strong blood flow. This allows quicker healing, reducing the risk of infection.
• On the other hand, the upper ear is cartilage, which is a thick and stiff tissue with much less blood flow than the earlobes. Therefore, cartilage piercings in the upper ear are more susceptible to infection, take longer to heal, and can lead to more serious complications if infected.

There are a few factors to determine what causes infected piercings, as piercings are essentially open wounds, which means they are naturally more susceptible to infections. Factors include:

• Bacteria are left to fester on or around the piercing
• Touching the piercing with unclean or dirty hands
• Performing the piercing with unsterile instruments and/or not using gloves
• Piercings that are inserted too tightly, not allowing the wound to breathe and heal properly
• Removing the piercing before it fully heals
• Swimming before the piercing fully heals

Treating an infected piercing will depend on the severity of the infection, in which case, for minor infections, you should be able to treat it at home.

However, for minor infected piercings, follow these steps below to help treat the infection:

1. Wash your hands well with soap and water before touching your piercing.
2. Clean around the piercing with a sterile saline.
3. Pat the area dry with paper towels.
4. Apply a warm compress to the infected piercing a few times a day for about 15 mins each time.
5. Repeat the process twice a day until the piercing is healed fully.

Don’t remove the piercing, as this can cause the hole to close up, trapping bacteria and potentially worsening the infection.

For ear piercings involving the cartilage that look infected, seek medical attention. Medical treatment is essential for infected cartilage piercings as they are more difficult to treat and might require oral antibiotics to fight the infection effectively.

To ensure you take the necessary steps to prevent an infected piercing, firstly, always have your ears or any other body part pierced by a certified professional. If you are still unsure, discuss their infection prevention procedures and ask if all the tools are sterile. They should be able to provide proof that all the tools and instruments are new and freshly used.

Post-piercing, particularly for ear piercings, you should be cleaning your ears twice a day with a sterile saline or saltwater rinse. This helps to keep the area sterile and clean, while also reducing the risk of infection by eliminating bacteria.

When cleaning, be sure to leave the jewellery as it is, as removing or turning it can increase the chances of infection and trauma to healthy skin. Be sure to keep the area clean with an antiseptic spray to ensure any dirt and bacteria is eliminated before infection.

The Elastoplast Wound Spray is a wound cleansing antiseptic spray that protects effectively against infections, works fast and offers pain-free application*. Use this spray as a first step to cleanse the wound for maximum protection against infection.

*PMCF-Study, 95% agreement “Wound Spray is pain-free to use”, n=59, Freese R, Physician, principal investigator, Hamburg, 2019

As mentioned above, minor infections of piercings can typically be treated at home. However, if you have any of the following symptoms, seek medical assistance:

• You have a fever
• The infection has spread beyond the piercing area
• The infection hasn’t improved within two days after home treatment and maintenance
• If it’s an earring piercing, and it doesn’t move, or the clasp has become embedded into the skin

A medical professional will be able to identify the extent of the infection and provide the required treatment to treat and reduce the risk of further complications.