Guides
Piercing problems
Work out what is wrong with your piercing: irritated or infected, bump or keloid, migrating or settling, and what to do about each.
Start here if something looks or feels wrong. Most piercing problems fall into four categories, and telling them apart decides what you do next. If you cannot tell whether it is irritated or infected, read irritated or infected piercing, and if it is infected, how to treat an infected piercing.
Which one is it?
| What you see | Likely | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Itching, with no heat or spreading redness | Normal healing, usually | Check the other causes. Guide |
| Small pink lump beside the jewelry, clear fluid, not hot | Irritation bump | Find the mechanical cause and remove it. General · Nose · Cartilage |
| Redness spreading outward, hot skin, thick yellow or green discharge | Infection | See a doctor the same day, jewelry left in. Ear · Nose · Navel |
| A musty smell with no redness, heat or discharge | Build-up, normal | Clean the jewelry and consider non-porous materials. Guide |
| Firm, rubbery growth spreading beyond the piercing over months | Possible keloid | See a dermatologist. Keloids · Bump vs keloid |
| Distance between the ends shortening, skin thinning over the bar | Migration or rejection | See a piercer promptly. Guide |
| More of the bar showing on a flat-skin piercing than there was | Surface rejection | Surface piercings |
Also here
- Piercing rejection — the five signs, and why taking it out early leaves a much smaller scar.
- Surface piercings — why they reject, and how to give one the best odds.
- Keloids — how to tell a true keloid from a bump, and what a dermatologist actually does about one.
- Nose piercing keloid — how to tell one from an irritation bump, and what a dermatologist can do.
- Belly button piercing rejection — the signs, why navels reject, and what to do before it tears through.
- Eyebrow piercing scar — what the marks look like, how long they take to fade, and what helps.
- Infected nipple piercing — the signs, why the jewelry stays in, and when a lump means a doctor.
- How long a piercing takes to close — if you have to take jewelry out.
- Daith piercing for migraine — what the evidence shows.
Two rules that apply to all of them
Do not remove the jewelry unless a clinician tells you to. The surface closes over within hours while the underlying tissue is still inflamed, which can turn a treatable surface problem into a trapped one.
Stop adding products. Tea tree oil, aspirin paste, hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, antibiotic ointment and toothpaste all appear constantly in online advice and all of them irritate healing tissue. Plain sterile saline is what a piercing needs.
Get medical help the same day for
- Redness spreading away from the piercing
- Skin hot to the touch
- Thick yellow or green discharge, or a foul smell
- Swelling increasing after the first week
- Severe or throbbing pain
- Red streaks running from the site
- Fever, chills, or feeling unwell
Cartilage piercings warrant a lower threshold, because cartilage has a poor blood supply and infections there escalate and cause lasting damage more readily.
Most problems are mechanical
The commonest single cause of a piercing problem is not bacteria. It is pressure, movement or the wrong jewelry: sleeping on it, a hoop fitted before healing, a post that needed downsizing, or an externally threaded stud dragging through the channel.
That is good news, because it means the fix is usually free. Work through the causes in the bump guide, fix the ones that apply, and give it four to eight weeks.
Prevention is the aftercare basics, and healing times will tell you whether your piercing is actually behind schedule or just normal.
Piercing problems guides
Belly button piercing rejection: the signs, why it happens and what to do
How to tell a belly button piercing is rejecting, why navels reject so often, what to do before it tears through, and whether you can re-pierce afterwards.
Cartilage piercing bump: why it appeared, and how to make it go
Why bumps are so common on helix, conch and other cartilage piercings, the causes ranked by how often they are the answer, and what actually makes one shrink.
Daith piercing for migraine: what the evidence actually shows
Where the daith migraine claim came from, why headache specialists do not support it, what the placebo effect explains, and what to try instead.
Eyebrow piercing scar: will it leave one, what it looks like and what helps
Will an eyebrow piercing leave a scar? What the marks look like, how long they take to fade, what raises the odds, what helps, and when to see a dermatologist.
How to treat an infected piercing: what to do, what to avoid and when to see a doctor
What to do for an infected piercing: keep the jewelry in, clean with saline, see a doctor for antibiotics, and avoid ointments, alcohol and removing it yourself.
Infected belly button piercing: irritated or infected, and what to do
Why navel piercings get infected more than most, how to tell irritation from infection, the signs that need a doctor today, and why you leave the jewelry in.
Infected ear piercing: signs, treatment and when to see a doctor
How to tell an infected ear piercing from an irritated one, why you must not remove the jewelry, and the cartilage warning signs that need same-day care.
Infected nipple piercing: the signs, when to see a doctor, and what to do
How to tell an irritated nipple piercing from an infected one, the signs that need a doctor today, why the jewelry stays in, and what to do if you are breastfeeding.
Infected nose piercing: signs, treatment and what not to do
How to tell an infected nostril or septum piercing from an irritated one, why nose infections deserve caution, and when to see a doctor.
Irritated or infected piercing? How to tell, with a symptom table
How to tell an irritated piercing from an infected one: what each looks like, the signs that need a doctor today, and what to do for each. Applies to any piercing.
Keloid from a piercing: how to tell, and what actually treats one
Most piercing bumps are not keloids. How to tell the difference, who is at risk, the treatments that work, and why cutting one off makes it worse.
Nose piercing bump: the seven causes, and the fix for each
Why bumps beside a nostril piercing are usually jewelry or friction, how to tell a bump from a pimple, infection or keloid, and the protocol that makes one go.
Nose piercing keloid: how to tell one from a bump, and what to do
Is your nose piercing bump a keloid? How to tell a keloid from an irritation bump, who is at risk, what a dermatologist can do, and what not to try at home.
Piercing bump vs keloid: how to tell them apart
Irritation bump, pustule, hypertrophic scar or keloid? A comparison table, what causes each, and what actually makes them go away.
Piercing bumps: why they appear and how to get rid of them
The seven causes of irritation bumps, the fix for each, how long they take to go, and the home remedies that make them worse.
Piercing rejection: the signs, and when to take it out
How to tell migration from rejection, the five warning signs, which piercings reject most, and why removing it early leaves a much smaller scar.
Surface piercings: why they reject, and how to give one the best odds
What makes a piercing a surface piercing, why the body pushes them out, what a surface bar actually is, and the placements with the best and worst odds.
Why does my piercing smell? The cause, and how to fix it without over-cleaning
Where piercing smell comes from, why it is normal on healed piercings, which jewelry makes it worse, how to clean it properly, and when a smell means infection.
Why is my piercing itchy?
Itching is usually a normal healing stage, not infection. What causes it, how to relieve it safely, and the signs that mean something is actually wrong.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if my piercing is infected or just irritated?
Infection spreads and irritation stays put. Infection brings heat, redness expanding outward, thick yellow or green discharge, increasing swelling after the first week, and sometimes fever. Irritation is a localised bump with clear fluid.
Should I take my jewelry out if something is wrong?
Almost never on your own initiative. Removing jewelry lets the surface close over inflamed or infected tissue and can trap the problem inside. See a piercer or a doctor first.
When should I see a doctor about a piercing?
The same day for spreading redness, heat, thick coloured discharge, swelling that increases after the first week, severe pain, red streaks, or fever. Sooner for any of those in a cartilage piercing.
Sources
- Association of Professional Piercers - Troubleshootinghttps://safepiercing.org/troubleshooting/
- Mayo Clinic - How to treat a piercing infectionhttps://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/expert-answers/ear-piercing-infection/faq-20452841
- American Academy of Dermatology - Keloids: overviewhttps://www.aad.org/public/diseases/a-z/keloids-overview