Earstretching.net

Hey there, i just got my ear pierced with a 10g needle then immediately stretched with an 8g taper. There was very little blood at the time of the piercing. but every morning i wake up and my pillows are soaked in blood. My ears are also quite swollen. i am wondering if anyone has any experience with this or might be able to give me some advice. I just got the piercing 2 days ago. is this normal?

Thanks guys

You probably should have just gotten pierced with an 8g needle to start, but that's another point altogether.

Anyway, it's pretty normal for a larger gauge lobe piercing to bleed a good bit. My wife pierced my ears with an 8g needle and she told me it was bleeding pretty profusely, but I had a red towel over my shoulders, so I have no idea how much it really was. Again, a piercing is a hole going completely through a body part, and an 8g hole is relatively large in comparison to a syringe needle or even a standard gun piercing, so it sounds perfectly normal. If it's still bleeding after about a week, you should probably either go back to your piercer or possibly consult a physician, but just a couple days, it's expected.

On another note, are you cleaning them with sea salt soaks yet? If not, you should be able to do that by now. 1/8th teaspoon of sea salt to 1 cup(8oz) warm distilled water.

EDIT: Damnit, hit submit too quick. You should also refrain from sleeping ON your ears. When I first had mine pierced, I was lying on my back for a good 2-3 months before I slept on my side again.

yeah im soaking them 3 times a day right now, just trying to get all the dry crust blood off them. did yours get swollen at all, because mine are quite swollen :/ haha yeah im also still trying to get used to sleeping on my back.

Yeah, mine got pretty fat and even a bit hard when they were healing. I wasn't getting straight liquid blood on them, but I was getting bloody lymph for quite some time. Just take good care of them and leave them alone, except when cleaning them. Good luck.

If they're still bleeding a lot, i'd stop with the SSS.
When i had mine pierced the SSS made them bleed a bit more, you have to let the blood coagulate a bit.
Just clean around the piercing with normal water with a q tip to get rid of the dry blood.

Yeah, that's a possibility. Also, just noticed this, but 3 times a day could be doing more harm than good. I only soaked my piercings once a day for 15 minutes. Overcleaning can lead to irritation. So, good point, Tony.

Agreed, stop soaking them for at least a day. It'll look gross with all that dried blood, but they'll stop bleeding.