What are the adverse effects of ear piercing?

Posted on Tue, 26 May 2015

Question: I wish to pierce my ears first-time in 50 years' painlessly in XXXXXXX Is it possible?

Answered by Dr. Sumit Bhatti (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
It is possible. There are options.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Thank you for your query.

1. An EMLA / Prilox cream or patch can be applied a couple of hours before the piercing.

2. Local anaesthetic injections require the initial pain of the injection to be endured.An ENT Specialist will require elaborate preparations and a longer procedure. Any nearby ENT Specialist/ Centre/ Hospital will be fine.

3. If it is single piercing, the local jeweller will be better. They use a sharpened pure gold wire which is the fast and does not require handling. Use an antibiotic cream (such as Soframicin/ T-bact/ Nadoxin)after the piercing and gently rotate the earring to ensure that the ointment traverses the piercing.

4. The ear piercing gun (such as Caflon) can be painless, however many people get pain and swelling later.

5. You can take an OTC painkiller (such as Combiflam, if not a renal patient or an asthmatic) a couple of hours before the piercing (after a meal) and continue the tablet for 3 days (up to three times a day) as required.

I hope that I have answered your query. If you have any more questions I will be available to answer them.

Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar