Preventing earring hole infections all starts with proper hygiene- right after you have just gotten the piercing and even years after it has healed.
Sometimes you may put so much effort into maintaining your piercings, but there are times when you may find a few troubles along the way.
One of the issues that you may encounter with your old piercing may be white stuff coming out of it.
Perhaps your piercing has lasted for about three years, but somehow it keeps rejecting. Once this happens, you may have to take it out.
Sometimes the hole would close up fully while a part of it remains open. The part that remains open may have this white thick-ish stuff that comes out.
Funny enough, the white stuff doesn’t ever hurt or have any smell. When you see it, you may find yourself tempted to squeeze it out.
However, after squeezing it out, you’ll notice that it still comes back after.
If you have been in this situation before, you may be questioning what the white stuff is and why it’s there in the first place.
To help you figure that out, we will look into a few reasons why white stuff is coming out of your ears and explain what exactly it is.
What is white stuff coming out of old piercing?
One thing that’s for sure is that we all tend to freak out when we see stuff coming out of our body piercings, whether the belly button, ear, nipple, lip, or eyebrow.
But, think about this for a moment- your piercings are simply wounds with foreign metallic objects with them.
That said, a little tampering could always re-open the wound.
First, your body is trying to accept any new objects you place on your piercing, and at the same time, it is trying to heal the wound.
The thing is, we all heal differently, and, for some of us, it may take years.
During the healing phase, there will always be the production of either a clear liquid or white stuff that looks like mucus.
If anything, the white stuff is a natural part of the healing process, and it signals that your body is cleansing the piercing.
So, you shouldn’t worry so much when you see white stuff coming out of an old piercing.
However, you should seek immediate consultation when the color of the substance coming out of your old piercing is yellow, brown, or red.
Main takeaway: White stuff from the old piercing is OK. But pay attention to the yellow, brown, or red color!
Is it bad that white stuff is coming out of my ear-piercing holes?
More often than not, the white stuff coming out of your ear-piercing holes is not a bad thing.
If the white stuff looks like what you would remove from a pimple or a blackhead, chances are, it is sebum.
Sebum is solely dead skin cells and natural body oils clumped together.
Most of the time, it isn’t pus as you would first imagine.
All you need to do is to clean your ears a little better.
You can always do this when showering or when washing your face.
Alternatively, you can mention it to your dermatologist to make sure there are no cysts in your earlobes.
However, if the white stuff looks more like pus, it is probably a sign of an infection. Pus is usually yellow or green.
To add to that, when pus is coming out of your ear, you will notice that your earring area is either red, swollen, or painful during an infection.
Why is some white stuff coming out of old piercing?
If you are talking about some kind of gooey or greasy white stuff without a smell, the odds are it’s because the skin on the inside of your earring hole is shedding cells.
The skin could also be sweating or releasing soap, oil, and water.
Because your earring hole is tiny, there may be a pile-up of dirt, especially if you don’t attempt to clean it up.
For this reason, your body may need to carry out the cleansing process on its own.
Regarding pus coming from your earring hole, it is because you have an allergy to a specific metal in your earrings.
Particularly, Nickel may be causing a reaction in your earring hole.
The reality is, most of us have skin sensitive issues, and a Nickel allergy may only be one of them.
So, when you see pus in your ears, then you should stop wearing plated metals,
Or, maybe your earrings are too heavy for your earlobes to hold.
Sometimes, if you wear heavy earrings, they cause a reaction, and you may notice a discharge.
Other times, it could be because your earring hole has been empty for some time and has adapted to not having anything to it.
So, when you put a new earring to it, it may need to begin the adaptation process one more time.
Conclusion
Piercings are quite sensitive, and any piercing you get will take a pretty long time to heal, depending on how your body responds.
That said, you can expect several things to happen during the healing process and the lifetime of your piercing, including infections and allergies.
The white stuff coming out of your piercings should not scare you because it is often part of the healing process or body cleansing process.
However, if you have any doubts, you may want to get it checked.
Read more useful piercing tips here or visit this page to read our latest articles!
Stephanie is a jewelry lover when she was a teenager. Her major was fashion design when she was in college. She is a jewelry designer at SOQ Jewelry and other design companies. Now she is also a writer for our website. She writes a lot of designs&brands posts with very actionable tips.