Sophomore Alison Kukla isn’t new to piercings, but she never woke up with any pain after one until recently.

Kukla got a daith piercing, which is a piercing on the innermost cartilage fold of the ear, at On the Edge during a weekend in late January.

‘Tuesday night it started bothering me a little bit but Thursday morning I woke up with an excruciating pain,’ Kukla said.

‘It was throbbing, swollen, fire red, really warm and I couldn’t lay on it,’ Kukla said.

Later that day, Kukla’s roommates took her back to On the Edge to get the piercing removed.

Signs of a piercing skin infection can include a thick green discharge from the piercing as well as the piercing site being inflamed and painful.

Kukla has gotten multiple piercings at On the Edge before and never had a problem.

‘It seemed like the regular procedure,’ Kukla said. ‘They had gloves on, used antibacterial liquids and the equipment was as sterile as always.’

Touching the piercing with dirty hands is one thing John Von, piercer at On the Edge, sees a lot and says causes infection.

‘The first thing people do when they come in here and think they have an infection is point and touch the piercing, that is a big no-no,’ Von said.

Infections can easily get into a piercing site because the site is opened up.

Andrea Colcord, health educator at the Wellness Connection, said a piercing site needs to be kept clean because it is vulnerable to bacteria.

‘Because a piercing is an open wound, bacteria and other organisms can get into the wound when one touches their piercing with dirty hands,’ Colcord said.

Von gives customers a handout about how to care for their piercing once they leave.

He tells people to always wash their hands with antibacterial liquid soap before touching a piercing and to clean piercings two to three times a day with the antibacterial liquid soap for about six weeks.

Choosing a location that is clean is important to cut down the risk of infection, according to Glenn Egelman, director of the Health Center. Moist areas contain more bacteria.

‘You are less likely to get a skin infection in a cleaner place where there is less bacteria, like the ears,’ Egelman said. ‘There are more bacteria around the genitals, bellybutton, mouth and tongue.’

The use of sterilized equipment is very important when getting a piercing.

‘Anytime a body piercing is done and the equipment being used isn’t sterilized properly there is a higher risk of getting hepatitis B and C,’ Egelman said.

There are two types of hepatitis B and C: acute and chronic. Signs of acute hepatitis are stomachaches, jaundice – which results in yellowed skin – and fatigue. Chronic hepatitis can lead to liver failure and cancer over the years.

‘Hepatitis B and C can eat away at the liver for many years and you might not even know it,’ Egelman said.

At On the Edge, an autoclave is used to sterilize the equipment. The autoclave uses steam to heat bacteria and viruses until they are inactive.

‘Everything used is run through an autoclave,’ Von said. ‘Everything we use is as clean as a hospital is.’

If someone thinks they have an infection they should contact a health care provider so they can look at it. They can take a culture of the infection by swabbing it and see what is wrong.

‘They can see what kind of organisms are growing and can treat them with antibiotics,’ Egelman said.

Kukla went to the Health Center, and they gave her antibiotics that took care of the infection.

Kukla wanted to get the daith piercing because it was unique, but that site is prone to infection because it is easy for dirt to get stuck in there.

‘Try not to go too unconventional and research different locations beforehand to stay safe,’ Kukla said.

Even though Kukla had one bad experience with a piercing, she wouldn’t be nervous about getting another one if she had the space.

‘I’m not hesitant about going back, but I think I’m maxed out at nine,’ Kukla said. ‘I’m running out of room. I had one bad experience because the location was on a little crease and dirt can get stuck there.’

Causes of Piercing Infections

Most Common: Piercee has touched piercing with dirty hands or otherwise contaminated piercing (exposure to bodily fluids, dirty water, etc.)

Piercing was done with inappropriately sterilized tools, needles, jewelry.

Piercing was done with unclean, ungloved and/or contaminated gloved hands.

Source: Association of Professional Piercers