Hi everyone!
I have had an earlobe piercing for a couple of months now (it’s a problematic one, long story, I have been to piercers a couple of times back home). It looked like it was healing well but since I arrived to Japan due to the constant mask-wearing and irritation it started to grow a bump (a few mm) and it is pretty painful so I want to get rid of it before it gets worse. I have contacted multiple piercing studios (Fine line etc, no one replied) and visited Extreme Piercing, where they cancelled my appointment that day, saying that they cannot do anything and I should contact a clinic (but as I have seen its extremely expensive for me and they are closed on the day I have a day off).
I wanted to ask if someone had anything similar here: did a piercing studio help you out or recommended, gave you anything to help it heal? Can piercing studios help with it here in Japan (back home they handle it) or is the clinic my last resort? Thank you!
14 comments
The clinic or hospital should help you.
Just go to a doctor. General practitioner or dermatologist should be fine.
Based on my admittedly limited experience with a piercing place here, you’re better off going to a hospital or clinic. The place I went to to get my lobes pierced here didn’t give me any cleaning solution (which is standard back home). They told me to wash my ears with soap and water instead.
A doctor will be able to prescribe oral or topical medication or even perform an extraction of the bump if necessary. I don’t think the piercing spots here will be able to do much besides maybe clean the area for you. And like you already mentioned, some of them won’t even touch your ear if it’s in bad shape already for fear of making it worse.
> due to the constant mask-wearing and irritation it started to grow a bump (a few mm) and it is pretty painful
It’s not due to the mask wearing – it’s *infected*, not irritated. That “bump” is an abscess, a pocket filled with pus.
You need an actual doctor who will prescribe antibiotics. A piercer cannot provide any kind of medicine. And you should go sooner rather than later – keep in mind that an infected ear piecing is just a few centimeters from your brain.
Since you seem to be in Tokyo, you can use [this website](https://www.himawari.metro.tokyo.jp/qq13/qqport/tomintop/) to find a clinic near you.
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No clinic is going to be “extremely expensive” you’ll pay ¥2000 tops for the doctor and medicine. You’re here legally and have health insurance right?
I have 15 piercings and if one was infected like that I know my piercer can only help me once it is healed again with silicone bumpers and different jewelry. You need to get the infection cleared first. MUCHO/Fine Line has done 10 of mine and he will only help you if he did it. (As is correct in this case)
If it’s infected you need medical treatment.
The clinic is your first resort, not last.
Piercing studios can only give you after care advice, but they aren’t capable of treating full-blown infections.
This is an absolutely huge NOPE. No piercer will attend you. I’m sorry to say that.
Sometimes, and of course depends on how big the infection is, taking the piercing off can help w/ your problem.
But if it’s very swollen and painful (redness, hot and stuff like this), you MUST GO to a clinic.
Don’t forget that your health is more important than a piercing.
Ive Had numerous piercings in the past. One was infected and I needed to take antibiotics. Mostly as a precaution but there was a slim chance of it spreading. I mean, bad shit can happen.
As the people at the studio Said: go to a clinic.
Since you wrote “day off” I’m also assuming you have health insurance. It will not be expensive to go to a clinic.
I got a helix piercing from a clinic here in Japan. On the third month, it started to hurt and grew a bump as well. Cleaning it with a saline solution spray twice a day worked for me and in about a week, the bump was gone. The clinic I got pierced at also told me before to contact them if it got infected but I knew my problem was that I have been lazy in cleaning them few weeks before that.
Thank you all for your answers. I am going to visit a clinic. I actually had the same exact problem once with another piercing after months of cleaning and aftercare, then a piercer (he did not do the piercing itself) back home could remove it safely by cutting the bump off and after a week I had no issues with it anymore, that is why I thought it is going to be the same here. Clinics back home don’t deal with piercings so I did not know what to do.
Hopefully the treatment will not take long, as I need to return home in December (I am an exchange student). Thank you all once again!
This actually happened to me! I just was recommended something over the counter at my drug store and it worked! I was some kind of gel for wounds, you can ask a worker and they will help you.
> due to the constant mask-wearing and irritation it started to grow a bump
When I started wearing hearing aids, I switched to a clip that lets me attach my mask behind my neck instead of behind my ears. I can’t believe that you would have just “put up with it” if your ears were being irritated to that extent, rather than just shell out the 300 yen for the neck clip.