What age?
There are different opinions about this. Some parents think that it is best to pierce the ears of a baby, other parents prefer to wait until their child comes up with the question.
If you are planning to your child's ears pierced, it is best to go to a business that has sterile equipment and expert staff. For the little ones there are special earrings / stud earrings.
Possible complications
Fortunately, complications are very rare. Unfortunately, they do occur in a few cases. The most important and most common complications are infectious diseases and local infections.
The outer ear consists of skin and cartilage. There is no cartilage in the earlobe itself. If a hole is punctured through the cartilage, it carries with it a risk of infection of the cartilage membrane. This infection is very rare. It is true that if all the cartilage becomes infected, the pinna can be seriously damaged. Another complication that occurs more often is the formation of small bumps around the hole. If no sterile equipment is used, there is a risk of contamination with infectious diseases such as hepatitis.
Possible symptoms
The most common symptom of a local infection is a red and painful ear. It usually seems that only the skin is inflamed, but the condition can quickly spread to the cartilage membrane. In addition, fever can occur, in more serious cases there may even be fluid leaking from the ear.
Treatment of the piercing
Antibiotics may be needed to correct a local infection. Of course, the earrings should not be worn. Bumps will be treated with an ointment of corticosteroids