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FluffyChicken's avatar

How to get rid of sebum in piercings? (ear cheese ew!)

Asked by FluffyChicken (5521points) March 28th, 2011

pretty straightforward: Sebum is that nasty stinky white or off-white goo that builds up in piercings. (it’s also part of what comes out of oil/sweat glands). It builds up very quickly in my ear piercing. it’s gross and smelly, and I would like to know how to slow its production, and a good product for keeping it clean. Thanks.

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9 Answers

AmWiser's avatar

Clean them gently with Hydrogen Peroxide (3%). It’s a first aid antiseptic oral debriding agent, and can be found at your local drug store and also at any Dollar Store if you have one near.

Stefaniebby's avatar

@AmWiser Hydrogen Peroxide is good for cuts and scrapes but it should not be used for ear cleaning. It is, however, ok to use if your ear is infected.

Do you have regular earrings or do you have gauges in? I had gauges (pretty big ones too! 7/8ths of an inch!) and the cheese got real nasty. What I did was I took them out every day when I showered and I cleaned my ear-hole and the gauge with Bactine it works great and can be used every day, however you most likely wont need to use it every day as it is very effective.

ANef_is_Enuf's avatar

Honestly, when I had my ears gauged, I found the best way to keep the jewelry from getting funky was to take them out and wash them (and my ears) well every day. I didn’t use anything in particular, but daily cleaning seemed to do the trick.

Simone_De_Beauvoir's avatar

I used to have gauges in my ears and they smelled badly too, one of the reasons I took ‘em out. I did find that spraying H2Ocean on it worked every once in a while.

faye's avatar

@Stefaniebby What’s wrong with using hydrogen peroxide? Unless it’s a new piercing and hasn’t scarred, it wouldn’t hurt a thing.

Stefaniebby's avatar

Peroxide kills all bacteria. It kills white blood cells fighting off infection, destroys the fistula, prolongs healing time, and increases the chances of infection. Therefor it kill’s bad and good bacteria. I do ear piercings at my store and I say this to pretty much every customer who pierces their ears.

FluffyChicken's avatar

thanks. I’ve been washing them with soap and water daily, but some days it seems to be in overdrive… I’ll try the bactine, :)

faye's avatar

@Stefaniebby I did say scarred over, peroxide is a great disinfecter.

Stefaniebby's avatar

@faye I wasn’t disagreeing with you, peroxide is a great disinfectant. I was just answering your question “what’s wrong with using it”. Sorry for the miscommunication.

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