Ok, some of you may have seen my citoral hood piercing thread… regardless, I have a hood piercing.
You may not want to read below.
Now about a week ago I noticed some swelling, so I cleaned it with some salt water, (sometimes with part peroxide), rinse and repeat, three days pass. Still no change. It’s itchy and swollen. I change barbells (which really hurt since the one I was changing too was bigger) It started to get gunky but the swelling went right down. I noticed that my lymph node on the left side of my pubic bone? is swollen.
Now I started noticing that while cleaning it doesn’t feel like the usual sting, it feels like a dull pain, that continues after cleaning. About 3 days later, I actually look where the pain is coming from. And right near where the lower ball sits, on the inside of my hood, is what looks like an ulcer! I didn’t even know you could get ulcers there.
So I have several questions,
Should I see a doctor?
How long will it last?
Did I cause it by doing something, if so how can I avoid it in future?
And if you insist on self-medicating Betadine is generally the answer for topical treatment. It has an amazing effective range and can even be used as a gargle if appropriately diluted. Sometimes you can find Chemists that sell the 500ml hospital bottles that cost less than the 100ml public bottles.
You have gouged a hole in a part of your body that is not normally gouged, and now that hole is ulcerating and the area is possibly infected, and you are asking (seriously) if you should see a doctor?
It is evident you are doing everything possible to avoid being told that the piercing must go and the area allowed to heal, or you would have already visted a doctor instead of asking a *message board * about a hole being eaten into your clitoral hood . Wise up. Seriously.
You have regional lymphadenopathy, generalized swelling and pain in the area. Frankly, the chance of having a regional infection, which is trying to become a systemic infection, is too great to ignore.
You might want to get the bar out ASAP too (disclaimer: subject to medical advice of those qualified in this thread). However, I’m wondering if the piercer would be more proficient at removing the hardware than the ER or your doc?
The piercer probably is a bit more adept but in this case I think she should get to the doctor first. Anyway, they are not hard to remove at all, especially barbells. Putting them in is the hard part. Rings can be difficult to remove because you need special pliers. Barbells are easy.
Well I didn’t find the ulcer until about 3 hours before I posted… so that’s why I hadn’t gone to the doctor yet. And the swelling and everything else had gone down before then. It’s exam week and it really doesn’t look as if I’ll make it there before wednesday/thursday morning.
I may sound naive for asking if I should see a doctor, but I wasn’t sure if this was just as unserious as a mouth ulcer.
I’ll see if I can squeeze a doc’s appt. in tomorrow.
Then see a doctor immediately. I have little knowledge of medicine, but piercers have told me (and I’ve known several. There are lots of unnatural holes in my anatomy.) that removing a piercing can make it impossible for an infection to drain. The outer piercing sites close up quickly, leaving the infection to superate.
See a doctor now. Miss an exam and get a note if necessary. It’s not the kind of thing to wait on.
I see this now :smack:
I went to the doctor today, the ulcer had pretty much cleared up since i took the barbell out, but I got a prescription just in case it got worse again/I didn’t want it to seem as if it was total waste of her time.
My piercing closed up in a couple of hours, it isn’t swelled, and it’s pretty much returned to how it was before the piercing except for now I can feel scar tissue.
Glad you’re better. Any clue what happened to it? None of mine have ever been infected, but then, all of mine are in the visible sorts of regions that remain dry most of the time. It sounds rather unpleasant.
Sounds like you answered your own question. I would imagine that if you wear too tight undergarments it would have the same effect as if you had an armpit piercing :).
It sounds rather unpleasant.