Infected [new] ear piercing--should I leave the earing out?!

Infected [new] ear piercing--should I leave the earing out?

I got my 2nd set of ear piercings done about 4 weeks ago. I am supposed to leave the studs in for 6 weeks, but yesterday it began to swell on one ear and it bothered me today, too. As I was washing my face this evening the towel got caught on the earing and some red/pink puss and a little blood came out. I took the earing out to clean around it and put some disinfectant on it. Should I leave it out over night, or put the stud back in?? Am I at risk of the hole closing in any when it dries out over night? Advice?

Don't take the stud out. If it's a minor infecton & it sounds like it is, use alcohol to clean it & apply neosporin twice a day. (You should have been cleaning it with alcohol twice a day anyway for about the first week or 2 & rotating them so the skin doesn't grow to the earring.) If the studs are cheap, you can take them out & replace with hypo-allergenic ones but do it quickly as the hole will scab over after a short time.

If it's bad, go to the doctor & get an antibiotic. You may be forced to take the stud out & get it re-pierced at a later time because, yes it will close up if you remove the stud.