How do you take care of infected gauges?

well i have 7/16 gauges myself, and I've ran into infection many times in the past. don't use alcohol rub or peroxide to clean them while they are infected, they can leave chemical burns and prolong the infection. always wash your hands before and after touching your infected lobes. its best to see a doctor and get an antibiotic ointment for them, but if your a do-it-yourself kind of person like me, then just carefully remove the gauge, and soak your lobes in a salt solution. just sprinkle SEA salt into warm water in a shallow cup, and simply soak your lobes in it for a little while. don't use iodized table salt because it can irritate the infection. if you don't have sea salt, its all good, use Epsom salt instead. if irritation persists or gets worse after 72 hours or so, you should probably just see a doctor. after you treat the infection, keep them clean with soap and warm water, dial soap works well. to keep your gauges from tearing and cracking, rub them with oils like KY lube, jojoba oil, or vitamin E oil a few times a week. to prevent infection from happening again, use safe stretching procedures. don't skip sizes, for example, if you have a size 4, use a surgical steel size 2 taper to size up. after stretching, don't size up again for at least another 2 weeks. if you have larger stretched lobes such as a 7/16 and beyond, you should wait 4 weeks to stretch them again.

well i hope my info helps out :)

safe stretching!

-cheryl