WARNING: Contains pretty gross pic of infected ear
A student had to undergo an emergency operation and has been left with a permanently damaged ear after her ear piercing became infected.
Stella Blezard, 19, spent £30 on a cartilage piercing earlier this year, but within hours it turned bright red.
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The next morning, the teen woke up in agony with her ear badly swollen and 'crusty'. Stella paid a trip to her GP who gave her some antibiotics to deal with the infection.
But one week on, things had gone from bad to worse - Stella's ear had ballooned up and filled with pus.
Stella went to A&E with her swollen ear and was immediately placed on an IV drip, while doctors told her she would have to have emergency surgery because her ear had become dangerously infected.
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The operation involved surgeons slicing open Stella's ear to retrieve the piercing, leaving a 'heart-shaped' dent.
Stella, who attends the University of East Anglia, wants to warn others about the potential dangers of piercings.
She said: "My ear was so swollen it actually covered my piercing.
"It really hurt after getting the piecing. I've had others done before. The next day it was just really red which I thought was a bit weird.
"It just kind of sucks it happened. I try not to tuck my hair behind my ears to not bring attention to it.
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"I just wanted a piercing and now have been left with permanent damage."
Earlier this year, Nickelodeon star Sissy Sheridan was left in tears after discovering her face mask had become stuck to her ear during a piercing. Ouch.
The 16-year-old, from Sterling, Virginia, posted a clip to TikTok showing the mask firmly stuck to her ear after it had been inadvertently pierced right through.
Sheridan had been to get a couple of extra holes in her ears and, as per guidelines, had worn her mask throughout.
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However, once she hopped back in the car and tried to remove her mask she realised it was stuck.
In a clip she told her followers: "I just got my ears pierced and she pierced it on my mask.
"I can't get it off and it hurts so bad. Look at it the white one, it's stuck in my ear.
"And they look so ugly, I just want to take them out. Look at it. She pierced it on my mask."
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Sheridan's mum managed to trim the mask away, and the teen actor provided an update in which she explained: "Basically the mask is gone out of my ear, but there's still a piece of the plastic string stuck in my ear. When it got pierced it got pierced inside my ear.
"My ears are too sore and sensitive right now, because they just got a hole pierced through them, to take the earring out. And also if I take the earring out it could close up."
Featured Image Credit: SWNSTopics: UK News