Although ear piercings are more common and can be less risky than other body piercings, they can still cause complications. So, it must be handled safely. As most people know, ear piercings are the most common types of piercings people get. There are so many different places on your ear that you can get the earring from the common lobe to the folds just outside your ear canal. Even though they are super popular and they are safe if done by a licensed professional, you need to take care of it in order so it doesn’t get infected and cause further complications. If you are thinking about getting an ear piercing, but you are not sure if you are ready for the commitment to taking care of them, here are all things that you need to know and be prepared for.
Choose The Spot
Different spots will require different things in order so it doesn’t get infected. So, depending on how much you want to be careful and dedicate time to cleaning the ear, you will want to choose the placement of your piercing.
If you are looking for something that doesn’t require much maintenance and you can get it done at almost all professional places, earlobe piercings are the best thing for you. They hurt the least and they heal much faster than any other ear piercing. If you want to have something more serious, you can get helix or tragus piercings. Tragus piercings are also great for migraine relief, so always look into the benefits that come with ear piercings. Those two are just the most popular ones, but there are numerous more options that you can choose from. They are fairly easy to clean, but you will need to be consistent and follow the rules.
Choose A Licensed Professional
Never go to places that will do ear piercing with a piercing gun. Piercing guns are not sanitary and will shatter your cartilage rather than pierce it. The same goes with your lobes they will cause blunt force trauma to your ears. Always choose ear piercing places that have a licensed piercer as well as those who do it with needles. But that is not the only thing that you should be looking at, always make sure that you are choosing someone who has medical-grade gloves for each piercing and sterile tools for every piercing.
Clean it Properly
Once you have your piercing, you have to take care of it properly. Every parlor will have its own rules, but they are basically the same. The first few weeks are crucial to making sure that it will heal properly. Always make sure that you are starting with clean hands. Wash them with warm water and gentle soap to ensure that your hands don’t have any bacteria on them. Then you will want to take a sea salt solution and a q-tip.
With that, you will want to clean your piercing to remove any bacteria on it. Make sure that you are dabbing it and not rubbing it as you don’t want to damage the tissue when it is healing. The second important thing is that you have to avoid using perfumed soaps near the skin where your piercing is. Always clean it with an antiseptic soap that has nothing added to it.
Once you are allowed to take out your earrings and you are sure that the hole is closed, always make sure that you are cleaning the jewelry as well as the piercing before putting it back in. that will prevent any infections from happening even when your piercing is healed. Another thing that you have to know is to never clean it in the bathroom, especially public ones. Even your home bathroom that is super clean has bacteria in it. So, make sure that you are taking that routine to another, more sterile place.
Never lay on the ear that has been pierced for a long period. Sleeping on that side will trap moisture and bacteria inside of it and increase the risk of getting infections. Always be on the lookout for any abnormal discharge and ensure that you are contacting your piercer if you do.
How Long Does It Take an Ear Piercing to Heal?
The time that it takes to heal depends on the placement of it as well as how your body handles healing. Earlobes are always ones that will heal the quickest and they will take up to 2 months to fully heal. You will have cartilage piercing like tragus, industrial or helix that can take up to one year to fully heal. During the period of healing, you should never take out the earrings because it will cause the hole to close.
When Can You Change Out Your Jewelry?
Once again, the answer to this depends on your body and what piercing you got. Every piercer will tell you when you will be able to take out the earrings. If you have doubts that your holes are not healed yet, you should visit your piercer. Once you have the green light to change out your earrings, always make sure that you are not buying cheap ones. Where most people go wrong when they are piercing their ears is putting in chap jewelry once their ears have healed. But what they don’t know is that throughout the first year of having a piercing you should either have surgical steel earrings or 14K yellow gold as they are the safest. Never go for metals that are mixed with nickel as it will possibly cause an infection.
Even though ear piercings are the most common ones you can get, you need to ensure that you are taking care of them. If you don’t you can suffer from serious infections, tissue damage as well potentially causing permanent damage to your ears.
To sum up, once you get your ears pierced, take care of them! If you’re looking for more insights on how to clean and care for your jewelry, check out our guide!
