I’VE had pierced ears since I was an infant, but since I was in high school, I’ve wanted additional holes in my earlobes (more earrings, more life). You can style earrings any which way, from minimalist and elegant to bold and punk. I got additional lobe piercings as a teenager, but for one reason or another, they became infected and closed. I decided to try it again this year. After two months, my second lobe piercings have finally completely healed. Here are a few things to know about caring for newly pierced ears.
* Make sure to go to someone experienced. In high school I went to a kiosk in the mall that’s actually still in business now, so it should have been a good place to get my ears pierced. However, perhaps the person wasn’t so experienced or there was something wrong with the sanitation, as my ears burned for days on end after the piercing.
This year, I went to a shop in another mall and asked the sales lady about her piercing experience. She’s been piercing ears for over two years, babies and adults alike, and was extremely reassuring. She put up with 30 minutes of my nervous laughter and anxiety before taking just a few seconds to finish the job with her piercing gun.
* It is normal for ears to feel sore or tender after piercing. It’s basically a wound as you just pierced metal through your flesh, so you have to treat it like a wound to avoid infection.
* Sure signs of infection are a prolonged burning feeling, excessive swelling, or the presence of pus.
* There are a few different ways to care for pierced ears, but what worked for me was washing my ears very carefully with antibacterial soap, then spraying on saline solution. You can make your own saline solution by mixing salt with filtered water in a clean plastic bottle. Wash and spray twice a day, every day. When you feel less and less discomfort, that’s when you know that the wound is healing.
* Don’t forget to gently twist the earrings twice a day after cleaning to prevent the posts from getting sticky.
* Do not soak newly pierced ears with alcohol, as this will dry up the wounds and prevent the healing process. I was able to carefully clean around the piercings with a cotton bud dipped in alcohol after over a month, when they were almost healed.
* Do not fiddle with or tug at your piercings, and be careful not to hit them by doing everyday things like combing your hair or pulling your shirt over your head.
* This advice is based on my own experience for lobe piercing. For some people, lobe piercings can heal in as little as three weeks. Note that piercings in other parts of the ear will take longer to heal as cartilage is harder.