Ear Piercing Care

ear piercing care
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Ear piercings are the most common types of face piercings that people get done. Getting your ears pierced is a huge deal, whether it’s your first piercing or your tenth. There are so many types of ear piercings that you can get. Despite the fact that they’re popular and reasonably safe, you should still treat your piercing with caution to avoid future complications.

What to Consider Before Your Piercing

1. What kind of piercing you want

The first thing you should do is, of course, decide where you want your piercing to be. There are about 15 holes that you can make with all that space on your ear. You can either do lobe, or upward along the outer cartilage, or inward along the part of the ear that’s attached to your head, or even anywhere in the center of your ear. Some of the popular options are earlobe, helix, daith, tragus, conch, and industrial piercing. So, have your pick.

2. Research piercing studios

Once you’ve decided which piercing to go for, it’s time to get pierced right? Hmm…not really. You have to do some reasonable research on face piercing studios first. It’s best to find out if the piercers are certified by the Association of Professional Piercers. Avoid going to retail stores in malls that offer piercings since they may not be clean, safe, or even licensed. You might also want to look into tattoo parlors. Many of them use qualified piercers and are closely monitored by state and municipal health authorities. Also, you should take note of their safety precautions. They should be washing their hands regularly and wearing medical-grade gloves for each piercing, and also using brand new sterile needles and jewelry for each piercing. If they don’t, then don’t risk yourself. 

How to Clean Ear Piercings

  1. Wash your hands every time before you get your fingers near your piercing. Because you’d want to avoid bacteria from getting anywhere near your piercing since it could lead to an infection. And we wouldn’t want that now do we?
  1. Clean with a cotton pad dipped in saline or salt water. You can make the salt water solution by mixing 1 teaspoon of salt with a cup of warm water. However, we do recommend getting yourself a bottle of saline from the nearest pharmacy instead as the consistency of the salt water solution might not be accurate every time.
  1. Rubbing alcohol. While you may be unsure if cleaning an ear piercing with rubbing alcohol is safe, it is surprisingly suggested. Clean the skin around your piercing twice a day with a cotton ball, pad, or swab and rubbing alcohol. This will help prevent scabbing and keep bacteria at bay.
  1. Twist your earrings a few times a day, and make sure your hands are clean, of course! This will help keep the holes open, and when you twist them when you’re cleaning, you can even get the gunk around the piercing out.

Piercing Aftercare DOs and DON’Ts

DOs

  • Keep your piercing clean and dry.
  • Wash your hands thoroughly before touching your ears or earrings.
  • Cleanse your piercing site 3 times daily using saline.
  • Cleanse immediately after swimming or exercising.
  • Try to avoid going to the pool or beach and such as it could lead to an infection
  • Be very cautious when you’re brushing your hair, taking off your clothes, or participating in sports.
  • For the first 6 months after your piercing heals, do protect your piercing by wearing light stud style earrings.
  • Make sure you understand the reasons why your piercing may be itchy.

DON’Ts

  • Do NOT remove your earrings during the healing period.
  • Do NOT play with your earrings too much. The less you touch your piercing, the faster it will heal.
  • Do NOT wear turtlenecks or tight-neck shirts until your piercings have healed.
  • Do NOT forget about your freshly pierced ears during ordinary daily activities.  Avoid bumping your ears when changing clothes, putting on your glasses, using your phone, or styling your hair. 
  • Do NOT wear heavy earrings for 6 months to a year after your piercing has healed.
  • Do NOT sleep on your earrings at night when you go to bed.

In the end, no matter how common ear piercings are, you still need to take good and consistent care of them to make sure you avoid infection, tissue damage, or losing the piercing altogether. Make sure to follow these guidelines when you’re thinking of getting an ear piercing, or even if you found this article after you’ve gotten that piercing. You’ll thank us later.

For nose piercing care, make sure to read our other articles!