How long can you go without wearing earrings? When will an earring hole close up?
The answers depend on when you got your piercing.
The more recently your ears were pierced, the quicker the holes will heal. That’s why professional piercers recommend keeping the studs for at least six weeks (1).
Otherwise, if it’s a piercing done years ago, it may take weeks to close (2).
If you want to avoid problems with piercings closing up, check out the tips below.
How long can you leave earrings out?
If you just got pierced, leave the earrings in 24/7 for six weeks. Don’t worry, you can sleep in them (3).
After six weeks, the holes may still close up rapidly, like overnight. We recommend that you don’t go more than twenty-four hours without earrings for at least the first six months.
New piercing holes in ears may close up within hours. But if you’ve had your ears pierced for years, it may be weeks before you have to worry about the holes closing.
After six months, it should be fine to sleep without your earrings.
How to keep an ear piercing open without an earring?
If you play sports or have a dress code to abide by, there are probably times when you can’t wear your earring. Fortunately, someone already invented the solution.
You can buy transparent studs to keep the holes open when you can’t wear metal jewelry. They’re cheap, comfortable, and easy to clean.
YOYOSTORE Invisible Earrings
Choose from a variety of sizes for different types of piercings. Each of these plastic studs is virtually invisible once it’s in your ear.
They have a comfortable backing that won’t dig into the skin if you sleep with them.
Simply wipe them down with rubbing alcohol to sanitize them when you’re done wearing them.
How to heal a piercing fast
It’s no secret how you can make a piercing heal faster. It all comes down to keeping it clean and touching it as little as possible.
Professional piercers say to always wash your hands before touching your piercing. Then, use sterile saline solution or an aftercare piercing product to rinse the piercing at least morning and night.
Rinsing with saline solution is essential after showering to make sure you get all the soap off the skin.
Also, when drying the area around the piercing, use a clean paper towel to prevent contamination. Thus, it won’t snag like a cloth towel.
Speaking of contamination, it’s smart to clean your headphones, phone, and anything else that touches the pierced skin. Change your pillowcase regularly, too. (Consider the T-shirt trick where you use the shirt as a pillowcase and turn it to a clean side each night).
In summary, since the piercing is a wound, you can help it heal faster by protecting and cleaning it.
NeilMed NeilCleanse Piercing Aftercare
Use a medically-approved product like this one to cleanse new piercings. It’s made from pharmaceutical-grade sodium chloride and pure water. Yes, it’s a saline solution, perfect for soothing pierced skin.
The manufacturer offers two different dispensers. One emits a fine mist, and the other a stream of liquid. Users say the mist version lasts for weeks longer than similar products.
H2Ocean Piercing Aftercare Spray
If you’ve gotten a tattoo, you may recognize this brand. H2Ocean also makes tattoo aftercare products.
Their piercing aftercare spray is made with purified water, sea salt, and lysozyme. The blend accelerates healing time and calms inflammation.
How to heal an infected piercing
It’s normal if a new piercing feels tender and looks a little red and swollen. As it heals, it may secrete a little fluid that forms a crust.
But if the symptoms worsen, you may have an infected piercing. Put down the rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide because those can damage skin cells. Instead, it’s time to use saline solution more frequently.
Rinse the piercing four times a day. Never touch it unless your hands are clean. Don’t remove the earring unless a medical professional or professional piercer recommends doing so.
After a couple of days of regular rinsing, the skin should calm down.
BRIOTECH Topical Skin Spray – Pure HOCl Hypochlorous Solution
Here’s another solution for infected piercings. It’s a natural formula with no preservatives, parabens, artificial fragrances, oil, or alcohol.
The hypoallergenic solution alleviates irritation and inflammation. It can clear up bumps that form after piercing.
How to safely reopen a closed piercing
What can you do if your piercing closes? First off, never try to force the earring back through the hole. Instead, contact a professional piercer.
The piercer will assess the condition of the piercing. They may be able to use an insertion taper to reopen it.
At the worst, you may have to wait a few weeks for the skin to thoroughly heal and get re-pierced.
How to sleep with earrings
It can be painful to sleep with earrings, but the hole may close if you take them out.
Instead, switch to flat studs with rounded backings.
Tanium Stud Earrings, TGNEL Triangle Stud Earrings
These titanium earrings are hypoallergenic. People that are allergic to other types of metal generally have no issue with titanium.
Choose from a variety of geometric designs and colors. All of them are made to be so comfortable you’ll forget you’re wearing them.
365 Sleepers Titanium 18G Hinged Hoop Sleeper Earrings
If studs aren’t your thing, try hoops. These titanium rings have an easy-open hinge. You can get them in different gauges and sizes for tragus, rook, helix, and earlobe piercings.
How to make a piercing hurt less
It hurts to get pierced, but the initial sting only lasts for a moment. You can minimize the sensation by pre-treating the skin with a numbing spray.
Numbing sprays, soaps, and creams use topical anesthetics like lidocaine to block the nerves from communicating with the brain. They silence the pain signal.
You’ll need to apply the product at least 15 to 30 minutes before getting pierced. Then it will be at maximum strength for the big moment.
We hope we’ve answered your questions today. If you want to know more about body piercing, leave us a comment below.
Sources:
1. https://www.safepiercing.org/aftercare.php The Association of Professional Piercers, accessed January 19, 2021
2. https://news.yahoo.com/long-does-ear-piercing-close-204659979.html by Chrissy Callahan, published May 28, 2020, accessed January 20, 2021
3. https://www.healthline.com/health/sleep-with-earrings Written by Kristeen Cherney on April 16, 2020, Medically reviewed by Deborah Weatherspoon, Ph.D., R.N., CRNA, accessed January 19, 2021