7 Ear Piercing Care Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Did you know that 87% of Americans have an ear piercing? Piercings are exceptionally common but require thorough care to ensure there are no negative consequences. There are several ear piercing care mistakes that you need to avoid.
If you’re designing your piercing care routine, we’re here to help. Read on to learn more about ear piercing care and how to avoid infections.

1. Allowing Your Piercing to Close

One of the most common problems is allowing your piercing to close. many people will remove a piercing too early, which allows the lobe to close back up.
Your ears heal quickly and can close up just as fast. Letting your ears close up can ruin the piercing. In many cases, you need to have your ears re-pierced.
In some situations, you can re-pierce them yourself with the earring. However, this is typically painful and can cause damage. Ensure you aren’t letting your piercings close up.

2. Not Washing Your Hands Before Touching

Another common mistake is not washing your hands before touching the piercing. You may touch your piercing to adjust the earring while changing the stud, or for many other reasons.
If you have to touch the piercing, make sure you wash your hands first. Remember that the piercing is effectively an open wound. Introducing dirt or bacteria can cause infection in your ear.
An infected lobe is excruciatingly painful and can ruin your piercing. In many cases, you’ll need to remove the piercing and let the area heal to avoid further damage.
The less you touch your piercing while it’s healing, the better. Bumping or rubbing the piercing can irritate the skin or make it difficult for it to heal. 

3. Swimming With a New Piercing
If you have your ears pierced during the summer, you may want to swim afterward. It’s vital that you not swim shortly after getting your ears pierced.
Submerging an open wound in water like this is terrible for the piercing. It can slow healing as well as introduce living organisms and bacteria to the piercing.
Swimming leads to infections and can ruin your piercing. People with small ear gauges are particularly susceptible to this, as the piercing is larger. Avoid swimming in any body of water shortly after getting a new piercing.

4. Failing to Clean the Piercing
While you should avoid touching the piercing, it’s vital that you properly clean the area. You should make a regular schedule of cleaning the piercing. Cleaning regularly will help your skin heal faster and avoid infection.
Make sure you wash your hands first to avoid introducing more bacteria. Additionally, you should use the cleaning solution your piercer recommends. Piercing cleaning supplies are often available at your piercing shop.
Use the cleaning solution and a clean cotton ball to the front and the back. You should also turn the earring while the area is wet. Doing so can help make sure the piercing doesn’t heal into your skin.
While cleaning ear piercings, you should set up a sanitized area. If you put your cotton balls on your dirty desk, they’ll pick up dust and dirt. The dirt is then introduced to your piercing while cleaning it.
Ear piercing removal, if necessary, should also take place in a sanitized area. Make sure you’re taking extra precautions to avoid infection and health risks.

5. Using Cheap Materials
Using cheap materials to clean your piercing is a poor plan. Cheap materials are often low-quality and won’t do the job you need them to do.
A discount cleaning solution may not clean the area to the fullest extent. Cheap cotton balls can leave behind threads of cotton in the piercing. These can irritate or infect the piercing.
Furthermore, using low-quality piercing materials can introduce hazardous materials to your ear. They may corrode, rust, or otherwise deteriorate.
While this is annoying for your wallet, it’s also detrimental to your health. Make sure that you aren’t using low-quality materials in your piercing care.

6. Letting Hair Near the Piercing
If you have long hair, letting your hair near the piercing feels inevitable. While you sleep or bathe, hair is bound to rest over your ears.
You should keep your hair away from your piercing as well as you can. This isn’t as severe of a problem while bathing, as your hair is cleaner in this situation.
However, while you’re out about your day, your hair picks up dust and dirt. Your skin also secretes oils that can get into your piercing. If you use hair products like gels or leave-in conditioners, these are also in your hair.
When your hair bumps against your piercing, all of these substances will enter the wound. Introducing these microscopic hazards can impact the wound or cause infection.
Keep your hair up at night to keep the hair away from your piercing. You should try to wear your hair up during the day as well.
Practice this for roughly one month, if it heals properly. Afterward, the piercing should have healed enough for you to safely let your hair down.

7. Changing Your Piercing Too Early
Finally, a common mistake is changing your piercing too early. There are several types of ear piercings, but they heal at a similar rate. Changing your ear piercing too early will impact this healing.
While your ear is healing, it’ll also close up much quicker. The time it takes to change a piercing is sometimes all it takes to begin this process. Rather than race the clock and see if you can get the piercing in before it closes, just wait!
Let your ear finish healing before you switch your piercings. Doing so reduces the chance of inflammation and infection.

How to Avoid Common Ear Piercing Care Mistakes
Ear piercing care mistakes are common, but easy to avoid. Follow our guide to make sure your ear piercings are safe and heal quickly.
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