# Ear lobe pierced hole **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 21, 2026, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020 "2026-10-21T00:15:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jasminebooo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@jasminebooo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasminebooo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/1 "2026-10-21T00:15:19Z")
What happens if I put mechanical pencil led in my ear hole piercing ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/2 "2026-10-21T00:47:53Z")
People will stare at you. More. ---
**Author:** ![jasminebooo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@jasminebooo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasminebooo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/3 "2026-10-21T00:59:37Z")
first of all aint nobody ask you to say that I’m looking for an answer not a smart (rude) response ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/4 "2026-10-21T01:29:38Z")
What is that you expect will happen? Because nothing biological is going to happen. (In case you are thinking pencil leads contain lead, they don’t. They are graphite.) (ETA: when I made my first response, this thread was in Site Feedback.) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/5 "2026-10-21T01:31:35Z")
If you pierce the skin you could get an infection. If you don’t, nothing will happen. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/6 "2026-10-21T01:46:40Z")
I’m going to say it’s going to make it really hard to write. ---
**Author:** ![jasminebooo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@jasminebooo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasminebooo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/7 "2026-10-21T01:56:56Z")
no but my ears are already pierced ---
**Author:** ![Eric1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3bc359/32.png) [@Eric1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric1)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/8 "2026-10-21T02:38:57Z")
I think Jasmine that it might scratch the inner tissue around your pierce point. I think the tip of the lead could get stuck underneath your skin next to your piercing. Maybe you could get a little plastic prodder, (it’s a couple inches long and looks like a thin chop stick with a curled plastic end) to poke around your piercing that wouldn’t get stuck in your skin. I’ll bet they have them at the piercing table. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/9 "2026-10-21T03:51:00Z")
Can I ask you why you want to put pencil lead in your ear piercing? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/10 "2026-10-21T04:00:35Z")
Yeah, I’d like to know too. Seems to me that a pencil lead would be tricky. Even 0.05 mm leads are thicker than the post on an ear stud or earring. And they are much more brittle. If your holes are not fully closed on the inside, it seems to me that there is some risk of infection. Suggest that you don’t try it. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/11 "2026-10-21T06:08:54Z")
The lead is going to break and fall out. Not that I would encourage such a home experiment. > [@jasminebooo](#): > > first of all aint nobody ask you to say that I’m looking for an answer I’m a native English speaker, and while my dialect does recognise, but not endorse, the “aint nobody” double negative, the rest of the phrase is… uh, odd. I parse it as “Firstly, nobody asked you if I am looking for an answer” … which implies the OP does not in fact want an answer to a question they posted. Then why post the question? Anecdotally, I have a pierced appendectomy scar. One of the “dissolving stiches” never dissolved, and when I eventually removed it a few years later, it left a shallow tunnel through the scar. I could stick a very thin earring through last time I tried, so I assume a 0.5mm mechanical pencil lead would go right through easily. But I aint disinclined to try this (did I get that right?) > [@Spoons](#): > > Even 0.05 mm leads are thicker than the post on an ear stud or earring I’ve only ever seen 0.5 and 0.7mm lead, but both of these sizes are thinner that the 0.8 to 1mm in typical earing shaft diameter. I think 0.05 is significantly less than a typical thin surgical needle (0.16mm / 34 guage). I assume a typo? ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/12 "2026-10-21T07:17:39Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > But I aint disinclined to try this (did I get that right?) I read _“I aint disinclined to try”_ as you saying, _“I am inclined to try.”_ To me it doesn’t work the same as _“Ain’t nobody”_ which is a nonstandard usage meaning “there is nobody” or “no one”. It uses a double negative to signify strong negation rather than logical cancellation as in _“ain’t disinclined”_. I am basing this on American English. ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/13 "2026-10-21T10:39:15Z")
> [@jasminebooo](#): > > What happens if I put mechanical pencil led in my ear hole piercing The pencil won’t work any longer. Why would you want to do such a bizarre thing to your ear? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/14 "2026-10-21T12:00:27Z")
Because I’m a teenager and that’s how we roll? That’d be my guess. ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/15 "2026-10-21T12:03:51Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > the rest of the phrase is… uh, odd. Put a period after ‘that’ and it makes a bit more sense. Perhaps the only thing in the thread that does. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/16 "2026-10-21T12:04:33Z")
ETA: Never mind ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/17 "2026-10-21T12:33:38Z")
I know you didn’t _ask_ my opinion, but in these troubled and turbulent times, I’m not sure that pencil lead offers you enough of what _most of us truly need._ I’d go with the refill from a ballpoint pen, for _then_ (and _only_ then), you will truly be mightier than the sword. And, unless what you encounter is something like a scimitar, the odds are good that you _will be_ confronting a _double-edged_ sword. I say … hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst. Good luck to you. To us all. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/18 "2026-10-21T12:45:57Z")
So the answer seems to be that the most likely outcome is that nothing significant will happen other than the pencil lead breaking and you getting your earhole dirty with graphite (and potentially with a bit of the lead stuck in the hole until you push it out with an earring post or similar). There exists the possibility that you could accidentally jab yourself with the lead and maybe get a little stuck under the skin, which may result in an infection. As a fashion accessory it’s almost certainly too brittle for any significant length of pencil lead to remain intact in your ear for long. But if you want to do it anyway, knock yourself out. And let us know how it goes. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/19 "2026-10-21T12:47:22Z")
FWIW any graphite that got embedded under the skin would essentially leave a tattoo mark. Otherwise while I wouldn’t recommend it I’d suspect it to not trigger much other reaction. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020/20 "2026-10-21T12:57:47Z")
Good point. I still have the spot from the time in grade 5 Pamela Carter jabbed me in the forearm with her pencil. No doubt I deserved it, though I do not remember why. But she left her mark. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-lobe-pierced-hole/1034020.md?page=2)