Hole-less earrings?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I had my ears pierced as a newborn, as is the customs here. I used gold baby studs all my childhood and switched to small rings until at about 15. Then I fell in with a bad crowd: university feminists. :wink: I stopped for a while using earrings and by the time I decided to use them again I found out I had developed a raging metal allergy.

I tried with gold, silver, platinum and surgery-grade stainless steel. Nothing. An hour after putting on the earrings my holes would start suppurating. Off with the rings and I get some nice, thick scabs. Rinse and repeat. Now I got holes that are scarred and enlarged.

So, any chance I can find smallish earrings that I don’t have to put through the holes? Something simple, and not too expensive, if possible.

2

You can get studs with a magnetic back. Here’s one site that sells them. I’m sure there are others out there, but I’m not sure what you’ll turn up if you Google “magnetic stud.” :stuck_out_tongue:

3

Wearing metal with nickel in it (the most likely cause of the issue) against the skin will probably just cause the same problems.

OP–even a lot of so-called “stainless steel” is crappy and has nickel in it. Try titanium.

Some simple titanium rings, in various colors: http://www.bodyartforms.com/productdetails.asp?keywords=titanium&button=Search&anyallexact=any&basicsearch=yes&dwzPage=7&ProductID=2181&index=17

If you really want to wear earrings, you should let your ears heal up entirely, then go see a REAL piercer at a reputable studio, who will be able to tell you how to reduce the scar tissue and then will help you re-pierce your ears with high quality jewelry.

4

Try niobium earrings.

“niobium on a larger scale is physiologically inert (and thus hypoallergenic) and harmless”; from Wikipedia, I’m lazy you do the research.

I’ve had a niobium earring in place for over 15 years with no problems, and it’s never been taken out.

Also, most cheap mall places use piercing guns that just smash a hole through your earlobe. Try to find a piercer that uses a hollow needle that actually removes a small plug of tissue.

5

If I could seal my holes shut I wouldn’t even bother with earrings, I want the earrings to cover the scarring.

I have an appointment with a dermatologist/surgeon next week. I am going to ask her about fixing the wholes, if it can be done with minimal scarring I will just do that.

6

At our local hippie store, they’ve got ceramic, stone and bone earrings. Mostly hoops.

7

A piercing needle actually just cuts a curved slit, it doesn’t remove any tissue.

A dermal punch, like dermatologists use for biopsies, will remove a little circle of flesh.

8

Clip-on earrings come in all kinds of sizes, but I suggest asking the dermatologist whether (s)he thinks your problems may be related to allergies and avoiding any materials (s)he says to avoid.

9

I put Neosporin on the wires or studs before I put them in. Don’t have problems anymore.

10

I’ve seen clip-ons with silicone pads on either side, so no metal touches your ear. I’m sure one could buy generic stick-on silicone sheets somewhere and cut them to fit clip-on earrings that aren’t already so equipped.

That’s assuming you can find nice clip-ons these days. I only have one ear pierced and normally wear 6g rings, but if I want to have a more traditional look, clip-ons work nicely for me. But most of the ones I have are vintage, as I haven’t seen them commonly available for for sale. (I actually prefer the screw-back kind to the clip kind, since one can customize how hard it squeezes the earlobe.)

11

That sounds interesting.

12

What you’re looking for are called “clip on” earrings. They attach via little - surprise! - clips! However, if you have a metal allergy you will still need to be careful what the clip ons are made of.

13

I’ve tried clip-on earrings, they give me a headache, presumably from the pressure.