Questions & Answers

Traditional ear piercing through the soft earlobe with state-of-the-art instruments is barely noticeable. Most people say they only feel the slightest little pinch. The earlobes are well supplied with blood; therefore, the hole heals quite quickly. This means, after only 6 weeks, customers can remove the hypoallergenic studs and wear other earrings. Normally, after approximately 5 to 6 months the holes have fully healed.

Ear piercing through the upper flat cartilage area (helix) is the second popular type of ear piercing. Cartilage is the only body tissue that is not supplied with blood. In these areas, the body cannot use blood to transport metabolic products and supply nutritive substances but has to use diffusion instead. Therefore, the healing process of an ear piercing in this area takes considerably longer. The hypoallergenic studs in the cartilage area may only be replaced by other earrings after a healing period of 12 weeks. It takes approximately 12 months until an ear cartilage piercing is fully healed.

Before piercing the ear, you should use the STUDEX release form to check for any health conditions. For example, your customer should not have diabetes, epilepsy, hepatitis, HIV, hemophilia (bleeding disorder), any heart condition or dizziness, nor should they have been taking any blood thinning medication or be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Inform your customers about the risks of ear piercing, e.g. during pregnancy. Give your customers the time to read and sign the release form.

In most countries, ear piercing is subject to certain regulations, for example in order to prevent communicable diseases. The ear piercing procedure as well as requirements to the facilities and their equipment are usually defined by these regulations. They also cover topics such as disinfection, cleaning, and disposal. STUDEX can help you establish rules for your store so that you can be sure to observe all relevant regulations.

In most countries, there is no legal minimum age for ear piercing. Parents or legal guardians can individually decide on the right point of time for their child. Usually, minors (under the age of 18) must bring a release form signed by their parents or legal guardian. For minors under the age of 16, a parent or a legal guardian must be present during the ear piercing process. Adults (aged 18 or older) should also sign a release form before having their ears pierced.

From a medical point of view, age does not play a role for ear piercing. As the German Association of Otolaryngologists (Deutscher Berufsverband der Hals-Nasen-Ohren-Ärzte) states:

“From a medical perspective, it does not matter whatsoever if the ear is pierced as a child or later. Michael Deeg from the Association of Otolaryngologists in Freiburg, Germany, explains, “The earlobe is equally suitable for ear piercing at every age.” The expert says that the experience of pain was not higher for children than for adults. Often the piercing itself would only be perceived as a little pinch.”
Source: news.de/dpa, Oct. 16, 2012

In general, you should inform parents and (depending on their age) children in detail about the ear piercing process, potential risks, and the importance of proper aftercare. Take your time, and avoid frightening words like “gun.”

Before piercing a child’s ears, make sure to clean not only their earlobes but their hands, too, since children often touch the ear instinctively afterward.

During the ear piercing process, be aware that many children do not sit still. A stuffed animal to hug and snuggle with may help children. Many stores also offer simultaneous ear piercing of both earlobes with two staff members. Even though this is not necessary when using the modern and gentle STUDEX System75, it may be something you could offer in certain cases.

Afterward, demonstrate the proper aftercare to the parents and children and explain why this is important. Recommend that the piercing studs should be worn for six weeks continuously. Also show the parents the correct positioning of the earring clasp, and remind them that the clasp should not sit too tightly on the earlobe, since this would not allow for the appropriate air circulation around the hole and therefore negatively influence the healing process.

After the ear piercing process, inform your customers about the proper aftercare and sell a STUDEX after piercing product. Regular aftercare twice a day is essential for your customers in order to keep their ears beautiful and healthy. Remember to hand them our detailed care instructions for newly pierced ears. By carefully following these instructions, inflammations, infections or other complications can easily be avoided.

Yes, of course. Every now and then we hear from customers that they were told that it was not a good idea to have their ears pierced in the winter. However, we don’t know where this myth had its origin. This is actually far from the truth. In fact, ears can be pierced at any time of year. If anything, the cold may actually be rather pleasant for newly pierced ears.

Of course, it’s a good idea to be a little careful when wearing hats, scarves, or turtle necks. But that’s true whenever your customers wear earrings (especially dangling earrings) and has nothing to do with ear piercing itself. The risk of inflammation is definitely not higher in the winter.

Generally, they should try to keep their ears dry in between cleansing with a piercing care product. Hairspray, shampoo, soap, and other preparations should be kept away from new ear piercings. After showering or bathing, the ear should be rinsed with clear water, and then the aftercare product should be applied.

During the healing period (6 weeks for earlobes, 12 weeks for ear cartilage), it’s best to avoid swimming. After all, each new ear piercing is a small wound, which should be kept as clean as possible. Public swimming pools are often contaminated with germs, especially bacteria. And pools that use chlorine may cause problems, since chlorine and its byproducts can dry out and irritate your skin. Even lakes or oceans may be contaminated with germs. Therefore, if your customers decide to go swimming anyway and their ear gets in contact with water, we recommend that they apply the aftercare product after their swim. They may also use a waterproof bandage, which they should remove after swimming.

Some schools, sports clubs or other institutions have strict regulations on wearing jewelry. Earrings may generally be forbidden during sports activities, or must be covered with tape or bandages. Your customers should obtain information about these regulations in advance. To prevent the new holes from closing, the piercing earrings should not be removed during the healing period. If this is not possible because of any regulations, we recommend planning your customer’s ear piercing for summer or winter break or similar periods.

Ear piercings that are newly pierced or not fully healed would close, if the studs were removed. Therefore, the piercing studs should be worn continuously for at least 6 weeks (earlobes) or 12 weeks (ear cartilage). It takes up to 5 months (earlobes) or 12 months (cartilage area) until the ear piercings have fully healed.

Once the ear piercings are fully healed, however, they cannot grow back together. The inside of the piercing channel will be covered by skin, which thus seals the “wound” caused by piercing the ear. Sometimes it may look like the piercing closed, since healed piercings usually excrete sebum, if no earrings are worn for a while.

Even after the first healing period of 6 or 12 weeks after piercing, we recommend to use only post-type earrings during the following healing period (5 – 12 months), no hook earrings. The earring post should be made of surgical stainless steel or other hypoallergenic materials, such as titanium, real gold or sterling silver. Therefore, we will be glad to present you our popular Sensitive by STUDEX® collection of hypoallergenic regular (non-piercing) earrings to complement your earring assortment.