Ear Piercing Facts: Here's Everything You Need To Know!

Ear piercing, whether done for style or tradition, can add extra charm to your appearance.

Interestingly, the oldest known earlobe piercing was discovered on a 5,000-year-old mummy (Otzi the Iceman) in an Austrian Glacier in 1991. Believed to have been done as a spiritual practice, the earlobe piercing was enlarged to 0.27-0.43 in (7-11 mm).

Why is ear piercing done?

Ear piercing has become increasingly common.

The most common part of the ear that gets pierced is the ear lobes. There's a whole variety of earrings to choose from, including drop earrings, hoops, dangle earrings, studs, and chandelier earrings.

It isn't uncommon for people of any age to get their ears pierced for various reasons.

Some people have pierced ears as a fashion choice or for self-expression, while for others, it relates to tradition.

Ear piercing is usually the first experience for most people with any body piercing. Piercing a babies' ears is a custom in some cultures.

You could celebrate the event of getting your ears pierced with your friends and family at a retail store that offers ear piercings. Alternatively, you could go to the doctor's office or beauty salon for some privacy while getting your piercing.

Benefits Of Ear Piercing

Apart from enhancing your looks, ear piercing has a lot of health benefits.

Ear piercing early in kids is believed to ensure proper brain development. The meridian points in the lobes connect the right hemisphere to the left hemisphere of the brain. Piercing this point helps activate these parts of the brain.

Piercing certain parts of the ear stimulates the surrounding nerve areas. This is believed to maintain a high energy flow with the use of earrings.

Surprisingly, getting your ears pierced boosts immunity as well. The middle area of the ear influences the immunity level in the body.

Risks Of Ear Piercing

While ear piercing seems simple and low-risk, you might want to stay informed about the risks that are associated, to your chances of infection.

Piercing breaks your skin, which could lead to problems for some people. Earlobe piercings are common as this is one of the least painful parts to pierce. This is because it is fleshy and made up of fatty tissue and doesn't contain many nerves.

The pain after a piercing depends on the part of the ear and your tolerance to pain. Also, bacteria that get into an open wound can cause skin infection with symptoms like swelling, redness or discoloration, pain, and discharge or pus.

The healing time depends on the part being pierced. It is suggested to leave your earrings in for at least six weeks after an earlobe piercing, and at least three to four months after cartilage piercings, since cartilage heals slower than earlobe tissue.

While your ear may be red or swollen right after an earlobe piercing, if the symptoms do persist or get worse, it would be best to visit a health care professional to check for infection. Meanwhile, for safer healing, the site of piercing must be kept clean.

If you're planning to visit a pediatrician or dermatologist, they use ear-piercing guns after marking the point to pierce. This piercing gun, with a spring, results in a rapid spring motion to push the earring through the ear, upon releasing the trigger.

There are tattoo and body piercing shops that use needles to push through the ear, creating a tiny hole in the earlobe or ear cartilage. With no spring action like in piercing guns, these are slightly gentler.

If you choose to go to a piercing or tattoo specialist, you must be able to see them open the pre-sterilized, new instruments that they will use for your piercing.

With a gun, the skin of your ear is pierced by the sharp end of the earring, inserting it in a single shot. With a needle, the earring is placed in your ear soon after the hole is made.

It isn't uncommon to get your ears pierced in jewelry or department stores. The bottom line is, make sure your piercer maintains cleanliness, has the right training, and is experienced in this task. A place with a license from the state's health department would be a good choice.

As long as the equipment and procedure are safe and sterile, there's no risk with ear piercings at any age.

Generally, the piercer marks the piercing site for you to approve, then cleans the area with an antibacterial solution. The piercer, alone or with another piercer, uses a needle or gun to pierce your ears.

Choosing the right jewelry is essential after a piercing, as some people have a nickel allergy. Other metal allergies are caused by cobalt or white gold. You could choose titanium, gold, platinum, surgical steel, or niobium as the initial piercing jewelry. Studs are used after initial earlobe piercings.

For people with a nickel allergy, the best options would be 14-carat gold, medical-grade steel, and titanium.

After getting your child's ears pierced, the wise choice would be round and flat earrings, rather than anything protruding or dangling that can catch on clothing and damage the lobe.

What does ear piercing represent to some people?

This common form of body art symbolizes different things to different people.

Some people get ear piercings for religious or spiritual reasons, while others do it for self-expression. There are many people who get it done for the aesthetic value, while some are to conform to a certain culture.

Primitive tribes wore metallic ear piercings, with the belief that metal repelled demons and spirits and that it would help in preventing the bad spirits from penetrating into your being.

Sailors chose to get ear piercings for the improvement of their eyesight. Also, if a sailor's body washed up on some shore, the ear jewelry would provide the finances to perform a Christian burial.

In many societies, ear piercing is followed as a ritual indicating puberty, for which each of the parents would pierce an ear, symbolizing the child's dependence on them.

Did You Know...

There are 15 places on your ear where you can make holes: the earlobe, upward along the outer cartilage, inward along the part of the ear attached to your head, and several places in the center.

Ancient Egyptians are among the earliest found bodies having stretched earlobes. In some traditions, it's the long earlobes and not jewelry that are considered attractive.

During the Renaissance and Elizabethan eras, almost every royal male member would have at least one earring, if not more. Large pearl drops and huge diamond studs would advertise wealth.