The Online Pediatrician

EAR PIERCING

Placing the mark where the earring will be placed

    When choosing where to place the earrings in the earlobes, there are a few important considerations. Nobody’s ear lobes are exactly symmetrical (identical mirror image copies). The brain focuses on things you normally would not think about. Here are some things you should keep in mind when placing the earring hole mark:

•     Place the mark while the child is sleeping. When infants are awake, they normally move their head every few seconds. Just as you are ready to place the mark, they move. When you try to hold their head, they actually resist and move more.
•     Place the mark while looking at the child upside down from the top of the head. When you look at the face in its normal upright position, your mind adjusts appearance without your conscious knowledge. When you look at your child’s face upside down, your brain cannot automatically make unconscious adjustments and this will allow you to place the mark more accurately.
•     Place the marks so that they are the same distance from the bottom of the lobe and the same distance from the side of the head. Some ears are different enough from right to left that placing the mark where it looks right on the lobes may actually look unusual when viewed in relation to the entire face. Placing the marks an equal distance from the head and from the bottom of the lobe will even out any asymmetry.

•     Clean the earlobe with rubbing alcohol before making the mark. Rubbing alcohol is an antiseptic that will prevent infection. The alcohol will also remove any oils and impurities on the lobe and allow the mark to appear more clear. MAKE SURE TO ALLOW THE RUBBING ALCOHOL TO THROUGHLY DRY BEFORE MAKING YOUR MARK. If there is any liquid alcohol left on the lobe, the ink will tend to run.

•     Use the finest tip ball point pen to make the mark. Felt tip markers tend to run and make a mark too big. I want to place the ear ring exactly where you want it, so make the TINIEST mark that is visible possible. A large mark leaves too much room for where to place the ear ring. The dot should be the size of the period at the end of this sentence. I cannot stress enough to make a small mark. If the mark is very large, I will have you replace it in the offie and its very difficult to mark a moving child.

•     Have rubbing alcohol ready to clean off the mark if you want to erase it. Immediately wiping the mark with rubbing alcohol will remove virtually all inks. Make sure to let the lobe thoroughly dry before trying to mark the lobe again else the ink will run.

•     Do not make the mark too close to the edge of the lobe. The mark should be just below the center of the ear lobe. The mark should be at least 3mm from the edge of the lobe. Placing the mark too close to the edge will make the edge of the ear lobe too thin when the child eventually wears loops.

•     If all else fails, leave the marks where they are. If you just can’t get the mark in the “right” place, we can use the marks you have as a reference and place the earring in a position relative to where your mark is. For example, placing the earring just at the lower inner tip of the mark rather that trying to mark it again.

Care of the newly pierced ears

   There are many time-honored methods for after care, but this method is both recommended by the earring manufacturer and has proven to work for my patients:

•     Never touch the ears without washing your hands thoroughly.
•     Do NOT twist the earring
•     Wash your hands and thereafter your newly pierced ears with liquid soap and water and clean with running water twice a day. Dry with tissue or q-tips, DO NOT REMOVE THE EARRING.
•     Make sure your newly pierced ears are always kept clean, dry and airy.
•     Cover your ears when you apply hairspray, spray perfume, hair-dye, etc.
•     Take extra care when you put on or remove clothes over your head, to prevent earrings from getting caught.
•     After about 6 weeks, we recommend that you carefully remove the ear piercing earrings – preferably after having a shower or hair wash
•     If one of the parents has nickel allergy (skin reacts to cheap jewelry), then it’s likely the child might have this also. WE are piercing with plastic ear rings, so a nickel reaction is impossible. BUT when you replace these with metal ear rings, they can develop a nickel allergy. To help prevent this, double  the time you leave in the plastic ones to 12 weeks to let the skin grown completely through the hole. When you use metal ear rings, use solid gold or titanium. Also paint the3 post and back of the ear ring with nail polish to keep the metal from touching the skin.
•     Be careful when you put new earrings with thinner posts in, for example Blomdahl Caring Jewelry, which are available in the same materials as the ear piercing earrings. The earrings, as well as the hands placing them, should be thoroughly washed.
•     Wear earrings the whole time during the first year after piercing. If you go without, the holes can shrink and grow together.