I've had a few piercings in my life. I've had a total of six* holes poked in to my ears over the years, of which two remain functional. I also wore a nose ring for a while, in 1997-8. I took it out when I went job-searching in the corporate world. Sometimes I miss the nose ring, but then I recall having to do nostril maintenance with a Q-tip and the nostalgia fades.
If piercing makes you squeamish, you may wish to stop reading now.
I have always avoided heavy earrings because over time they can pull a neat pierced hole into a long, stretched-out slit. I have been careful to maintain my piercings. In fact, I have one pair of earrings with slightly thicker-than-average posts, and I sometimes need to use a little hand cream to get them in.
I mentioned a while back that Ken took me to a fancy jewellery store on Boxing Day. Well, there were some very pretty earrings there that had thick posts. I wanted to try them on, plus there was a salesperson who was very eager to see me fall in love with them.
I couldn't get them to go in, so I asked the sales guy if he could find a drop of hand cream. He produced some that they normally use to get tight rings off of ladies' fingers. I lubed up the earring, but no matter how I wiggled it and pushed it, it wouldn't go into my ear.
The sales guy wasn't willing to give up so easily. He asked if he could give it a try, and I made the mistake of allowing him to do so. He pushed and shoved that earring so forcefully that I had to ask him to stop because he was hurting me. And thusly, my right ear was injured.
I have been having trouble with that ear ever since. Miraculously it never got infected, but it got to the point where the injured area would heal shut overnight and I would have to basically re-pierce my ear every morning when I put my earrings in. Very, very uncool. Also, OW.
So I've stuck a pair of simple, silver studs into my ears and I'm going to simply leave them in until March. It takes 6 to 8 weeks for a fresh piercing to heal. It's a shame, because I enjoy my earring collection and always match my ear jewellery to my outfit. Oh well. Silver goes with everything. I should have both ears back in working order in time for spring, when hats and hoods come off, so that'll be good timing.
Also, I think I'm going to start wearing heavy earrings every once in a while, and stretch out those holes a little, so I can avoid having to deal with this situation again.
Do you have any piercings?
*I had my ears pierced for the first time when I was 8 (2 holes), but I didn't take proper care of my earlobes, and eventually the holes grew over. I had my ears pierced again when I was 16 (+2 = 4 holes). When I was in university I had one extra hole pierced in my left ear way up near the top corner, through the cartilage (+1 = 5), but that one didn't heal well so I let it close over. I had another extra hole pierced in my left earlobe (+1 = 6), but wearing an asymmetrical third earring went out of style after the '90's, so in the end that one closed over too.
12 comments:
Never really was a piercing sort of guy, it just seemed odd to want to put extra holes in your head... or anywhere else for that matter.
Mine's closed over by now too. I guess I'll never bother with it at my age. But I enjoyed it when I had it. (Left ear only in my case.)
My ears were not pierced until I was 19 and my new husband did the deed. He put a potato half behind my ear lobe and stuck the earring in. It was awful! Plus on the left ear he was off center and had to make a second hole so my left ear has a double piercing from a time before they were popular. You can see that I was not a very smart 19 year old starting with picking the wrong man to marry...except we sure made two great kids!
Gauged ears make me sick. I see youngish people having that done. I wonder how weird those people will look when they got old.
My grandmother's ears got so droopy from her normal earrings that I could see through her earring holes. But that was like when she was on her 80s.
My aunt's friend had long stretched out ear piercings that freaked me out as a kid, so I totally agree with wigsf3 about gauges. I've stuck with my original two ear holes and a nose ring. I didn't think I would have the nose ring this long, but it's been 12 years and I recently got a job, so I figure why take it out? :-)
My mom didn't believe in piercings and so I had my ears pierced when I was in my 20s. I stick with lighter earrings in my one hole in each ear.
The man who pierced them told me to use 98% alcohol (I think that was the percentage.) I always had to ask the pharmacist for it - one questioned me severely once. It seemed to work better.
My niece has a nose piercing and it always looks infected.
I cannot believe he hacked at your ear like that! Ouch! My cousins were in the doorknocker 80s era. One of them ripped her lobes TWICE. The thought still makes me shudder!! Absolutely horrifying! I have two holes in each ear but rarely wear anything in the 2nd hole. I wanted the 2nd hole for a good 10 years but my parents said no. My dad said I would look like a pirate. -_- I got it with a friend when I was 19.
I wanted a nose ring but didn't know how professional I wanted to go so I didn't. It's for the best since I have very frequent allergies. That hole wouldn't have lasted a week. I still love them tho. My friends tried to convince me to get a belly piercing in college (with the oddest compliment ever: you have the perfect belly for piercing... I heard that MULTIPLE times from unrelated people...) but getting the piercing looked HORRIFIC!! Glad I passed on that.
Ron: Really? I can totally see you with an eyebrow piercing. ;-)
DarcKnyt: Yup, I can picture that. I bet you had a kind of edgy style as a younger man.
Granny Annie: I wouldn't say you picked the wrong man to marry... but definitely the wrong man to pierce your ears!
wigsf3: I agree. Gauged ears aren't a good idea, ever. They're not attractive, and getting reconstructive cosmetic surgery has got to be a pain. (I saw a young guy on TV once going for a consultation to get his earlobes fixed.)
Jenski: Every once in a while I think about re-piercing my nose. A couple of my workmates keep trying to talk me into it. It's gone from being a really "out there" thing to almost mainstream.
Lynn: I have heard that piercings through other body areas never heal as fully as ones through cartilage. When I had my nose pierced I had to maintain it by regularly soaking it in epsom salts.
Jameil: I never saw the point of a belly piercing, but perhaps that's because I live in a cold climate. Most of the time no one would see it. And if getting your belly pierced is anything like getting my nose pierced was (in a piercing/tattoo place, with a big ol' needle), I can assure you that it's intense.
I just have 6 holes in my ears. 3 each side. I take my earrings out each night because they stick into my neck and I can leave them out for a few days and the holes don't close up. Sometimes the top hole gets a bit sore.
I'm amazed you were allowed to try the earrings on! Here in the UK, for hygiene reasons you aren't allowed to try pierced earrings on, and if you buy some you aren't allow to return them. Which I think is fair enough really.
Ouch! You should have held that guy down and pierced him! Wonder if he understands that he didn't have to try to force them in for you to buy them?
I only have ears pierced. When I was in my early twenties I went to a shop and let a guy put seven holes in one of my ears in one sitting. Yes, I know but I believed him when he said that it wouldn't be too bad. Never could get the ones in the cartilage to heal so now I only have one working hole in each ear too...and I'm okay with it lol.
Joe: Most stores have a similar policy here. The sales guy swabbed the earrings liberally with rubbing alcohol before and after the "trying on" (i.e. blunt force injury) proceedings.
Tracy: Seven in one sitting? Woah! That's hardcore! I'm sure it wasn't too bad... for him!
Wow, I've never heard of a store allowing someone to try on pierced earrings before! How sad that he was so forceful with you. :(
I've had that happen to me, where the hole tightens and you have to work hard to get an earring in. When that happens, I try to get the earring in back to front, so I don't accidentally pierce another hole in the back. That loosens it up some so I can then put the earring in the right way. Wouldn't want to go around with backward facing earrings, lol!
Good luck with the healing process. :)
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