These are NOT starter earrings; stick with gold studs initially

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Take care of your newly pierced ears so you can avoid infection

You want to get your ears pierced; nothing at all unusual about that. Ear piercing has long been in vogue, with both women and men. I, for one, would be very upset if I could no longer sport my funky, dangling earrings. However, there are safeguards that you must know about how to take care of pieced ears. These precautions must be taken when you get your ears pierced, as well as during the healing period.

Ear piercing and body piercing practices are practically as old as mankind and have a colorful and interesting history. The Romans, Greeks and Egyptians pierced and tattooed their bodies, which revealed their status in society. Some thought that tattoos and piercings warded off evil.

The Romans pierced their nipples to show their bravery as well as providing a means to fasten their cloaks. Believe it or not, even in the uptight Victorian era girls pierced their nipples to make them look bigger. In African tribes, ear piercing as well as ear stretching and lip piercing are commonplace.

Nowadays, ear and body piercing does not signify your status in society, nor do piercings ward off evil (that I know of) but you must be very careful when you get a part of your body pierced because you do not want the pierced area to become infected.

Follow these tips in how to take care of pierced ears and you should not have any problems:

First and foremost, have a reputable piercer do the procedure. Ask questions. Ask how the piercer assures that the piercing utensils are sterile. Is the piercer wearing sterile gloves? The instruments that are used should be used once and then disposed of. Did you see the piercer open a sealed package that contains the needles she is going to use to pierce your ears? Check out the establishment. If it is dirty, get out of there.

Ask your friends where they got their ears pierced and who they would recommend. Do not let a friend pierce your ears because that is unsanitary and you are just asking for trouble.

It is imperative that you have studs put in your ears when they are first pierced. Leave the studs in for a minimum of six weeks. If you find that you are having trouble healing and your ears are bleeding or there is crust in the holes, leave your studs in even longer and apply hydrogen peroxide to the pierced area. Your ear piercer may provide a special antiseptic solution for cleaning your newly pierced ears. The studs should ideally be hypoallergenic, particularly if you have sensitive skin.

Your first earrings should be gold posts. The post is the part of the earring that goes through the hole in your ear. Gold is less likely to result in swelling or infection.

After your ears are pierced, use hydrogen peroxide or ear piercing solution, applied to a q-tip, to clean the area around the piercing a couple of times a day. Dab the hydrogen peroxide on both the front and the backs of the ears and get as close to the actual pierced area as possible. Turn your studs a couple of times a day. An important part of how to care for pierced ears is to always have clean hands whenever you touch your newly pierced ears.

If you take your studs out too soon, the hole heal closed. Even if you leave the studs in for six or eight weeks, your ears are not completely healed. If you do not put earrings back in the hole, it is very possible for the hole to close up. If you do not wear earrings for an extended period of time and then decide to you will find that you have to jam the studs through healed skin, which is not a pleasant sensation and may result in infection.

When your ears are newly pierced, the holes are going to be bigger than what they will be when they completely heal. Do not wear earrings that have small backings because the backings can actually fall into the hole and then you have to figure a way to retrieve them. If this does happen, clean the area with hydrogen peroxide, hold your earlobe with one hand and with the fingers on your other hand try to locate the backing and push it out. This may hurt a little. The peroxide will relieve some of the hurt. Furthermore, you will have to begin the healing process all over again.

Do not get your ears pierced if you are diabetic, have certain heart conditions or other medical conditions that can impede healing, an auto-immune disorder or hemophilia.