S/O thread: piercings.

[Not_a_Number]

OK, I'm now curious: if you've gotten your ears pierced, do the holes close up easily or not? And I'd like to know how old you were when you had them pierced. 

Mine were pierced before age 10, I think. They don't close up at all, even if I don't wear earrings for a year. 

[stephanier.1765]

I got mine done as an early teen and a second pierce as an older one. The second ones are so closed you can't even see the place they were. The first holes are still visible but closed.

[Not_a_Number]

Just now, stephanier.1765 said:

I got mine done as an early teen and a second pierce as an older one. The second ones are so closed you can't even see the place they were. The first holes are still visible but closed.

How long did you wear earrings in them? 

[stephanier.1765]

Just now, Not_a_Number said:

How long did you wear earrings in them? 

Probably into my late 30's or early 40's. I'm 55 now.

 

[Danae]

Ears pierced on my 10th birthday, wore earrings regularly into my 20s, sporadically since.  I’m not sure whether I’ve ever gone a full year without wearing them but definitely 6 months or more. They haven’t closed.

[sweet2ndchance]

Had my ears pierced at age 6. Haven't worn earrings since I was a teen but they are still open.

Oldest dd had them pierced as a baby. Never had a problem with them closing.

Younger dd had them pierced at age 6 or 7, I can't remember which, but she has always had problems with them closing and catching on her clothes and tearing.

I think it has less to do with the age you get your ears pierced and more to do with the individual person and how their body reacts to piercings.

[Loowit]

I had my ears pierced the first time when I was 9. They never closed completely even though I didn't wear earrings for years. I got two more on each ear when I was in my 30s. They haven't closed even though I don't wear earrings very often. 

[gardenmom5]

I was 12.  wore earrings constantly for years.

I've gone weeks without wearing earrings - they have not closed.  (dh gave me a pair I would wear constantly - but the posts are too long and stab me.  I should just replace them with something else.)

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

1 minute ago, gardenmom5 said:

I was 12.  wore earrings constantly for years.

I've gone weeks without wearing earrings - they have not closed.  (dh gave me a pair I would wear constantly - but the posts are too long and stab me.  I should just replace them with something else.)

If you love them, this would probably be an easy fix for a jeweler or even just a handy person with access to finer tools.  

 

For me, I wore earrings semi-regularly from 12 to 20 or so.  My holes are closed now, but despite that, one of my ears gets infected somewhat regularly, so I assume that ear is still microscopically open or something.  It is a huge PITA because at least with an open piercing hole, you have access to the infection site and can clean, etc.  I just end up with a red, swollen earlobe that eventually peels around the old piercing site.  Ugh.  Totally regret getting my ears pierced.  I also totally regret getting my belly button pierced, not that anyone asked.  🤣

[G5052]

I wear earrings on Sundays, and not at all during the week. I teach live online, and earrings and headphones aren't a good mix for me. I've tried. 

No sign at all of them closing up. I actually went a year without wearing them at all, and it made no difference. 

[gardenmom5]

4 minutes ago, Monica_in_Switzerland said:

If you love them, this would probably be an easy fix for a jeweler or even just a handy person with access to finer tools.  

 

For me, I wore earrings semi-regularly from 12 to 20 or so.  My holes are closed now, but despite that, one of my ears gets infected somewhat regularly, so I assume that ear is still microscopically open or something.  It is a huge PITA because at least with an open piercing hole, you have access to the infection site and can clean, etc.  I just end up with a red, swollen earlobe that eventually peels around the old piercing site.  Ugh.  Totally regret getting my ears pierced.  I also totally regret getting my belly button pierced, not that anyone asked.  🤣

They have locking posts - the posts/setting would have to be changed.  I doubt they were very expensive, as we were having financial challenges when he gave them to me.

[prairiewindmomma]

Yes, my holes close easily. Mine were pierced at 10. I wore double piercings for about a decade. Everything was fully healed. I didn’t wear them for a time, and had to repierce each ear at home. The front part of the piercing was still there but the back had closed.

[SKL]

I don't know how long it was, but I remember at some point I could not insert earrings without poking through skin on the back side.  Since I didn't like wearing them anyway, I just let it be and didn't try again.

[Guest]

I got my first ear piercings at age 19. (My parents did not allow them.) I got second holes a few years later. I wear earrings in both holes almost daily because I do not want them to close. I don’t know how much non-wearing would lead to closing but I’ve known it to happen with enough friends that I consciously put earrings in almost every day. I do take them out at night. 
My dd got hers pierced when she was 8, but months later, they were still not healed. She had to remove them for a soccer game and I could not find the hole one hour later. She let them heal and only got them pierced again as an adult. This time she went to a professional tattoo and piercing place, where they did it with a hollow needle. This has been much more successful. 

[Emba]

I had my ears pierced at 14 and a second hole added at 18. I wore earrings pretty constantly until my early 20s, much less frequently by my mid 20s, and by then I only used the first set of holes. I don’t remember when I could no longer get an earring into the second set, but it was definitely a shorter amount of time than it took for the first set of holes to close up. Even after years of very occasional wear, it took multiple years (2? 3?) of not wearing them at all for me to be unable to get an earring in the first holes.

[rebcoola]

I had my ears pierced at 5.  One did reclose and we redone at 13ish.  Now I wear earring a couple of times a year no problem.

[Junie]

I had my ears pierced at age 10 and they haven't closed.

I read somewhere that piercings after age 12 have a tendency to close.

[Not_a_Number]

3 minutes ago, Junie said:

I read somewhere that piercings after age 12 have a tendency to close.

I had that impression, but then I couldn't find a reference! (It came up on @Janeway's thread.) If you could find one, I'd be much obliged, because I have no idea if I'm spreading rumors or something evidence-based. 

[Junie]

17 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

I had that impression, but then I couldn't find a reference! (It came up on @Janeway's thread.) If you could find one, I'd be much obliged, because I have no idea if I'm spreading rumors or something evidence-based. 

I read it a very, very long time ago.  Maybe pre-internet?  I just did a google search, though, and came up with nothing.

[Lecka]

My daughter had hers pierced when she was 10.  Wore them full-time for a month.  Took them out to swim.  The holes closed up within a day or two to where you would have to push through the back.  She didn’t like that and we just said — we’ll get them re-pierced someday.  
 

Edit:  iirc we were supposed to twist them in the morning and at night, and we did it, but sometimes it would be kind-of hard to twist.  She did not really care for that either.  
 

 

Edited November 6, 2020 by Lecka

[Momto6inIN]

I got mine pierced when I was 12 and wore earrings daily until age 30. I'm 46 now and haven't worn earrings in 16 years and I have little dimples in my lobes where the holes once were but they're closed and have been for some time.

[Ailaena]

Thanks for starting this thread!  I cannot find anywhere that links age to hole closing, it’s all length of time and location.   And I guess ears are one of the slower locations to close, in general.

i was 7, they got infected, tried again, infected, re-pierced at 9, second hole around 10-11.  Stopped wearing earrings early 20s.   Every once in a while I would put on some earrings just to see if they still worked until, one day, they didn’t.   I wasn’t quite 25 because I remember telling bf at the time to not buy me earrings 😛

So less than 20 years ago and no sign of second hole on either ear, tiny dimple on one ear from bottom hole.

[MEmama]

I got my ears first pierced at either age 8 or 10, I can’t remember which. I haven’t worn earrings in decades but I can if I want to in the original holes. 
In middle school I had 5 piercings in one ear. Those, alas, have closed. My nose piercing closed too, soon after I stopped wearing a hoop sometime in my mid-late 20's. I kinda wish they had stayed open so I had the option.

[Not_a_Number]

21 minutes ago, Junie said:

I read it a very, very long time ago.  Maybe pre-internet?  I just did a google search, though, and came up with nothing.

Same! That's interesting. 

I didn't read it anywhere myself -- I just noticed it in my friends and family. But that's probably not a large enough sample. 

[Wheres Toto]

First piercing when I was 12, those holes have never closed up even when I haven't worn earrings for years.  It's probably close to a decade since I last wore earrings. 

I got a second set as an adult, early 20's I think?   Those closed up when I stopped wearing earrings.

I had a cartilage piercing that I got in my early 30's that closed up when I had to take it out for a surgery.  I think it was out less than a month and it closed up.  That happened twice, I had it repierced, had another surgery and it closed up again. 

[Not_a_Number]

I'm definitely seeing at least a bit of a pattern here -- piercings you get as an older person do seem to, on average, close more. But one would also need to know how long one had jewelry in the hole before one took them out... it's possible it's just longer for the earlier holes? Although I can imagine that your body kind of grows around your jewelry in a different way as a kid. 

[Elfknitter.#]

My mom had mine first done in the doctor's office when I was a toddler. Around 7, she had them re-pierced (this time at the local mall ::facepalm::) because they had closed up. I still have those holes.

When I was a teen, I got 2 extra holes added to each ear. 1 of those has closed but the rest are still fine. So now my left ear has 2 holes next to each other and my right has 3. I generally wear 2 sets of earrings most weekdays as I work fulltime. I tend to not wear any on the weekends.

[Carrie12345]

I was 13 and wore earrings constantly until I was 21, then sporadically for a while, then never, because it seemed like there were always babies pulling at my ears/hair!  Just a few weeks ago, I asked to borrow a pair of dd’s to see if they’d go in, and they did with no issue.
I have additional holes in my ears, but I have no desire to see if they’re still open.

[freesia]

Pierced at 14. One extra hole at 16.  I always where a stud in the extra hole.  I often wear earrings in the others (always when I leave the house and if I find I'm not wearing earrings often, I put in hoops that I just leave in.)  I've never gone without long enough to even wonder about them closing.

[MEmama]

53 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

I'm definitely seeing at least a bit of a pattern here -- piercings you get as an older person do seem to, on average, close more. But one would also need to know how long one had jewelry in the hole before one took them out... it's possible it's just longer for the earlier holes? Although I can imagine that your body kind of grows around your jewelry in a different way as a kid. 

I definitely wore earrings in my original holes longer than in the others. Also, all my other piercings were in cartilage, which I think closes up easier. 
 

eta: I got curious so I just tried inserting earrings. The originals are okay as I expected, and it seems I could reopen the next 2 holes up the ear as well if I tried. Not any holes further up in the cartilage, though.

Edited November 6, 2020 by MEmama

[wagingpeace]

I got mine pierced when I was 11 and if I go without earrings for about six months, they partially close enough that it is painful to re-insert them.

My youngest got hers pierced as a baby. A few days later, she lost one in the night and the hole had closed by morning to the point where we couldn't even see it! We intended to get it re-pierced a few days later, but then she lost her other earring in the night. I just assumed baby skin was so soft and cells just regenerated so quickly that they closed over faster than with older kids or adults. We decided to wait until she asked for them herself and she got them re-pierced when she was 8. For the first few years, she had to keep earrings in them all the time or her ears would partially grow over. But now she is 15, she can go several days (not weeks) without wearing earrings. She has a second piercing she got a few years ago, and she can go a few days without wearing earrings. She is cautious, so she doesn't go longer than that.

[Forget-Me-Not]

I was 8 or 9.  They've never closed completely, even though I've gone months at a time without wearing earrings.  I usually only wear them for church or family pictures, so yeah.  I do have one side that will get a very thin membrane that has to be "punctured" occasionally, but it doesn't hurt at all.  

[mellifera33]

First set of holes, in lobes, with a gun at a jewelry shop at age 9: still open, despite not wearing earrings regularly since having kids. Second set of holes, in lobes, with a needle in my bathroom at 15: also still open, despite wearing earrings in these holes even less often. Random holes in lobes done at random times with a needle in the bathroom: all closed up. Cartilage piercings done with a gun at age 18 or so: closed up. Cartilage (tragus) piercing done with a needle at around 20 or so: still open, because it's the only piercing I wear a ring in all the time. Navel piercing closed almost immediately after removing ring. I don't remember when I removed it--maybe when I got pregnant with my first? Anyway, despite wearing a ring in it constantly for probably 8-10 years, it closed quickly. 

[saraha]

My mom pierced my ears when I was five years old with a needle and thread. She ensured I always had earrings in while growing up. As a teenager I very rarely wore them, but the holes never closed. As a young adult she talked me into getting them pierced a second time at the mall. I didn't like the look so let them close up right away. I only wear earrings a couple times a year at most, but my original holes have never closed up.

[saraha]

8 minutes ago, mellifera33 said:

First set of holes, in lobes, with a gun at a jewelry shop at age 9: still open, despite not wearing earrings regularly since having kids. Second set of holes, in lobes, with a needle in my bathroom at 15: also still open, despite wearing earrings in these holes even less often. Random holes in lobes done at random times with a needle in the bathroom: all closed up. Cartilage piercings done with a gun at age 18 or so: closed up. Cartilage (tragus) piercing done with a needle at around 20 or so: still open, because it's the only piercing I wear a ring in all the time. Navel piercing closed almost immediately after removing ring. I don't remember when I removed it--maybe when I got pregnant with my first? Anyway, despite wearing a ring in it constantly for probably 8-10 years, it closed quickly. 

ok, all that piercing in the bathroom, that is hard core!

Edited November 6, 2020 by saraha

[mellifera33]

19 minutes ago, saraha said:

ok, all that piercing in the bathroom, that is hard core!

I thought so when I was a teen. I'm really a wimp though. lol. My parents were happy that piercing my ears was the extent of my "rebellion."

[MercyA]

I talked about this on the other piercing thread. My ears were pierced at Claire's when I was 10. They became horribly infected even though I followed the instructions regarding cleaning, etc. We let them close up. I had them redone a year or two later. The healing went better. I thought I could leave earrings out overnight. They closed up. Various people tried putting earrings back through with no success. 😢 I still get cysts in them.

My DH doesn't care for earrings, though, so I supposed it is for the best. (He likes lots of other kinds of jewelry; it's a preference thing, not a religious thing.)

[MercyA]

2 hours ago, saraha said:

ok, all that piercing in the bathroom, that is hard core!

Right?!?

My brother's kids (homeschooled; two boys and two girls) all do each others' piercings.

One of my friends in college pierced his own nipples. Afterwards, he stood in the hallway splashing water from the fountain on them. Ouch, ouch, ouch.

Edited November 7, 2020 by MercyA

[saraha]

17 minutes ago, MercyA said:

Right?!?

My brothers' kids (homeschooled; two boys and two girls) all do each others' piercings.

One of my friends in college pierced his own nipples. Afterwards, he stood in the hallway splashing water from the fountain on them. Ouch, ouch, ouch.

Oh my goodness

[Not_a_Number]

19 minutes ago, MercyA said:

Right?!?

My brothers' kids (homeschooled; two boys and two girls) all do each others' piercings.

One of my friends in college pierced his own nipples. Afterwards, he stood in the hallway splashing water from the fountain on them. Ouch, ouch, ouch.

Yowza. 

[Matryoshka]

4 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

I had that impression, but then I couldn't find a reference! (It came up on @Janeway's thread.) If you could find one, I'd be much obliged, because I have no idea if I'm spreading rumors or something evidence-based. 

Well, I got mine at 17 when I left home (graduated, went on gap year) because my dad wouldn't allow it, lol.  They've never closed up.  I do often wear earrings but not all the time.

My youngest dd got hers at 11 or 12, they closed up, she got them repierced a few years later, I think they threatened to close up again but now they seem fine.  She just recently got a ton more piercings (during a pandemic - WHY?) and they've all given her trouble.  Her body hates piercings and wants to 'heal' them up; also reacts to almost every metal she uses to put things in the piercings.  She just switched all her ear ones to gold.  I used to wear paper clips to hang things in my ears and no trouble.  Seems like everything bothers her.  Poor lass.

I think a lot of it is just individual.

[kirstenhill]

Ears pierced at 13.  Wore earrings constantly for 3 years or so and somewhat often for the next couple years after that. Since then I've worn earrings maybe a couple times per year and they don't close up.  Maybe sometimes there's a slight amount of resistance to them going in, but not painfully so. 

[kristin0713]

Mine have never closed, despite going months or years without wearing earrings sometimes.  I was 5 or 6 when I got them done. 

[Shoeless]

I got my pierced around age 6. I vaguely remember one of the holes closing up and my step-father re-piercing it when I was still in elementary school. They have not closed up since then. 

I got a second set of piercings when I was in college. The back of them will sometimes start to close up if I go without earrings for a long time, (like, months). 

I got my belly pierced when I was in my early 20's.  A few of my friends were doing it, so I did it too. 🙄 I took the ring out when I developed a nickel allergy, and the piercing closed up quickly after I took it out.  It was far more bother than it was worth! 

Edited November 7, 2020 by MissLemon

[MercyA]

4 hours ago, saraha said:

Oh my goodness

 

4 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

Yowza. 

He was a nice guy. I interviewed him once for a paper on skater culture. I still have the micro-cassette somewhere...

Man, I am old. 🙂 

Edited November 7, 2020 by MercyA

[Melissa in Australia]

Mine were pierced when I was 11. My grandmother was very against it. She told me they were the marks of a slave. I can really relate to that girl from cheaper by the dozen. The oldest has to do all the fighting for the younger siblings.

 

I ripped one clear through my ear  lobe straight down when I was 20. I didn’t wear earrings for a few months and the ear lobe healed up nicely ant the piercing hole was still there. I wear earrings every day and  this last year have started to remove them at night.

[MrsMommy]

I had my first pair of piercings done when I was 12 or 13 (I currently have seven in one ear and three in the other, plus a nose piercing). I'm what my obgyn calls a "fast healer," as in, he said that if he hadn't done my c-section himself, he wouldn't have believed I had had one less than a month later, because it healed so well. That seems to extend to my ears, because I have learned not to leave my earrings out for more than a day or so, or I'm going to have to work to get them back in, and that's just no fun!

[theelfqueen]

I got the bottom pierced at 8ish and the top at about 14. Both closed up sometime in my twenties. 

[Selkie]

I got mine pierced when I was 11 or 12 at a kiosk in the mall. Then I pierced a second hole in one ear myself with a needle. I've worn earrings pretty much every single day since then, so they've never had a chance to close up. I only take them out at night.

[Spy Car]

Oops wrong thread.

Edited November 7, 2020 by Spy Car