Why do I have issues changing my earrings?

After over 20-years of doing this, I think I FINALLY have an answer for this… Kind of an “AH HA” moment for me just this week, actually.

If the earlobe piercings are new, the healed channels are not yet mature enough to be changed without some preparation. But this is usually not even thought of because most of us older folks got pierced with the guns and thicker gauge piercing posts at the mall. So when it was time to change our earrings, even if they were difficult to get out, the new ones slid right in because of this drastic size difference. (I can’t believe I never thought of this before! 🙈 ) Since the jewelry going back in is the same size, there is no extra room. So it is very important to plan this first-changeout rather than just doing it on a whim. After a shower is best, or you can do a quick hot water compress to the earlobes. And using coconut oil as a lubricant is my person go-to for home jewelry changing.

So, what if your piercings are many years old but they always give you issues - especially if you haven’t had earrings in since the last wedding you attended (maybe your own!! Lol!) This is often an issue of several things working against you: lack of jewelry retention to keep the channels open and smooth (worn, like a well-used footpath), or there could be damage to the channels from previously forcing jewelry in. For this, it may be best to come in for a professional reopening of those channels as well as a consultation for keeping it from happening again.

It’s always best to wear jewelry. Our skin is elastic, so once the earrings are out for any duration (shorter when newly pierced) the skin will constrict and collapse into the empty channel. They do not “close”. They just get very tight and it may be a struggle to reinsert new jewelry. Again, I love coconut oil as a lubricant for this. And it keeps the damage of forcing them in from occurring. (I see quite a lot of scars spaced all around the actual back opening of older earlobe piercings. Totally common!)

Finally, the skin that lines body piercings - no matter where they are in the body - is somewhat “imperfect”. So while a piercing may be “healed” and no longer at risk of infection, it may remain “immature” or ill-formed. Especially earlobe piercings - earlobes are HOLLOW, so that channel is actually formed by TWO skin linings joining at some point along the jewelry span across the lobe. (Super weird, in such a cool way!!) So it is NOT a well-worn path. It needs time and lots of earring changes to get that smooth and easy transition of jewelry.

We are always here to help. So reach out if you still have issues after reading this post. 🙂