Ear Piercing a Little Crooked.

Updated on October 04, 2010
S.A. asks from Saint Petersburg, FL
11 answers

I am so annoyed. When my daughter turned one, my husband insisted on having her ears pierced and I didn't want them pierced. Long story short, we did have her ears pierced by our pediatrician. It looked even at the time, although the backs of her earrings would show also. I thought it was due to just having them pierced. It's been about three years and I've noticed that although the front seems about the same the back of the right ear is quite lower than the front, like in a downward trajectory. What should I do? Should I just let it go and live with it? Or should I take the earring out and let it close up? If so, how long would it take? I looked back at photos of her and yes, the backs of her earrings would always show. Right now, the left ear is fine, but her right ear is a little lower and way lower in the back of her lobe. I am obsessing over it and please help me with what to do. I can feel the hole has scar tissue because it did get infected once right when she got it pierced. Thanks to my husband's nagging, she has a crooked ear piercing. The left ear is fine, but the right ear is lower. As you can tell, I cannot stop obsessing. I think if I didn't point it out, no one would notice. Or should I just have it pierced again with another hole? I'm just afraid it might join the other hole and make it even a bigger hole. No need to rag on me, it wasn't my idea. Also, the right ear is more of a slit than a hole due to the downward trajectory.

What can I do next?

  • Add yourAnswer own comment
  • Ask your own question Add Question
  • Join the Mamapedia community Mamapedia
  • as inappropriate
  • this with your friends

Featured Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.N.

answers from Phoenix on

Let it close up and have it pierced again later. My ears were pierced uneven when I was little. I didn't let them close up, but I never wear earrings because I can notice it.

2 moms found this helpful

More Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.M.

answers from Tampa on

Who in the world would think that ear piercing is a skill for a pediatrician?
Take them out, let it heal, and then have someone who has skill do this correctly.
Some cultures have this as important, so I'd say quit ragging on your husband, and then than god that ear piercing is the biggest thing about which you have to complain.
best, k

2 moms found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

J.C.

answers from Anchorage on

I would let them close, and just get them redone later if she wants.

2 moms found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.B.

answers from Redding on

Your daughter is absolutely darling!
Do NOT put another hole in her ear just so it can be "perfect".
You are worrying about this way, way too much!
I know you didn't want to hear that, but it's true.
I wanted my ears pierced as a child and had to wait until the age of 10. At first I was really obsessed with whether or not they were perfectly even, and you know what? I realized I was the only one worried about it and I wasn't even enjoying having my ears pierced.
So...I let it go.
I don't think my EARS are PERFECTLY even, let alone my earrings. No one examines me that closely. I actually wear two earrings in one ear and only one in the other. I'm uneven on purpose! And I think it looks pretty that way.
Please don't let your obsession with something being a little wonky rub off on your daughter. She's beautiful, she's healthy, it's not like some debilitating illness or anything. She will be self conscious enough all on her own. Let her do something about it, or not, when she gets old enough to make that decision for herself.

Let it go, mama.
Just my opinion.

2 moms found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

J.M.

answers from New York on

the earring will NOT close after 3 years. usually its about 6 months for them to be permanent. i have about 12 holes total that havent had earrings in them for over 10 years, and they are all still there. earrings are not to be changed the first 6-8 weeks, then earrings should be worn at all times until 6 months(some say a year). but after that, a hole is there forever!

as for your issue, if they truley bother you, take them out, but know they wont close. something to consider when she gets a little older, get the small, thin hoop earrings. hoops always look more forgiving and you wont have to worry about the backs showing. pick earrings carefully and check out how noticeable the backs are. but also, remember, the chances are that she will have hair covering her ears as she gets older and no one would ever notice. as long as you dont make her aware of it, it wont be an issue. please dont say anything to her about them!

please, DO NOT put another hole in. my sister had small earlobes and the holes ended up pulling down and ripping through her ear. she has notches now instead of a hole. if you put another hole near those, it may eventually wear through to the other hole leaving her with a big notch and an unusable earring hole. if it bothers her as she is older, do a normal second hole, not a hole near the first one. but who knows if she will even like wearing earrings.

just know though, pediatricians are medical doctors but are not doing piercings every day. i personally would rather have somewhere like Claire's doing the piercings considering how many they do. i could easily a pediatrician not doing them perfect. my daughter went to one place where they did it with 2 people at once, and they were uneven and both fell out within a week. maybe they were a second off and she moved. also, sometimes they mark the center of the lobe with no consideration of how an ear might be slightly unever with the other. i just think there are lots of errors since you never know if this is only the 5th time someone is doing a piercing. dont be too h*** o* your hubby as im sure he thought they knew what they were doing! good luck

2 moms found this helpful

K.I.

answers from Seattle on

I say you try to let it go.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

L.S.

answers from Spokane on

Don't pierce it again until it has healed completely. I would let the holes close up and wait until she's old enough to take care of them herself before you pierce them again. At 4 years old she's more likely to play with them before they're fully healed, thereby causing infection. Because she's so young the holes should close up pretty quickly, but there are times when the holes do not close up.

Oh, and next time have them pierced by an esthetician :)

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

L.R.

answers from Wausau on

Take them out...let them heal up...she has a better chance of the ears healing closed at the young age. and then wait a few years and have them done again. make sure they take their time when doing it and have them aligned right. Hoopes, studs will not sit right with the angle. the bigger the earing that she would wear the more noticable it will be. Because she is young there is a chance that the ears will close as she is still growing. Have her get her ears pierced again when she is ready and wanting too, it is such a fun experience to go through with them. I have pierced over a thousand ears and things like this happen. Oh and something a lot of people don't know is the earlobe grows down. so don't get them pierced too high, I have had to do many many repiercing becasue parents had them put in high so they "wouldn't rip out" then they end up being way too high.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

R.S.

answers from New York on

You can take them out. At her age, they can heal quite fast, like even in a day or two, even after several years of an open hole. Then, if you don't want them re-pierced, don't, it is perfectly alright and at this point you can use tasteful, safe earrings for non pierced ears or even diamonte stickers for earrings every once in a while (you can look on Amazon or try a craft store like Micheals for gliterry stud stickers, and use body glue to make them adhere a little better, and this could be for a special occasion or whenever you like) to give the illusion of a pierced ear.

At 20, I pierced my ears a second time after my first hole, and I just did not like how they looked...so I pulled out my earrings and the hole was closed within a week. You can't even tell I ever pierced them. I am pretty confident your daughter's ears will look find after the earrings are pulled out.

And, FYI, yes, pediatricians DO pierce ears (I am one)! It an optional skill that we are trained to learn because we carry the advantage of doing it under aseptic or completely sterile technique. ENT's also occasionally pierce. I would not trust my kid to go to Claire's - often, that is a teen or young adult that was trained to use a piercing gun in one day, and I have seen lots of infections from Claire's piercings. BUT, BOTH docs and Claire's places can just have simply bad practices. Piercing is really an art, so even with the training, you can still suck at it.

As for when holes do and don't close, as I always say in pediatrics - children and young adults a like plastic. There really and truly is no rule to this. The young body capable of almost anything - it can regrow brain and liver, so certainly, of course it can close a hole! But everyone is a little different. I pierced my navel many years ago and was told that after 6 months I would have a permanent hole. Guess what? I pulled out my piercing one day, and merely hours later tried to replace it...my hole closed! And this was after a full year of having my piercing. I repierced it (ouch, I know, I was young and crazy) and after TWO years, again, tried to replace my piercing and it closed within hours. I was already 24 years old, a young adult but no longer a child. I know many friends who have had this exact experience and some with totally opposite experiences. I also have patients report back to me that after my piercing their kid's ears, their kid will, say, lose an earring and within hours the hole the closed -- this, after months or even a year of being pierced. So you really never know! But, the bottom line is you don't like the look of your kid's ears! Just remove the earrings and see what happens.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.S.

answers from Washington DC on

S.,
My older cousin pierced my ears when I was about 10 with a large sewing needle and ice. Yeah, she was like 20, what was she thinking. Anyway, there are certain styles of earrings that I cannot wear because they don't hang even. My mom makes it a point to tell me how nice I look when I start to freak out with uneven earrings.

I think you can understand how my mom must feel. She didn't know about the piercing until it was too late. I think if she ever made a fuss about how bad they look I would never wear earrings.

Oh, by the way, my husband never notices the uneven thing unless I point it out. Even then, it's so inconsequential that he never says anything.

Good luck.
~K.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

B.S.

answers from Fort Myers on

i would not re pierce it... its not that big of a deal.. my second holes are croocked.. and to be honest, i really dont care.. the holes are now open and will not close.. soo just quit obessessing over it and let it be...

1 mom found this helpful
For Updates and Special Promotions
Follow Us

Related Questions