Ear Piercings That Have Closed Up

Updated on June 28, 2011
C.B. asks from Palatine, IL
4 answers

My 5 1/2 year old daughter asked to get her ears pierced and her dad and I wanting to do something special for her said, "yes". Long story short, this experience did not go well and has ended with us deciding to take her earrings out and let them close up / heal up / grow up until she's old enough to have them re-pierced at a professional piercing studio if/when she decides she wants them done again. Her ears did not get infected, and she was terrific at telling me that we needed to clean her earrings. Unfortunately I took her to a place in the mall and they ended up completely uneven due to missing the dot entirely, the gun getting stuck, the earring going in at a complete angle, being way too close to the edge of her ear lobe and the backing being visible from the front. We attempted to fix the one earring by re-doing the one ear after the first hole closed/healed and again... it did not turn out well. Feeling grief-stricken for my daughter at having this experience ruined for her, I've been reading a lot about this online and have learned that piercing guns are very bad, I should have gone to a professional piercing studio to start and I should have waited until she was older in the first place. The worst thing I've discovered is that this type of thing happens all too often. My question is for all those other mother's that have had the unfortunate experience of going through this, did you do anything special to help the ears heal/close-up? Do the little red marks ever return to a normal skin color or will they always be very visible? Did you ever get the ears re-pierced and if so, did you have any problems with scar tissue?

The earring that had been done well was in for 4 weeks. The other one was taken out the first day the first time and one week later after the second time. From the time we took the earrings out, I washed her ears with a mild fragrance-free soap and applied a little Polysporin. Now that they're completely closed, I've been massaging with Bio Oil 2x's a day (morning & night) and applying suntan lotion during the day. They do look quite a bit better but I'd just like to know what I can expect.

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom :)

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So What Happened?

Thank you to everyone for your responses! I just wanted to give a quick update for anyone reading this that might have had the same unfortunate experience as my daughter. It has been about 7 months or so since we took out my daughter's earrings and the marks on her ears are no longer red. The marks have completely returned to her normal skin color. The two marks on her left ear, which were taken out at 2 days and 1 week, are no longer visible even when you look very closely. The one mark on her right ear, which had the earring in place for four weeks, still has the slightest indent where it has healed but is only visible if you are really looking for it and if you are really close. When you feel her earlobes, all scar tissue is gone. I don't remember exactly but I would say it was about 5-6 months before the color on her right ear had returned to normal so it does take time. Luckily, she's still her happy little self and that makes me one happy momma! Good luck to all of you. :)

More Answers

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B.M.

answers from Chicago on

I had no issues with getting my ears pierced at Claire's a gazillion years ago (neither did my sister) and my daughter's ears were pierced with a gun at sweet & sassy a couple years ago when she was 8 and she had no problems. But I have heard of people having problems.

Here is what I can tell you about reclosures. I got my ears double pierced when I was in the 7th grade. A couple months later I tried out for the basketball team and had to take the earrings out for practice and games - and they just sorta closed up throughout the season. I definitely have BOTH scar tissue that you can feel and a scar that you can see. But you have to be looking for both - if you just walked up to me you wouldn't notice.

However, when you have them repierced they can go through the SAME hole and it will go right through the scar tissue with no problem. with the ears that is OK. with (Ahem) other areas of the body, not so good to pierce through scar tissue.

And don't worry that you damaged your kid. She's resilient and it will be ok.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.L.

answers from Los Angeles on

my younger sister's close flat with no hint of piercing. She got them redone (a third time actually) when she was an adult. Some pediatritions do them so maybe check that out.

1 mom found this helpful
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H.D.

answers from Dallas on

I was 12 when I had my ears pierced at a cheap jewlery shop at the mall. Same thing happened to me, one hole was at an angle so if I wore hoop earrings one sat sideways while the other one was fine. One hole is also further out than the other. As a teenager, I had bad acne and started taking Accutane which has cause my body to reject metals in my ear, all metal. I tried for years using little plastic covers to help but it didn't so I was forced to allow my holes to grow in. It's been about 16 years since then and unfortunately I still have indents that look like I have earring holes, but they are completely grown shut. However, small children heal quicker and more seemless so I'd definitely stop trying and wait it out. When she's older I'm sure that a professional could line the holes up right so the damage that has been done won't be noticeable. Sorry that happened to her (and you):(

1 mom found this helpful
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M.R.

answers from Chicago on

I don't have any experiences to share, but wanted to thank you for sharing yours. My daughter is also 5 1/2 and has been asking, and I was thinking maybe next year when she goes into 1st grade. Your post definitely gave me some things to watch out for.

1 mom found this helpful
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