Is it better to get your ear pierced with a needle or a gun?

[zomgwtf]

Allergic to gold? Sucks hard!

I'm allergic to kryptonite so I kinda know how it feels. . .

Wow, you stole it right outta my, er... finger tips.

 

[Moonbear]

Funny that yours closed, Calluna. I didn't wear earrings for years because rather suddenly, all of the earrings I had made my ears hurt like mad and they got infected constantly. (Which I thought was really weird given that I had mine pierced when I was, I think, 13 or so. They should have been properly healed inside by now, one would think.) So I stopped wearing them and the holes didn't close over.

That's pretty much what happened to me too. Years of wearing earrings with no problems, then they just started getting infected every time I wore earrings, even when they were surgical stainless or gold posts. Technically, the hole in only one ear closed, the other I think (last time I tried...a long time ago) might still be open. There's still a little dimple there, but it doesn't go all the way through. I figured the last time it got infected and I pulled the earrings out, it scarred across the inside. I just decided that was too much effort to deal with the infections, so never bothered getting them re-pierced, especially since I don't really know what was causing the infections and if they were starting from an allergy to something in the earrings.

 

[GeorginaS]

That's pretty much what happened to me too. Years of wearing earrings with no problems, then they just started getting infected every time I wore earrings, even when they were surgical stainless or gold posts. Technically, the hole in only one ear closed, the other I think (last time I tried...a long time ago) might still be open. There's still a little dimple there, but it doesn't go all the way through. I figured the last time it got infected and I pulled the earrings out, it scarred across the inside. I just decided that was too much effort to deal with the infections, so never bothered getting them re-pierced, especially since I don't really know what was causing the infections and if they were starting from an allergy to something in the earrings.

Yep, surgical stainless and gold, no go. Nickel-free, I'm in business. There was a bit of resistance in the hole in one ear initially, but using a shepherd's hook, that's a fairly fine post, poked through no problem with a bit of pressure. And I'm not kidding, I have no issues whatsoever. It's only been about three months since I've discovered this.

I wonder what the nickel content is in gold, because the metal by itself has to be mixed with stuff because otherwise it's too soft to use for much.

But out of curiosity, why not hunt down some nickel-free and see what they do. They're just costume stuff and not expensive.

 

[lisab]

I knew a woman some years ago who had pierced ears, but had a strange phobia about poking earrings through the holes. Her husband had to do it for her...and eventually she couldn't stand that anymore, so she let them close.

I'd never heard of that one before .