My 5 year old has been BEGGING to get her ears re-pierced... she had such bad eczema from her FOOD allergies (mostly behind her ears) that it made her earrings gross and I took them out and let them close up. I am positive she never had a reaction from the earring metal. Now that her food allergies are well-managed (through meds and diet), she's super excited to get her ears re-pierced this weekend. Which metals are LEAST likely to cause an allergic reaction (I'm being cautious)?? Will there be a problem re-piercing because of scar tissue or anything? Has anyone else had problems having their ears re-pierced? She's really really excited... I'd hate to mess this up again ;)
Side note, my 7 year old has NO food allergies, and has had no problems with any kind of earring, I don't know if this makes a difference or not... she's getting her second earring this weekend when we go with her sis, they are SUCH girlies :)
In response to S.K, her allergist confirmed what her pediatrician and dermatologist already told me- the eczema from her food allergies was so severe behind her ears that it grew it's way into her earring holes... eczema in an earring hole is not a pretty thing, so I took the earrings out and let the holes close as the allergies were being managed with her meds and cutting certain foods out of her diet :)
I have a nickel allergy and any earrings with nickel in them make me break-out and ooze around my ears. The doctor said that I could wear 14 ct. gold or sterling silver and be okay. Good luck!
18 carat gold and sterling silver. This is a site for opinions and here is mine-I think the girls are too young to be worried about their ears being pierced-they want to be like mommy, maybe, but still-they're really young. You seem to think that not giving in to their demands is "messing up". When they are 14 and want to date a 17 yr old-what will you do? Give in? And will they give in instead of "messing up"? If you think the two are worlds apart-they aren't.
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my docter said to use non nickel metals for my daughters eczema ears.
My mother and sister can only wear 24 karat gold earings. My SIL has to have nickel free earrings.
I have problems with metal allergies - I can wear the cheap stuff for a couple of hours and then everything starts to swell and itch. If I leave earrings in for longer than that, my ears will get infected. I had my ears pierced numerous times and it never worked until I figured out what was going on. From my experience:
1. only use gold - 14k or higher - sterling silver doesn't cut it; if she wants a silver look, suck it up and pay for white gold - you will be better off in the long run; also the "hypoallergenic" earrings they sell are junk; GOLD only!
2. clean the ears at least twice a day while healing
3. a week or so after the piercing, try to pull the backs out from her ear a little - some posts have a little room for this, some don't - it will allow a little air between her ear and the metal
4. a few days after the piercing, start twisting the earrings around in her ears (it might hurt a little the 1st time) - this will keep the skin from adhering to the earrings - very important!
5. this is an odd tip but I SWEAR by it - make sure she gets a vitamin w/Vitamin C every day - this is the only way I was finally able to get my ears pierced and not get an infection - I think the vitamin c gave my immune system the extra boost needed to fight off infection!
Good luck!
I prefer stainless steel posts. I have horrible allergic reactions to yellow gold and anything that's fake. I would think that it will be a little more painful because of the scar tissue, but I can't say for sure.
You got a lot of advice about the earring but no one mentioned who should pierce. The people at piercing pagoda and Claires are sales associates and in my opinion should not be allowed to pierce. They have plastic piercing guns that cannot be properly sanitized because they are plastic. I took my baby to a tattoo parlor that pierced. The mall piercing places are not inspected for safety while the tattoo paroles are. They are safer, cleaner and regulated. They also take pride in their work because they want to pierce for years to come.
Here's a link to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) about piercing.
http://www.cdc.gov/Features/BodyArt/
Hope I helped!
I would say stainless steel is best and make sure it is Nickel Free -- if you are prone to it, you can get an allergic reaction to Nickel (I get a rash from my watch sometimes due to it and lumps in my pierced ears if I wear cheap earrings). I stick with either stainless or HIGH GRADE white gold from a good jeweler. I think you have a better shot of having hers pierced with stainless as gold would be too soft to do the "guns" they typically use. Good luck! My daughter has food allergies and is hinting at getting her ears pierced already (she isn't even 4 yet) *sigh* :)
Hi! Just use gold earring posts, I have lots of allergies and eczema too and it's the only metal that doesn't make me itchy. Yellow gold and white gold are both fine, just stay away from "gold-plated" or hypoallergenic steel, I've done OK with silver for a few hours.
Good luck!
I had a severe reaction to cheap earings as a teenager. Changing to gold and sterling silver cleared them up. My niece's ears did the same thing and her mom let them close up. After I explained what happened to me, she had them pierced again and they are fine now. She only wears gold and sterling silver.
I am not sure why you believe it was food allergies that messed your daughter's ears up. My ears were infected in the back but it was definitely the metal.
The least likely to cause an allergic reaction are Niobium and Titanium. Although not really mainstream jewelry metals (yet), Niobium is gaining a lot of popularity. These metals are elemental metals meaning they are not a mixture and contain no nickel - which is often the culprit in irritating ears. Niobium is 100% hypoallergenic. I have sensitive ears and make my own earrings since I wanted pretty ones like everyone else but had a tough time finding them. I now sell them on etsy at http://www.prettysensitive.etsy.com and folks who try out Niobium are always so pleased that they can comfortably wear earrings finally.
Stainless or surgical steel. This could be hard to find in appropriate styles for children though and it is a heavier metal. I did answer a question awhile ago that was similar (allergies and earrings). At that time I found a website that seemed to have a good variety of styles. This is used a lot in body peircings so often it has a particular look to it. Not a bad thing, just not little girl type of style. I'll try to find the website and either update my respone or message you.
My kids all have food allergies and one of my girls didn't have a problem with her earrings and the other did. With my sensitive daughter, I have to use solid gold earrings for her. Otherwise, her ears swell and she gets super sick. It took me 35 years to get gold earrings and then I ended up giving them to my 9 year old...LOL
i would try and go with pure gold or stirling silver 100% of either not a mix they will be a little more expensive but worth it i think and just do studs i had a problem with the metal in earrings and i cant wear em personally and ive had mine done 3 times but when my daughter wants to get hers done i will probably try mine again.
I am allergic to cheap earrings and must have 14k+ gold posts. Took a couple trips to the doctor before I finally heeded the advice as a kid and started wearing the boring earrings available with gold posts (not easy in the 80s when everyone wore big costume jewelry).
I can only wear silver,gold, or platinum. I don't have any food or other allergies. good luck!
