Ear Piercing

by Dr. Christopher Chang, last modified on 4/14/21.

We offer ear piercing to patients over 8 years old in our office. For those under 8 years old, ear piercing can be performed while sedated during a scheduled procedures (ie, ear tubes, tonsillectomy, etc). The ear piercing techniques we provide are performed either with a clamp style piercer using the earring itself to pierce the ear or a hollow needle technique for those over 16 years old.

Regardless of the ear piercing technique used... It will be:

Performed by a physician
Performed in a sterile manner (numbing offered as well)

The clamp style technique utilizes:

Ear studs that are hypo-allergenic
Ear piercing system used has been lab tested, packaged, & sealed
Studs & clasps are individually sealed with disposable ear-piercer - avoids any concern for cross contamination

Better yet, we can perform this procedure at the same time as ear tube placement as well as any other surgical procedures including tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy! If your child is going to be under anesthesia, what better time to place earrings as well!

If awake, we do offer EMLA numbing cream prior to piercing (which reduces the pain by about 50%).

The hollow needle technique utilizes:

Needles which are individually packaged, sterilized, and sealed.
New sterile needle is used for each ear.
Needles after use are permanently disposed of.
Patients can bring their own stud earrings as long as made of stainless steel or 24K gold. The earrings will be sterilized with alcohol prior to piercing. We also stock basic stud 24K gold earrings that are sterilely packaged.

Please note that if you are making an appointment for ear piercing only (to be done in the clinic), the cost will be $100 for visit and piercing flat charge.

We offer 4 different types of stud earrings utilizing the clamp-style technique.

Please note that to be consistent with sterile placement, we will ONLY place these earring studs. We will NOT place any other type of earring (unless the hollow needle technique is used in which case patients can bring their own). Again, these studs have been lab tested, packaged, and sterilely sealed. This is not an insurance-covered procedure and will be an out-of-pocket expense.

	24K Gold $100 flat charge for clinic visit and piercing.
	Surgical Stainless Steel (Silver Color) $100 flat charge for clinic visit and piercing.
	Diamond 24K Gold $100 flat charge for clinic visit and piercing. Of note, the "diamond" is actually made of glass.
	Diamond Silver (Stainless Steel) $100 flat charge for clinic visit and piercing. Of note, the "diamond" is actually made of glass.
	Small 24K Gold (Pediatric) $100 flat charge for clinic visit and piercing.

After Piercing Care

Clean your ears twice daily with a cotton ball moistened with hydrogen peroxide and gently swab around the piercings on the back and front of your ear. Move the earrings side to side gently so you can get as close to the actual piercing as possible. This may hurt at first when the piercing is brand new. However, it will prevent germs from getting in this new opening before it heals, and will go a long way towards preventing infection

A few times a day, turn your earrings at least one full turn forward and backward. If you don't, the skin may stick to the earrings and potentially even grow over them given enough time. Make a point of doing this at least twice a day. If you do it more often (playing with your new piercing), that's fine. Turning them more is better than turning them less.

Make sure the earring and its backing are not snug or tight against the skin otherwise the earring may become embedded requiring surgical removal (more info). If it is too tight, loosen them.

Be sure to leave your studs in for at least six weeks. If your piercing is having trouble healing - bleeding, crusting (make sure this is clear scabbing fluid and not pus), still painful, etc. - leave your studs in longer and continue to clean the piercings frequently. If your ears are healing well, you can remove the earrings after six weeks. However, continue wearing earrings most days and stick with studs for next 6 months. Make sure the studs are hypoallergenic. After 6-12 months, it should be fine to wear any dangling earrings or non-hypoallergenic ones.

Be aware that once you remove your studs, if you don't wear earrings for awhile, the holes can still close up. Depending on how often you wear earrings, they can take months or even years to completely heal to the point where the holes become "permanent". Don't ever try to force an earring through your ear. If it hurts when trying to insert earrings or if your ear turns bright red or bleeds, stop trying to put the earrings in. The holes have probably closed up and you will need to get them re-pierced.

Be aware that while your piercings are new, the holes are (slightly) larger than they will be after healing. Do NOT wear small backings on your earrings as they can actually go into the piercing itself and become stuck in your earlobe.

If your ears ever become very red/sore and begin leaking any pus, they have become infected. Remove your earrings and see a doctor. You will need to let the ear heal prior to re-piercing your ears.

Though we occasionally perform ear piercings at same time as ear tube placement for chronic ear infections, be aware that with middle ear infections, pus will drain out the ear and potentially over/around the ear piercings. This is not a great situation and treatment for the ear infection needs to occur as soon as possible to prevent the ear piercing from getting infected as well.

Read the consent form as well as post-operative instructions.

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Ear Piercing

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