New diamond studs bothering ears, please help!

[monipod]

So sorry to hear. If you have a reputable piercing shop near you, perhaps you can ask for some advice. Most piercers are super nice and happy to help.

You may need to go back to basics and get a pair or hypoallergenic studs to get your piercing stable again. If you're low on iron, start taking some supplements too as ears don't get a good supply of blood as it is. I know it's an old piercing but inflammation still needs good internal support to settle back down.

Once I started to take iron again, my daith piercing healed well.

 

[sth66]

So sorry to hear. If you have a reputable piercing shop near you, perhaps you can ask for some advice. Most piercers are super nice and happy to help.

You may need to go back to basics and get a pair or hypoallergenic studs to get your piercing stable again. If you're low on iron, start taking some supplements too as ears don't get a good supply of blood as it is. I know it's an old piercing but inflammation still needs good internal support to settle back down.

Once I started to take iron again, my daith piercing healed well.

Thank you. I was thinking about doing that. We have one piercing & tattoo place in our town that has a very good reputation. I will go and see what he has to say and hopefully get a good plan of action going.

 

[bright&shiny]

Such a bummer! I am allergic to nickel and have had trouble with earrings all my life. The right side is more sensitive than the left (go figure). For years I had a dedicated tube of antibacterial ointment that I slid the posts into before wearing them.

A year ago, I started an injection for asthma - and ever since, my ears have less reaction. Now they tolerate 18k relatively well, but white gold and lower k yellow gold are still not possible. Not sure about platinum because I prefer yellow gold.

Anyway, I’m following your thread because I’d love to hear how you make out. Your earrings are beautiful!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

I just wanted to give an update about my earrings. I reached out to the vendor and they sent me a couple of new backs to try. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to help. My ears were always irritated when I wore them and would stay that way for days after.

I contacted the vendor again and was able to send them back to get reset in platinum setting instead of white gold. I’ve never had an issue with any white gold setting so I don’t know if it is a new allergy for me or just that specific pair. While I was doing it, I went ahead and asked for the 3 prong martini setting instead of the 4 prong basket. I love both and since I’ve always worn the martini setting, I thought it would be a better choice, since I was resetting them anyway.

I shipped them back last Monday and I got them back today! I was very impressed with their turn around time. I think they look fantastic in the martini setting. I haven’t worn any kind of earrings since last week and I just tried these on. They definitely feel annoyed from that but I didn’t wear them for long today. I guess I’ll just have to keep trying them in baby steps so that they don’t get irritated. I am glad to have my earrings back though, even if I can’t wear them all day yet.

They look beautiful
Ive learnt a bit from your thread
Ive never been a stud wearer, i like dangles on hooks or keepers
I have had niggling pain from wearing mum's pearl studs (i had them changed for peirced ears and they are just ss)
But no infection or gunk, just a bit of dried blood
Very hard to sleep with
It must be the post thickness

Hope your ears are better with your new settings

 

[sth66]

So... I just came back from a visit to the local professional piercer. He said my problem could be from any number of things. To check off true allergies, he suggested I get titanium earrings and leave them in for a full 6-8 weeks to let my ears adjust and heal from the trauma and agitation of taken various earrings in and out and possibly nicking the hole. He said that once they heal completely, to try my earrings again and I'll know if I'm truly allergic or not. Apparently the body will not react to titanium, so if I change out the earrings and get a reaction, I'll know for certain its the metal. Praying I don't have to spend another several hundred dollars having them reset! Guess time will tell. Oh... he also said it could take several weeks for my ears to calm down. I had no idea mine were so sensitive and that this whole earring/metal situations was a "thing!" It's just kind of crazy. In the meantime, I'll just enjoy looking at my diamond studs in their box! Haha.

 

[Monnyjay]

Hi @ chele162
I have never had any issues with mine and they are the same carat weight as yours. The only time I felt a bit of discomfort was when I adjusted them too tight. The backs are quite small which I imagine helps.

 

[Iola80]

No, they’re definitely not itchy. It’s that tender, irritated feeling that you get when you haven’t worn earrings for a while and start to wear them again.

I’m wondering if the combination of the bigger stones and the heavier jumbo backs is just too much for my ears. I did check the backs because I thought of them being too tight as well and the post is just barely over the end, enough to be secure but not tight.
Here are a couple of pics, it’s really hard to get good ear shots! And a few of the back and the smaller back from my smaller studs. Please ignore the red ear on the second pic, that’s always like that. Not from the earrings.

They are beautiful

 

[finerthings]

@chele162 your earrings are beautiful! I recently am going through the same thing with some new earrings. I am sensitive to metals so my posts have always been platinum. But my holes are small and the new earring posts are thicker than I am used to. It hurts to put them in, and definitely when I take them out! What I have read online and seems to be working is understanding the core issue is that I need to stretch the holes a tiny bit to accomodate the larger gauge post. So when you put your earrings in, use an antibiotic cream to lubricate the posts - slide them in and don't take them out for a few weeks while the holes stretch. Now threat them like new piercings. Use alcohol on a Qtip twice a day to the front and backs of your piercings and throughout the day turn the earrings around in your ear to keep them from sticking. Monitor the ears and if they become infected, that's when you need to see the doctor. So anyway this seems to be working for me. My huggie earrings are small so they don't bother me when I sleep in them, and I imagine your studs would not be a problem as well. Hope this helps you.

 

[chele162]

So... I just came back from a visit to the local professional piercer. He said my problem could be from any number of things. To check off true allergies, he suggested I get titanium earrings and leave them in for a full 6-8 weeks to let my ears adjust and heal from the trauma and agitation of taken various earrings in and out and possibly nicking the hole. He said that once they heal completely, to try my earrings again and I'll know if I'm truly allergic or not. Apparently the body will not react to titanium, so if I change out the earrings and get a reaction, I'll know for certain its the metal. Praying I don't have to spend another several hundred dollars having them reset! Guess time will tell. Oh... he also said it could take several weeks for my ears to calm down. I had no idea mine were so sensitive and that this whole earring/metal situations was a "thing!" It's just kind of crazy. In the meantime, I'll just enjoy looking at my diamond studs in their box! Haha.

Thank you for posting this info. Because of this advice, I went online and found some websites that sell titanium stud earrings. I ordered a pair about a week ago and they finally arrived. At this point, I still haven't been wearing my earrings full time. I put them in every few days, just to make sure nothing happens to my piercing but they are still too irritated to wear earrings all the time.

Anyway, the titanium earrings came in last night and I've been wearing them since. I slept in them but did take them out to shower because that's what the manufacturer says to do. My ears were noticeably irritated when I took out/put in my earrings but do calm to to more like an annoyance (lol). I'm hopeful that wearing these for a few weeks will help. It's very frustrating when I just bought these beautiful new earrings and I can't enjoy them.

I hope that your journey is going well. Have you tried the titanium earrings yet? Like you, I had no idea that this whole mess was a "thing". I guess that I've been lucky up until this point. I typically only wear white gold jewelry, never silver or lower but I know that white gold can trigger allergies too. I'm hoping that your ears so heal enough so that you can enjoy your new earrings and not have to pay to get them reset again!

 

[sth66]

Yes, I've been wearing the titanium earrings 24/7 since visiting the piercer. He put them in. He told me to leave them in and not mess with my ears. Every time you take earrings in and out, if there not use to wearing studs, you can re-traumatize them. It's odd the manufacturer said not to shower with them. They are rust proof, so I don't see why you couldn't leave them in. You may want to try just leaving them in and really letting your ears heal.
My right ear feels great, my left still has a ever so slight irritated feeling, but is SO much better. I'm giving it a good 4-6 weeks until I try my new studs. It is super frustrating. I look at my earrings every day and want so badly to try them on, but really want to wait until I know they are fully adjusted to having studs in them and healed. I'll let ya know how it goes in about 2 weeks! Wishing you success as well! Ugh.

 

[chele162]

Yes, I've been wearing the titanium earrings 24/7 since visiting the piercer. He put them in. He told me to leave them in and not mess with my ears. Every time you take earrings in and out, if there not use to wearing studs, you can re-traumatize them. It's odd the manufacturer said not to shower with them. They are rust proof, so I don't see why you couldn't leave them in. You may want to try just leaving them in and really letting your ears heal.
My right ear feels great, my left still has a ever so slight irritated feeling, but is SO much better. I'm giving it a good 4-6 weeks until I try my new studs. It is super frustrating. I look at my earrings every day and want so badly to try them on, but really want to wait until I know they are fully adjusted to having studs in them and healed. I'll let ya know how it goes in about 2 weeks! Wishing you success as well! Ugh.

Yeah, I'm a little confused by that as well. To confirm, I just went to the manufacturer's website and here's what it says:

"Remove your jewelry when showering. Avoid exposing your jewelry to makeup, hair care products, alcohol and other chemicals." and then it says "In order for your jewelry to retain its shine, remove and clean it with uncolored soapy water regularly."

Now I know that there's a difference between showering and cleaning jewelry with soapy water but it just seems weird that one is bad for them but the other is fine. I don't know, I'm confused because I agree that keeping them and not messing with them every day would probably be helpful. Honestly, I could look in to other manufacturer's earrings but frankly, I don't anticipate wearing them after all this settles down and they're not super cheap (better than my other earrings ) but still. I don't know to invest a lot in this. I wonder if there's like a coating on them that makes them like this?

I'm really glad to hear that your ears are feeling better! I totally understand being frustrated with this. I do like to look at them and admire them but it's just not the same. Please keep me updated!

 

[sth66]

What kind of earrings are they, CZ or something else? I bet their talking about the stone in the earring, not the metal. Mine are clear CZ and I really don't care what they look like. They weren't all that expensive, $35, and like you, I'm not intending to wear them much after I get over this hump. I will probably wear them while sleeping as I don't feel comfortable wearing my real studs sleeping and won't shower in them as they have the Protektor backs and from what I've been reading, if you get the backs of them wet, the spring mechanism can rust. I didn't realize that and know I'm thinking I probably would have been better off just getting butterfly backs. Ugh. I also am paranoid not having studs in over night as I don't want the holes to shrink again and go through this whole stupid ordeal again! LOL.

 

[chele162]

What kind of earrings are they, CZ or something else? I bet their talking about the stone in the earring, not the metal. Mine are clear CZ and I really don't care what they look like. They weren't all that expensive, $35, and like you, I'm not intending to wear them much after I get over this hump. I will probably wear them while sleeping as I don't feel comfortable wearing my real studs sleeping and won't shower in them as they have the Protektor backs and from what I've been reading, if you get the backs of them wet, the spring mechanism can rust. I didn't realize that and know I'm thinking I probably would have been better off just getting butterfly backs. Ugh. I also am paranoid not having studs in over night as I don't want the holes to shrink again and go through this whole stupid ordeal again! LOL.

They are just plain silver studs, shaped like little hearts. They're just like a shiny silver color, no other metal or stones in the earrings. I'll admit to being a little vain in that I didn't want to wear CZ or other clear stone because I like my diamonds too much. I'm a weirdo. Mine were about $50 and definitely cheaper than my "real" jewelry but it's just annoying when I have to spend money on stuff I don't want to buy! lol. Maybe I'll try showering with them and just see, I don't know.

I didn't realize the rust issue with the Protektor backs. That's annoying. The problem is, that the shrinking issue could happen while earrings as well. I wore studs with a screwback post for years and then got regular friction backs on a different pair. I wore the regular back one fine but then went to wear the screwback ones and couldn't because that post was so much thicker than the regular one. It didn't really matter at the time because I liked the regular backed ones more but it wouldn't be easy for me to jump back and forth. Maybe it's different for everybody.

 

[Cerulean]

So sorry to hear. If you have a reputable piercing shop near you, perhaps you can ask for some advice. Most piercers are super nice and happy to help.

You may need to go back to basics and get a pair or hypoallergenic studs to get your piercing stable again. If you're low on iron, start taking some supplements too as ears don't get a good supply of blood as it is. I know it's an old piercing but inflammation still needs good internal support to settle back down.

Once I started to take iron again, my daith piercing healed well.

I would definitely do this and talk to a piercer. A really good piercer can give you advice and help you diagnose the issue - they deal with it all the time with far more complicated piercings.

 

[Polabowla]

So interesting to read, everyone in my family has earring hole issues (infections, closing up etc)

My regular lobe piercings closed up twice & I am hesitant to repierce because each time i wear earrings my lobes get painfully irritated (even with neosporin on the posts).

However, i really want to wear my emerald & diamond drop earrings so im torn.
No reliable peircing shop here to ask.

 

[monipod]

I would definitely do this and talk to a piercer. A really good piercer can give you advice and help you diagnose the issue - they deal with it all the time with far more complicated piercings.

I'm glad I did because while I knew I was iron deficient, what my piercing guy said urged me to get a blood test and some good iron tablets. After three months or so, my levels were up and my piercing finally settled down. Definitely not a coincidence as prior to that it was a year of non-healing hell!

 

[Cerulean]

I'm glad I did because while I knew I was iron deficient, what my piercing guy said urged me to get a blood test and some good iron tablets. After three months or so, my levels were up and my piercing finally settled down. Definitely not a coincidence as prior to that it was a year of non-healing hell!

I’m so glad they could help - some of them are incredibly knowledgeable and glad to hear you’ve recovered!

 

[sth66]

They are just plain silver studs, shaped like little hearts. They're just like a shiny silver color, no other metal or stones in the earrings. I'll admit to being a little vain in that I didn't want to wear CZ or other clear stone because I like my diamonds too much. I'm a weirdo. Mine were about $50 and definitely cheaper than my "real" jewelry but it's just annoying when I have to spend money on stuff I don't want to buy! lol. Maybe I'll try showering with them and just see, I don't know.

I didn't realize the rust issue with the Protektor backs. That's annoying. The problem is, that the shrinking issue could happen while earrings as well. I wore studs with a screwback post for years and then got regular friction backs on a different pair. I wore the regular back one fine but then went to wear the screwback ones and couldn't because that post was so much thicker than the regular one. It didn't really matter at the time because I liked the regular backed ones more but it wouldn't be easy for me to jump back and forth. Maybe it's different for everybody.

 

[sth66]

Hey Chele 162,
Just thought I’d give you an update on my ears! I couldn’t take one more day n ya trying my earrings on after 21/2 straight weeks of wearing the titanium earrings. Lol. Both ears were feeling great. So, I switched them out today. They went in easily and my right ear has been feeling great. My left ear, the one that has caused me fits, feels a slight bit agitated, but not awful. They do not itch at all and are not turning red or swelling. All good signs. I’m pretty sure that my ear feels irritated because the posts are a little thicker and the earrings are definitely heavier than the titanium. I couldn’t even feel those in my ears. I did but some clear plastic discs on which helped the earrings from drooping which may help from them feeling like their weighing down my earlobe. My earlobes are on the thin, small side.
Now my dilemma is how to keep them in long enough for my ear to adjust. Since your not suppose to get the Protektor backs wet, I’m not sure how I’m suppose to wash my hair! LOL. I know the more I mess with them, the worse off I’ll be. So, good news is I’m 99.9% sure it’s not a metal allergy. Just hope the one ear gets use to the thicker post. I’ll try to post a picture, but I’m not sure how exactly to do that. I’m so new to this site! Hope your situation is headed in the right direction as well!

 

[LilAlex]

I’m wondering if the combination of the bigger stones and the heavier jumbo backs is just too much for my ears.

It looks like they are snugged down too tight. Is the detent in the post at the same place as before? Can you measure the "effective" post length on a pair of comfy earrings? They do not look heavy or droopy so i doubt it's that.

N.B. Not a regular earring wearer but I have bought a few.

 

[Tonks]

I’m sorry you are going through this. Earring trouble is absolutely no fun. We have been around and around with my daughter. She has metal allergies, and even after metal testing and determining her exact allergies we have had trouble. We got platinum studs and she was able to tolerate those, but only for short times.

Then I read something someone wrote about not being able to tolerate the pressure of studs at all and a light went off. I got her a pair of platinum hoops. And BINGO. That is it. She cannot tolerate the pressure of studs. Any studs. Lever backs or hoops are fine. I had no idea this was a thing, but apparently we have another family member who is the same way.

So if you continue to have problems, one idea would be (sorry to suggest a reset again) to reset your stones into leverback drop settings. That would avoid pressure on your ears and still be a great everyday look.

For titanium earrings or other hypoallergenic earrings for everyday, look at Bloomdahl.

Blomdahl – Stylish, skin friendly jewellery and medical piercing

Our comfortable jewellery in classic designs is nickel free and hypoallergenic. Blomdahl is also a leader in Sweden offering ear and nose piercing. Welcome!

www.blomdahl.com

 

[chele162]

Hey Chele 162,
Just thought I’d give you an update on my ears! I couldn’t take one more day n ya trying my earrings on after 21/2 straight weeks of wearing the titanium earrings. Lol. Both ears were feeling great. So, I switched them out today. They went in easily and my right ear has been feeling great. My left ear, the one that has caused me fits, feels a slight bit agitated, but not awful. They do not itch at all and are not turning red or swelling. All good signs. I’m pretty sure that my ear feels irritated because the posts are a little thicker and the earrings are definitely heavier than the titanium. I couldn’t even feel those in my ears. I did but some clear plastic discs on which helped the earrings from drooping which may help from them feeling like their weighing down my earlobe. My earlobes are on the thin, small side.
Now my dilemma is how to keep them in long enough for my ear to adjust. Since your not suppose to get the Protektor backs wet, I’m not sure how I’m suppose to wash my hair! LOL. I know the more I mess with them, the worse off I’ll be. So, good news is I’m 99.9% sure it’s not a metal allergy. Just hope the one ear gets use to the thicker post. I’ll try to post a picture, but I’m not sure how exactly to do that. I’m so new to this site! Hope your situation is headed in the right direction as well!

I'm so glad that your ears are feeling better! That's such great news. I've been wearing the titanium ones for a week now. They've felt pretty good so I'm hopeful that I'll be able to wear my new diamond studs, especially since they're set in platinum now. I really want to wear them but I told myself I was going to wait 2 weeks at least because I don't want to rush it. I'll have forever to enjoy them, I just need to let my ears heal.

 

[sth66]

I'm so glad that your ears are feeling better! That's such great news. I've been wearing the titanium ones for a week now. They've felt pretty good so I'm hopeful that I'll be able to wear my new diamond studs, especially since they're set in platinum now. I really want to wear them but I told myself I was going to wait 2 weeks at least because I don't want to rush it. I'll have forever to enjoy them, I just need to let my ears heal.

I'm not out of the woods yet. My one side still feels weird. Sort of sore, but not really, which I know makes no sense. It hasn't gotten worse. No itching or redness. Just slightly agitated. I also feel the backs against my ear and it kinda makes me crazy. I'm wondering if the thickness of the post is the issue. It's thicker than any of my other earrings. It's starting to really get mental. I want to wear the studs long enough to see if my holes stretch, but I hate sleeping in them. Taking them off and on isn't good either. So I'm now online trying to find out the gauge size of the Protektor backs. I'm thinking I need some Titanium earrings in a thicker gauge that I can keep in and tolerate and really give it a try before I think about having the diamonds reset all together in Platinum with normal size posts and regular butterfly backs. This whole thing has me so upset. These stupid earrings are ending up costing me a fortune. Then the thought crossed my mind, what if I just can't wear any studs? Maybe I need to get them rest in a dangle earring. I've worn hoops for years and you don't feel anything behind your ear touching your skin. Maybe that's an issue? I don't know. I'm just at my wits end. Blah.