| Earring | |
|---|---|
 1) Helix/Cartilage, 2) Industrial, 3) Rook, 4) Daith, 5) Tragus, 6) Snug, 7) Conch, 8) Anti-Tragus, 9) Lobe |
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| Location | Ear |
| Jewelry | Captive bead ring, barbell, circular barbell, flesh plug |
| Healing | 6 to 8 weeks |
Earrings are jewelry attached to the ear through a piercing in the earlobe or some other external part of the ear (except in the case of clip earrings, which clip onto the lobe). Earrings are worn by both sexes. In western cultures, earrings have traditionally been worn primarily by women, although in recent decades, ear piercing has also become popular among men in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa..
Common locations for piercings, other than the earlobe, include the rook, tragus, and across the helix (see image at right). The simple term “ear piercing” usually refers to an earlobe piercing, whereas piercings in the upper part of the external ear are often referred to as “cartilage piercings.” Cartilage piercings are more complex to perform than earlobe piercings and take longer to heal.
Earring components may be made of any number of materials, including metal, plastic, glass, precious stones, beads, and other materials. Designs range from small loops and studs to large plates and dangling items. The size is ultimately limited by the physical capacity of the earlobe to hold the earring without tearing. However, heavy earrings worn over extended periods of time may lead to stretching of the earlobe and the piercing.
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Ear piercing is one of the oldest known forms of body modification, with artistic and written references from cultures around the world dating back to early history. One of the early signs of earrings worn by men are from the walls of Persepolis in ancient Persia, the carved images of the soldiers from various parts of the Persian Empire which are displayed on some of the surviving walls of the palace showing the soldiers wearing an ear ring.
Another equally early evidence of earring wearing took place in the Bible record of Exodus written by Moses in the wilderness; the second book of the Bible. In Exodus 32:1-4 Moses is still up in the mountain, so the complaining Israelites demand that Aaron make a god for them. So he tells them to bring their sons and daughters earrings to him so that he may comply with their demand. (Written in 1532 B.C.E.) [william crockerham] 15:18 29, July 2009
Pierced ears were popular in the United States through the early 1920s, then fell into disfavor among women due to the rising popularity of clip-on earrings. Nevertheless, a small male following continued to exist, particularly among sailors, for whom a pierced earlobe often meant that the wearer had sailed around the world or had crossed the equator.[1] . In addition, if a non-service member sailor was involved in and survived a sinking ship, they were often seen wearing an earring in the left ear. There was also a long-held belief that puncturing the earlobe was beneficial to increasing the acuity of eyesight (see acupuncture) or of hearing. Also, it was a common belief amongst sailors that if their ship wrecked and their bodes washed up on a shoreline, the person to find them would take the earring as payment for a Christian burial. It is because of this belief that many sailors invested quite a bit of money on gold earrings, as they were very superstitious.
At that time, the practice re-emerged, but since a large commercial market for them did not exist, most ear piercings were done at home. Teenage girls were known to hold ear piercing parties, where they performed the procedure on one another. Such an event is depicted in the 1978 motion picture Grease, where Sandy (Olivia Newton-John), the leading lady, is pierced by her friends.
Ear piercing became commonly available in physician offices. Some of the earliest commercial, non-medical locations for getting an ear piercing appeared in the 1970s at Manhattan jewelry stores, although the overall commercial market was still in its infancy. By the 1980s, ear piercing was common among many women, thus creating a broader market for the procedure. Department stores throughout the country would hold ear piercing events, sponsored by earring manufacturers. At these events, a nurse or other trained person would perform the procedure, either pushing a sharpened and sterilized starter earring through the earlobe by hand, or using an ear-piercing instrument modified from the design used by physicians.
In the late 1960s, ear piercing began to make inroads among men through the hippie and gay communities. In the late 1970s, amateur piercings, sometimes with safety pins and/or multiple piercings, became popular in the punk rock community. By the 1980s, the trend for male popular music performers to have pierced ears helped establish a fashion trend for men. This was later adopted by many professional athletes. British men started piercing both ears in the 1980s; George Michael of Wham! was a prominent example. The heavily jeweled Mr. T was an early example of an American celebrity wearing earrings in both ears, although this trend did not become popular with mainstream American men until the 1990s.
In various Western cultures, piercing the left vs. the right ear alone has sometimes been popularly perceived to be associated with a particular sexual orientation. In the late 60's it was said that "left is 'right' and right is 'wrong'"; the left ear being safe for piercing by straight men and a pierced right ear meaning one was gay.[2]
Multiple piercings in one or both ears first emerged in mainstream America in the 1970s. Initially, the trend was for women to wear a second set of earrings in the earlobes, or for men to double-pierce a single earlobe. Asymmetric styles with more and more piercings became popular, eventually leading to the cartilage piercing trend.
A variety of specialized cartilage piercings have since become popular. These include the tragus piercing, antitragus piercing, rook piercing, industrial piercing, helix piercing, orbital piercing, daith piercing, and conch piercing. In addition, earlobe stretching, while common in primitive cultures for thousands of years, began to appear in Western society in the 1990s, and is now a fairly common sight. However, these forms of ear piercing are still infrequent compared to standard ear piercing.
In India, nearly all the girls and most of the boys get their ears pierced in a religious ceremony before they are about 5 years old. Infants may get their ears pierced as early as several days after their birth. Similar customs are practiced in other Southeast Asian countries, including Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Laos, although traditionally, most males wait to get their ears pierced until they have reached young adulthood. For males in Sri Lanka, this rite of passage is called Nugegoda.[3]
Body piercing jewelry is often used for ear piercings, and is selected for a variety of reasons including the availability of larger gauges, better piercing techniques, and a disdain for mainstream jewelry.
Body jewelry is measured in gauges from 24g to 00g; sizes larger than that are measured in fractions of inches starting at 7/16" and increasing by 1/16" increments. In Europe and Australia they are measured in millimeters.
The table below uses rounding; conversions are not precise.
| Gauge | Millimeters | Inches |
|---|---|---|
| 18g | 1.0 mm | 5/128" |
| 16g | 1.2 mm | 3/64" |
| 14g | 1.6 mm | 1/16" |
| 12g | 2 mm | 5/64" |
| 10g | 2.4 mm | 3/32" |
| 8g | 3.2 mm | 1/8" |
| 6g | 4 mm | 5/32" |
| 4g | 5 mm | 3/16" |
| 2g | 6 mm | 1/4" |
| 0g | 8 mm | 1/3" |
| 00g | 10 mm | 3/8" |
| 11 mm | 7/16" | |
| 12.7 mm | 1/2" | |
| 14 mm | 9/16" | |
| 16 mm | 5/8" | |
| 19 mm | 3/4" | |
| 22 mm | 7/8" | |
| 25 mm | 1" |
Several varieties of non-pierced earrings exist.
Where most earrings worn in the western world are designed to be removed easily to be changed at will, earrings can also be permanent (non-removable). They were once used as a mark of slavery or ownership. They appear today in the form of larger gauge rings which are difficult or impossible for a person to remove without assistance. Occasionally, hoop earrings are permanently installed by the use of solder.[4] , though this poses some risks due to toxicity of metals used in soldering and the risk of burns from the heat involved. Besides permanent installations, locking earrings are occasionally worn by people of both genders, due to their personal symbolism or erotic value.[5]
Pierced ears are earlobes or the cartilage portion of the external ears which have had one or more holes created in them for the wearing of earrings. The holes may be permanent or temporary. The holes become permanent when a fistula is created by scar tissue forming around the initial earring.
A variety of techniques are used to pierce ears, ranging from "do it yourself" methods using household items to medically sterile methods using specialized equipment.
A long-standing home method involves using ice as a local anesthetic, a sewing needle as a puncture instrument, a burning match and rubbing alcohol for disinfection, and a semi-soft object, such as a potato, cork, or rubber eraser, as a push point. Sewing thread may be drawn through the piercing and tied, as a device for keeping the piercing open during the healing process. Alternatively, a gold stud or wire earring may be directly inserted into the fresh piercing as the initial retaining device.
Another method for piercing ears, first made popular in the 1960s, was the use of sharpened spring-loaded earrings known as self-piercers, trainers, or sleepers, which gradually pushed through the earlobe. However, these could slip from their initial placement position, often resulting in more discomfort, and many times would not go all the way through the earlobe without additional pressure being applied. This method has fallen into disuse due to the popularity of faster and more successful piercing techniques.
Ear piercing instruments, sometimes called ear piercing guns, were originally developed for physician use but with modifications became available in retail settings.[6] Today more and more people in the Western world have their ears pierced with an ear piercing instrument in specialty jewelry or accessory stores, or at home using disposable ear piercing instruments. An earlobe piercing performed with an ear piercing instrument is often described as feeling similar to being pinched, or being snapped by a rubber band.
An alternative which is growing in practice is the use of a hollow piercing needle, as is done in body piercing.
In tribal cultures and among some neo-primitive body piercing enthusiasts, the piercing is made using other tools, such as animal or plant organics.
Initial healing time for an earlobe piercing performed with an ear piercing instrument is typically 6–8 weeks. After that time, earrings can be changed, but if the hole is left unfilled for an extended period of time, there is some danger of the piercing closing. Piercing professionals recommend wearing earrings in the newly pierced ears for at least 6 months, and sometimes even a full year. Cartilage piercing will usually require more healing time than earlobe piercing, sometimes 2-3 times as long. After healing, earlobe piercings will shrink to smaller gauges in the prolonged absence of earrings, and in most cases will completely disappear.
The health risks with conventional earlobe piercing are common but tend to be minor, particularly if proper technique and hygienic procedures are followed. One study found that up to 35% of persons with pierced ears had one or more complications, including minor infection (77% of pierced ear sites with complications), allergic reaction (43%), keloids (2.5%), and traumatic tearing (2.5%).[7] Pierced ears are a significant risk factor for contact allergies to the nickel in jewelry.[8] Earlobe tearing, during the healing period or after healing is complete, can be minimized by not wearing earrings, especially wire-based dangle earrings, during activities in which they are likely to become snagged, such as while playing sports. Also, larger gauge jewellery will lessen the chance of the earring being torn out..
With cartilage piercing, the blunt force of an ear piercing instrument will traumatize the cartilage, and therefore make healing more difficult. Also, because there is substantially less blood flow in ear cartilage than in the earlobe, infection is a much more serious issue. There have been several documented cases of severe infections of the upper ear following piercing with an ear piercing instrument, which required courses of antibiotics and/or surgery to clear up.[9],[10]
For all ear piercings, the use of a sterilized hollow piercing needle tends to minimize the trauma to the tissue, and minimize the chances of contracting a bacterial infection during the procedure. As with any invasive procedure, there is always a risk of infection from blood borne pathogens such as hepatitis and HIV. However, modern piercing techniques make this risk extremely small (the risk being greater to the piercer than to the piercee due to the potential splash-back of blood). There has never been a documented case of HIV transmission due to ear/body piercing or tattooing, although there have been instances of the Hepatitis B virus being transmitted through these practices.[11]
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EAR-RING, an ornament worn pendent from the ear, and generally suspended (especially among the more civilized races) by means of a ring or hook passing through the pendulous lobe of the ear. Among savage races the impulse to decorate, or at any rate to modify the appearance of the ear, is almost universal. With such peoples the ear appendage is chiefly remarkable for its extravagant dimensions. Many examples may be seen in the ethnographic galleries of the British Museum. The Berawan people of Borneo use plugs through the lobe of the ear 31 in. in diameter. More extraordinary still is an example of a stone ear-plug worn by a Masai, 42 in. in diameter and weighing 2 lb 14 oz. (Man, 1905, p. 22). It is stated that according to the Masai standard of fashion, the lobes of the ears should be enlarged so as to be capable of meeting above the head. Among the superior races, though ear ornaments of extravagant size and elaboration are not unknown, moderation in size is commonly observed, and greater attention is paid to workmanship and fineness of material.
The general usage appears to have been to have ear-rings worn in pairs, the two ornaments in all respects resembling each other; in ancient times, or more recently among Oriental races, a single ear-ring has sometimes been worn. The use of this kind of ornament, which constantly was of great value, dates from the remotest historical antiquity, the earliest mention of ear-rings occurring in the book of Genesis. It appears probable that the ear-rings of Jacob's family, which he buried with his strange idols at Bethel, were regarded as amulets or talismans, such unquestionably being the estimation in which some ornaments of this class have been held from a very early period, as they still are held in the East. Thus in New Zealand ear-rings are decorated with the teeth of enemies, and with talismanic sharks' teeth. Among all the Oriental races of whom we have any accurate knowledge, the Hebrews and Egyptians excepted, ear-rings always have been in general use by both sexes; while in the West, as well as by the Hebrews and Egyptians, as a general rule they have been considered exclusively female ornaments. By the Greeks and Romans also ear-rings were worn only by women, and the wearing of them by a man is often spoken of as distinctively oriental.
In archaic art, ear-rings are frequently represented or their traces are left in the perforated ear lobes of early statues. After the 4th century such perforations occur seldom. In one instance, a Greek inscription records the weight of the detachable gold ornaments on a statue, among which a pair of ear-rings is included. Ear-rings of characteristic form are frequently discovered by excavation. In Egypt, a system of pendent chains is found hanging from a disk. In Assyria the decoration consists of pendants or knobs attached to a rigid ring. In the early civilization represented by Dr Schliemann's Trojan investigations, pieces of gold plate are suspended by parallel chains. In the Mycenaean period, ear-rings are infrequent in Greece, but have been found in abundance in the Mycenaean finds of Enkomi (Cyprus) in the form of pendent bulls'-heads, or of decorative forms based on the bull's head. In the tombs of the Greek settlers in the Crimea (4th century B.C.), ear-rings are found of marvellous complexity From ¢ Grande En- and beauty. The lexicographer Pollux, L cyclop, die. speaking of the names given to ear-rings, FIG. r. - Ear-ring derived from their forms, mentions caryafrom an Assyrian bas tids, hippocamps and centauresses. Jewels relief. of the same class, of exquisite beauty and of workmanship that is truly wonderful, have been rescued from the sepulchres of ancient Etruria. Ear-rings of comparatively simple forms, but set with pearls and other stones, were the mode in Rome. In some instances, the stones were of fabulous value. During the Byzantine period they once more attained an extravagant size. Researches among the burial places of Anglo-Saxon Britain have led to the discovery of jewels in considerable numbers, which among their varieties include ear-rings executed in a style that proves the Anglo-Saxons to have made no inconsiderable advances in the arts of civilization.
These same ornaments, which never have fallen into disuse, enjoy at the present day a considerable degree of favour, and the tide of fashion has set towards their increased use. Like all other modern jewels, however, the earrings of our own times as works of art can claim no historical attributes, because they consist as well of reproductions from all past ages and of every race as of fanciful productions that certainly can be assigned to no style of art whatever. As one of the curiosities of the subject it may be mentioned that Antonia, wife of Drusus, is said by Pliny to have attached a pair of ear-rings to her pet lamprey.
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