Blog / Ear Care / LEARN

Why "Earring Hacks for Sensitive Ears" Don't Work

6/22/2021 — By Jacqueline Burke

Life hacks are everywhere on the internet. Some of them are great and really can make your life easier. Others, however, are ineffective at best and dangerous at worst.

Earrings have not been exempt from the "life hack" treatment. Just Google "earring hacks" or more specifically "earring hacks for sensitive ears" and thousands of results will pop up.

The general goal behind these "earring hacks" is to prevent earrings from irritating your ears while you wear them. Irritation or painful reactions from wearing earrings is unfortunately extremely common. The source of the irritation is typically not an infection, it is an allergic reaction to the metal or metals in the earrings. Often times earrings are labeled "nickel free," because nickel allergies are very common. However, there are many other metals in earrings that can cause painful reactions and skin allergies, even in trace amounts.

The problem with earring hacks for sensitive ears is that they generally don't understand what is causing the irritation to begin with. They think the problem is an infection caused by the earrings or that sensitive skin is to blame. The real problem is metal allergies caused by the cheap metal alloys that are so commonly used, especially by fashion jewelry companies.

Here are some of the most common "earring hacks" circulating around the internet and why they won't help you if your earrings are causing pain, itching, swelling, bleeding, or other adverse reactions.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK:

1. Putting Vaseline on Your Earrings:

The theory behind this hack is that putting nail polish on your earrings or putting Vaseline on your earrings will create a barrier between your skin and the earrings that will protect you skin. Unfortunately, this barrier is only temporary. Putting Vaseline on your earrings won't protect your skin for very long. Vaseline will be absorbed by your skin and then the earrings will once again be in direct contact with your skin and a reaction will occur.

2. Putting Nail Polish on Your Earrings:

While nail polish won't be absorbed by you skin, it will quickly chip when applied to your earrings and that will leave the metal posts exposed. Additionally, it is unsanitary to have nail polish chips in your piercings and they can cause additional infections if they get trapped in your piercing.

3. Only Wearing Gold Earrings

Many people believe that the way to avoid irritation from earrings is to only wear expensive "real" metals like gold. While gold is non-allergenic in its pure form (24k), it is almost never used in its pure form in jewelry. Gold is a very soft metal, so it is typically alloyed with another metal (or metals) to strengthen it enough to be used in jewelry. So while gold itself may be safe, the other metals it is alloyed with could cause allergic reactions.

4. Only Wearing "Hypoallergenic Earrings"

The label "hypoallergenic earrings" is a very common marketing trick that doesn't really mean anything. Hypoallergenic means "less likely to cause an allergy," but it doesn't guarantee that an allergy won't occur. Additionally, it is an unregulated term in the United States, so anyone can use it to describe their earrings no matter what they are made with. I have seen thousands of earrings described as "hypoallergenic earrings" that are made with alloyed metals like stainless steel that most often contain highly reactive metals.

5. Wearing Clip On Earrings

This hack can actually work. Clip on earrings don't enter your ear (like a pierced earring does), and the skin on the outer part of your ear is typically much less sensitive than inside your piercing. The only issue with this hack is there are not that many clip on earrings on the market and some styles, like studs, can't be made as clip ons.

WHAT DOES WORK

So, since none of these hacks actually work, is there any hope for actually wearing earrings again? Yes!

Titanium in its pure form is non-reactive with the human body. It also is strong and non-porous enough to be used for jewelry. It is ideal for fashion jewelry because it does not tarnish, turn your skin green, or rust (even in contact with water).

Titanium is one of the only metals that is considered "biocompatible" meaning that is can coexist peacefully inside the human body. For that reason, it is the most common metal used for medical implants.

At Tini Lux, all of our earrings are made with pure, unalloyed titanium which is the best type of metal for sensitive ears or metal allergies. Unlike other jewelry companies, we understand the frustration behind misleading labels like "hypoallergenic" and "nickel free" and would never want to trick anyone into purchasing earrings that will irritate their skin. With Tini Lux, no "earring hacks" are needed, our earrings are already designed with sensitive ears in mind. We offer the best earring options for sensitive ears, a variety of hoops and studs that can be worn on a daily basis. Investing in pure and genuine hypoallergenic earrings now, can you save from pain and frustration down the road.

Interested? Start Here.

1 comments