There are a few different reasons why you may need to heal your ear piercings. If you are getting a new piercing, it is obvious that you need to take care to heal the wound in your body. The other reasons include healing a contact allergy, healing an infected piercing, or healing a re-traumatized or irritated piercing. Here is some information on how long it takes for ear piercings to heal:

  

These are brand new piercing holes.  They are the most sensitive and will take the longest to heal properly because your body is treating them as an open wound (which they are). This is another reason to be very careful with the healing process, because you do not want to risk infecting your new piercings.

  

So, how long do new ear piercings take to heal? Earlobe piercings are the quickest to heal. They typically take about one to two months to fully heal.

  

Cartilage piercings elsewhere on your ear will take longer to heal. It may take up to six months or even a year before a helix or tragus piercing is fully healed.

  

While your piercing is still healing, do not take your jewelry out for an extended period. Doing so may cause the hole to close.

   

These are piercings that are re-damaged by forcing an earring into the piercing hole. This can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days to heal. If you have to force your earrings in at all when you put a pair of earrings in, then you are causing some trauma to the piercing site. To avoid irritating your piercings, always use a lubricant like Vaseline or Aquaphor to help insert the earring post.

   

These are piercings that have an active allergic reaction flare up to a pair of earrings. A metal allergy reaction will not heal until you remove the offending material. You must take out the pair of earrings that are bothering your earrings for the metal allergy to heal. Once you remove the reactive earrings, the reaction should subside within a few hours to a day. It is best to avoid putting in new earrings until this reaction has subsided.

  

These are piercings that have a bacterial infection.  If you have infected ear piercings, wearing non-allergenic earrings will not make a difference. Your body needs to clear the infection in order for your infected ear piercings to heal. The time frame will range depending on the extent of the infection and how quickly you treat it. In some cases, you may need need to see a doctor for antibiotics.

  

If you are having problems healing your ear piercings, check out this blog post for step by step instructions on how to properly heal your ear piercings.