Why Did My Piercing Close Up?
I recently got a third lobe piercing done on each of my ears. Due to the location, my starter studs were getting bumped each night while I slept, whether I was on my back or my side. After a few months of the piercings remaining just partially healed, I decided I would take the earrings out and let the piercing close up. I reasoned that I could try again in the future, maybe doing just one side at a time.
What amazed me about taking these earrings out was how quickly the piercing just… disappeared. In a matter of days, I went from having a tiny hole to a fully closed piercing. And it got me wondering, just how does the closing-up of piercings happen? If I could wear earrings in a piercing for three months only to have them close up in a matter of days, could it happen with the piercings I’ve had for years?
As it turns out, it is rare but quite possible for older piercings to close. In May of 2020, Jef Saunders, a professional piercer and public relations coordinator for the Association of Professional Piercers told Today,
"In my career as a piercer, I've seen 20-year-old healed ear piercings close up over a weekend, and I've seen six-week-old cheek piercings remain out for an eight-hour work shift and then be reinserted with ease. Both of those things were totally shocking to me, but they happened.”
So, depending on your unique body chemistry, you may be able to go weeks without wearing jewelry or only a few hours! Fascinating stuff.
If you do have a piercing that closes unexpectedly, don’t worry. Instead, give your local professional piercer a call. Chronic Ink Tattoo reports that even when a piercing appears closed, “often the skin doesn’t fully close over the hole, so there’s no need to repierce. Instead, the piercer can reopen the piercing using a taper and some vaseline.”
And if you don’t want to go through the trouble of reopening piercings, pay attention to your unique biology. Have you had piercings close unexpectedly before? If so, you might want to keep your hypoallergenic earrings in at all times.
