Does ear piercing cause keloids?

Piercing is a common phenomenon. In early childhood, some parents have their baby girls’ ears pierced. In some cultures, ear piercing even becomes one of the most interesting issues. In Indonesia, native Dayak tribe women in Borneo have their ears pierced, where heavy loose earrings are worn. Other tribes in some country like Nepal also do this according to their inherited cultures. Piercing, although has no specific medical reasons, is widely performed for aesthetic reasons. Making a hole through the ear seems scary and some people even think that it can be dangerous. Too add more, nowadays, piercing is not only done on ears, instead it is performed on your nose, eyebrows, tongue, even navel. You can get your body parts pierced with or without an expert help. However, this treatment is not without risks. Piercing is believed to me a major cause of keloids for many people. Besides, careless piercing procedure may also cause bleeding and infection. In fact, how should piercing procedure be done? Is it possible to have our body parts pierced without the risk of getting keloids?

What is a piercing procedure and how should it be done?

A piercing—or a body piercing is a procedure to puncture certain area on your body by the help of a needle or piercing gun to make small holes in which jewelry are to be worn. Among the kinds of piercing, ear piercing is the most common. It is usually performed to a female in various age span. Parents even get their daughter’s ears pierced right after birth. In this era, body piercing—puncturing your ear, eyebrow, tongue, or navel is done by both male and female. There are various places that can perform this procedure. However, in order to get the negative effects of body piercing, you need to choose trusted expert to perform it. Body piercing has common side effects such as bleeding, infection, allergy, and keloids. The number of body piercing treatments has been raising high these days, although it is still debatable when not-usual body piercing is done by youth.

Is ear piercing causing keloids?

Body piercing is done by various societies with various purposes, including aesthetic, sexual pleasure, and religious relation. Among some types of piercing, ear piercing is the most common treatment. This includes the regular ear piercing performed when you are an infant or toddler. However, some people report that their ear piercing has been causing keloids on their ear or earlobes, even eyebrows. Is it so?

Keloids—the excessed swollen skin which usually blackens as a result of collagen over production during body wound healing process can happen on any kinds of body skin. Skin darkness and genetic factors are believed to be the inducing agents. This issue is widely connected to ear piercing. Some people with darker skin and family member experiencing keloid are most likely to report their keloids occurring after they get their ears pierces. Keloids can possibly happen when you are wearing loose earrings after piercing procedure. Piercing wound can also result in keloid, as our ears are still producing collagen to heal the wound. This excessive collagen production will produce keloids. Keloids occurring after piercing procedure can occur in ear and earlobe. The reason for this is genetic and age.

How to minimize the risk of having keloids after get an ear pierced?

You should concern about various things before and after having your ears pierced, because you might be bothered by keloids attack. To avoid this, you have to know some things related to ear piercing to minimize keloids occurrence.

1. If you have the history of keloids, or have the circumstances to be susceptible for keloids, avoid piercings on your older age. Keloids are more likely to occur after piercing if you are more than 12 years old.
2. Wear press earrings after getting your ears pierced. Loose ones will leave the space and can move inside the cartilage and can cause bumps. Butterfly-backed earrings are also to be avoided.
3. Use needle to pierce, instead of piercing gun, because it jam your cartilage directly with jewelry and might cause bumps.
4. Move your hands away from pierced areas. Bumping your pierced area will possibly induce some bumps.