“So I really want to get some cool ear piercings- but I have to wear headphones/ear buds/headsets! What can I do!” As piercers, we hear this all the time, and todays blog post is for you! It’s all about finding ways to manage needing headphones or earbuds for work or school or life, and also being able to get and wear your piercings comfortably and safely!
Placement Considerations
First up is placements. There are piercings that will be mostly out of the way of headphones and earbuds that are a super great choice, and there are others that will be more impacted. Things along the outer area of the ear- lobes, helixes, and forward helixes are often not impacted by ear buds, but can experience pressure from headsets. Things like rooks, daiths, and conches, depending on your earbuds, will be impacted, but may be ok with a larger pair of over ear headphones. And tragus piercings are obviously the most effected by earbuds and headsets as they press directly on the back or front of them.
Anti tragus and snug piercings fall into a grey area, as the both often sit slightly away from earbuds but they are both very fragile piercings that can be challenges to heal- so avoiding any headphones or earbuds for the entire time will be essential with those piercings. Industrials likewise will require avoiding over ear headphones- these piercings are just too fragile while healing to deal with it!
While Healing
While piercings are healing you do need to be more careful with anything that goes near them. I suggest with earbuds to only wear a single side, ie if you are healing a conch and a tragus on your left ear, only use your right earbud until they are fully healed. With over the head headphones, you can set the headpiece a little looser and slide one side off the ear with healing piercings. For example if you are healing a conch and a Tragus on your right ear, you can wear the left side of the headset over the left ear, and wear the right side slightly behind or in front of your right ear so it’s not putting pressure on the piercing.
If its impossible to only wear one earbud or adjust your headset, you’ll want to stick with piercings that won’t be impacted by wearing these things. Bringing your preferred headphones or earbuds to your appointment is a great idea so your piercer can see how everything fits and sits, and ensure that they place your piercings accordingly.
Once Healed
Once your piercings have healed, its time to enjoy things the way you did before! You can safely wear headphones and earbuds as usual! It may take some experimenting to find ways and jewelry styles that work with them, but it is possible! For things like conch and tragus piercings, ensure they are downsized properly. Having extra length on the bar can cause the bar to press in on earbuds and make them not stay in well. So making sure jewelry is a perfect fit makes wearing earbuds much easier. The same goes for over ear headphones and helix piercings. With daiths, once healed, going with slight smaller jewelry is usually enough. For some folks a piece with a larger wearable you can rotate up and away from the ear canal when wearing earbuds also really helps.
With ear buds, going with smaller or larger tips for the ends may also help. The earbud piece that fit perfect without piercings may now be too small or large, so don’t hesitate to play around with the side of the ear inserts to find one that works for you. Most companies offer different size and shape inserts and ends for ear buds so you can experiment to find what works best for you.
Many clients also find the athletic attachments for AirPods or the runners earbuds work very well with piercings, as they have an extra loop that goes around to the back of the ear to hold things in place. This also takes some of the pressure off of piercings like daith, conch, and tragus piercings. They make these as attachments for your standard bluetooth earbuds or you can get full set of runners earbuds.
Many ear piercings are absolutely compatible with wearing earbuds as long as you are willing to be patient while things are healing, and get a little creative once they are healed. Enjoy your piercings, and your music!