All about Ear Weights
Ear weights look so cool, don’t they? But when it comes down to weights there’s a lot more to know than you might think. Not knowing what’s a misconception and what is a fact may lead you down the road of blood loss to your ear lobe, awkward and uneven stretching and even shrinking your ear altogether! Keep reading to avoid wearing ear weights the wrong way!
And if videos are more your style, be sure to check out our video on the topic for another easy guide to wearing ear weights below.
They are Not a Stretching Tool!
A common misconception about ear weights is that they’re made for stretching your ears. All ear weights are is another accessory for your ear. If you’re looking to stretch your ears you’re better off using plugs or tunnels.
The way ear weights work in terms of stretching, is that they will only stretch the skin on the very bottom of your ear lobe.
When stretching your ear you would want to avoid this. Stretching the entire diameter of the ear is super important because otherwise this may lead to breakages when the skin begins to thin and even scarier loss of blood flow which may lead to the skin dying off.
Rotation is Key
We’re not trying to scare you away from wearing ear weights. We love them! They look amazing in stretched piercings, but it’s important to rotate them out during the week in order to help retain the structure and existing size of your currently stretched ears. Otherwise, when wearing ear weights that aren’t so heavy that they begin to stretch the very bottom of your ear skin, they will begin to do the opposite. Your ears will shrink as the size is not being constantly held open.
Stick to Professional Ear Weights!
Wearing heavy objects that were not made to be used as ear weights or plugs in your ears is just plain dangerous. We do not condone wearing objects like locks in your ears!
Real ear weights come in a range of styles.
Here are just a few of them:
Hoop weights – that look like an opulent circular bar bell but with more weight that sit through the stretched opening.
Coil Weights – are similar to hoop weights but rather than a simple opening at the bottom, continue around to create a coil shape.
Shield Weights – look similar to plugs but slide over the bottom edge of the stretched ear in order to sit on the lower edge.
Keyhole weights – are very common. The opening looks like a keyhole in which the stretched ear slides through the thinner opening and sits at the larger circular area center of the design.
Ear Weights are Occasional Party Wear
When shopping for ear weights you might find that they’re most commonly made out of materials like brass and silver, materials that you we would never recommend for new piercings or regular wear for plugs or otherwise, because they aren’t supposed to be worn all day, every day. They are occasional wear for things like events or to change out during the day for a particular look, rather than the kind of jewelry that you sleep in or wear in a freshly stretched ear.
Disclaimer
Before investing is new piercing jewelry, make sure you speak to professional piercer first in order to understand whether they are suitable for your piercing. This is especially important when it comes to choosing the weight for ear weights else it may mess up the size of your stretched ears.