How To (Safely) Remove Piercing Earrings - Byrdie

Removing your piercing jewelry for the first time is like nearing the end of a hero's journey. You've overcome the trials of piercing pain and caring for a healing wound and now you get to reap the rewards by sporting beautiful new jewelry of your choosing. But as a new piercing is essentially a healing wound, it's important to remove piercing earrings or other jewelry correctly as risking infection or causing new trauma could thwart your progress.

While you may be ready to add a bit of flair with some new bling, removing your piercing metal improperly could irritate the hole—or worse. If you're ready to change out your jewelry, read on to find out how, straight from pro piercers Eileen Cabral and Michael Johnson and board-certified dermatologist Jenny Liu, MD, FAAD.

Meet the Experts

• Jenny Liu, MD, FAAD, is a board-certified dermatologist based in Minneapolis.
• Eileen Cabral is a California-based professional piercer at Dark Rose Tattoo Parlor.
• Michael Johnson is a professional body piercer at A Wicked Sensation in Salt Lake City.

When Can You Remove Piercing Jewelry?

Before removing or changing out the jewelry you were pierced with, it's crucial to ensure your piercing is completely healed. A good rule of thumb is to wait a few weeks beyond when the piercing should be ready.

If you try to change out your jewelry before the site is ready, you could cause immense harm to the piercing. "Wait for [a] piercing to heal before doing anything else to it, as repeated trauma to healing skin can delay wound healing, lead to infection, and [cause] abnormal scarring," says Dr. Liu.

How Long Does it Take for a Piercing to Heal?

Piercing earrings have a general healing time of four to six weeks, Cabral tells us. Once that time is up, and once your piercing no longer exhibits any active signs of healing, you can safely remove the jewelry you were pierced with.

Of course, if you're unsure that your piercing is fully healed, it's best to speak to your piercer. They can give you instructions specific to the jewelry you were pierced with and let you know if it's ready to be removed. Remember, there isn't an exact time period—each person and piercing heals at its own pace. "Waiting a few months for a piercing to heal will always be better than ruining your piercing because it wasn't treated properly," says Johnson.

How to Remove Piercing Jewelry

1. The most important thing to remember is that everything needs to be clean, from your hands to the new jewelry you're inserting. To start clean, wash your hands thoroughly.
2. Then, carefully remove the jewelry according to the proper instructions. This will depend on what kind of jewelry you were pierced with. The most common type of jewelry for new ear piercings is simple studs, which are removed by pulling off the back and sliding the front forward out of the ear. However, some people prefer to be pierced with hoops. These can be removed in the same way as studs or by disconnecting a small piece of the earring from the other side and sliding it out from the ear.
3. Once the old earrings are out, Cabral says to "clean out the area with either sterile saline, wound wash, or non-iodized sea salt" to ensure the piercing site is clean for the new jewelry.
4. Finally, ensure the new earrings are sterile, rewash your hands, and insert the new metal into the now-empty hole.

Possible Side Effects of Removing Piercing Jewelry Incorrectly

Even if your piercing is fully healed, and even if you follow your piercer's instructions to the last detail, anything that's dirty could wind up getting bacteria in the hole—which could jeopardize the health of the piercing. Indeed, Johnson notes that most infections he sees are "caused by early jewelry switching and doing so in an unclean environment."

If you attempt to remove the jewelry without knowing what you're doing, it's possible you could cause more harm to the piercing and your skin. That's why it's so important to wait and remove the piercing when it's fully healed and you're certain you know how to remove it properly.

Aftercare

Once you remove the piercing earrings, it's important to still maintain the health and integrity of the new piercing. This is especially important if there's a chance the piercing hadn't healed completely or if putting in the new jewelry caused trauma to the already healed piercing. In this case, you'll want to follow the original protocol of cleaning the piercing to reduce the risk of infection. Similar to when the site was newly pierced, cleanse the area with any remaining saline solution or a classic soap-and-water combo. Stay away from any topical wound-care products that contain hydrogen peroxide or high concentrations of alcohol as they can cause dryness or irritation and disrupt the healing process further.

Byrdie Tip

Always make sure to wash your hands thoroughly before touching piercing sites or jewelry as failure to do so can lead to bacterial infections.

When to Seek Professional Help

If you're unsure exactly how to remove your piercing jewelry, your best bet—as with any uncertainty—is to contact your piercer. It may feel like a silly thing to ask about, but as Johnson notes, "There is no shame in asking your body piercer for assistance." You're also more than welcome to ask your piercer to change out your jewelry to save you any worry.

The Final Takeaway

Removing your jewelry for the first time after getting a new piercing is more challenging than it may sound. You want to ensure the piercing has healed fully and correctly so that you don't damage the skin. That being said, removing piercing earrings or jewelry is kind of a non-negotiable, particularly if you want to try out new looks, like gemstone studs or small, simple hoops.