Playing Basketball With Earrings Tips To Stay Safe

Surprisingly when I was in highschool piercings seemed much more popular, then they are now especially for males. I had both my ears pierced during the basketball season and one of my piercings was new. I remember that we had a basketball tournament and I had to take out both piercings for the games first thing in the morning. I forgot to put the earrings back in between games. By the time I remembered it was evening, my ear had already started to close.

We were not allowed to tape our earrings during the basketball tournament but during the regular season, we were. The tournament and regular season were in different districts in the city, which of course had different rules they abided by.

In the NBA and College levels, under no circumstances can you wear any kind of jewelry and for good reason. These players are contracted for millions of dollars and if anything were to happen someone would be getting sued, so why take a chance.

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The Safety Problem With Pierced Ears?

Having just got your ears pierced poses some problems while playing basketball and creates safety concerns on the court. Even if you tape the earring there are concerns, many times in basketball you can take a blow to the ear by accident by another player resulting in the earrings post being driven it to the back of the skin where the head and neck area is. Even with tape, there’s still a possibility that it goes through the tape and skin.

Secondly on searching for more information about the possibility of earring ripping off the ear in a basketball game and splitting the ear. I wasn’t surprised to see videos and stories of this happening. Some might argue well it wasn’t taped. I say why take a chance.

Are players Allowed To Use Tape To Cover Jewelry?

There are so many variables to this rule, it will depend on the league the level and the rules. Basically, in any circumstance, I would always err on the side of caution and flat out just take out the piercings. Now if they are brand new I can understand that a player would want to tape them. Furthermore, you may want to hold off on piercings until maybe there is a time frame in the year where you’re not playing a lot of basketball and get them pierced during that time to allow more time for healing. Then you won’t have to worry about your earrings closing or if the rules don’t allow you to tape them.

Keep in mind tape can fall off while you are playing basketball, due to sweating. That will get annoying every time you have to keep putting tape on. Now if it happens during the game and the referee notices you will probably be subbed off. Sometimes even a technical foul may be awarded to the other team for jewelry being exposed.

Piercing Pains

Having pierced ears poses serious risks when a person plays sports. A blow to the ears or face, even a light one can drive the ear posts into the skin on the head and neck behind the ears, causing serious injuries. Tugging, pulling, and running can pull studs out of the earlobes and rip the surrounding skin, according to pediatrician William Sears. This injury is extremely painful and can leave permanent scars.

Can I take my newly pierced earrings out for an hour?

So you just got your ears pierced a couple days or weeks ago and your wondering if you can take out your earrings for a basketball game for an hour. It will be completely ok to take them out as long as you have been rotating the earring in your ear and taking care of the ear with the proper solution. There should not be a problem with the peircing closing within an hour. By the time your basketball game is done you should immediately put the earring back in as the closing process will start as soon as you take it out. Your biggest challenge is to not forget to put the earring back in especially when its new and not something your use to. But in general you should be good. you also want to clean the ear with soluton from sweat and grime that may get int the piercing hole.

Infection Issues

Newly-pierced ears are highly susceptible to infections because the body treats the piercing as an open wound, according to Sears. Sports expose the ears to more pathogens because of the close physical contact and increased likelihood of falling. Exposure to dirt, sweat, and other substances during sports may cause newly pierced ears to become infected. Once the holes have fully healed, the ears are less likely to become infected, but you should avoid wearing earrings during sports.

When Should I pierce My Ears?

You sould try to avoid piercing any part of your body during the basketball season or any sport season to avoid accidents and infections. Wait till the off season and give yourself the neccessary time for your newly peirced ear or body part to heal. Not all peircings are the same.

For newly peirced earings give yourself 4 to 6 weeks for the peircing to heal. For all other peircing it can depend, contact a health care provider. The worse thing you can do is prolong the healing process and cause the hole in your ear to re-open which would result in more time to heal and may have youhaving to start the process all over again.

Possible Infections

The body treats a newly peirced ear as an open wound, If your playing basketball sweating, falling to the ground or your playing outside your hands are dirty and your touching your ears you can cause an infection to the ear. Another reason why you should avoid wearing earrings during basketball. The earring itself can trap dirt between the skin and the earring.

What happens if I take my piercing out early?

The issue isn’t taking out earrings early for a couple of hours, the problem is remembering to put them back in and not forgetting. Yes, the hole can start to heal back up but you have sometime before it completely closes.

Caring for your Ears?

Some of the safest metals that help with the healing process and avoid infections is gold and titanium. This will prevent allergic reactions. I can not wear anything that isnt real silver or gold as I get a rash if I do and its always been like that for me.

How to Care for Your Piercings.

The safest metals for ear piercings are generally gold and titanium, which are unlikely to provoke allergic reactions or infections. It can take four to six weeks after piercing, for the ear to heal completely, so you want to begin removing earrings and cleaning the posts with alcohol or saline solution daily after that. If you have swollen or inflamed ears, consult your doctor and avoid wearing earrings until the inflammation goes away.

The following information is courtesy of  earpiercingstypes.com and is a great guide on how to take care of earrings especially during the basketball season if you do happen to get a piercing and couldn’t wait till the offseason.

What do I Need For Newly Pierced Ear Care?

Piercing located in the ears can be prone to injury by your hair, clothing, and occasional touches. Therefore, ear-piercing care should consist of two stages: washing and sealing. For a complete treatment you will need three things:

1. Saline
2. Antiseptics (Miramistin preferably, a cheaper alternative is Chlorhexidine)
3. Plaster (Adhesive dressing: Cosmopore, Micropore and Transpore)

HOW TO TAKE CARE OF PIERCED EARS?

DAYS 0-7:

A fresh piercing puncture should be rinsed 3-4 times a day. Use the saline bath to clean newly pierced ears from dried blood, dead cells, secretions, and other dirt outside.

HOW TO CLEAN NEWLY PIERCED EARS

To clean newly pierced ears:

1. heat the saline up to body temperature;
2. fill up a small clean container;
3. immerse a pierced body part with jewelry into it;

Within a few minutes, the saline solution will do the job, soak the crust, and all you have to do is gently remove excess with a cotton swab (Tip: Do not peel it off with your nail and do not rotate the piercing).

Remember to rinse the piercing puncture spot with clean (preferably boiled)water to be sure that it has no salt left after the saline bath.

HOW TO SEAL NEWLY PIERCED EARS

Now you can seal newly pierced ears:

1. put a gauze pad on the puncture spot;
2. secure it with a plaster or an adhesive dressing;

and go take care of your daily stuff. (Tip: Don’t place the plaster directly upon the piercing, because then it will be very unpleasant and traumatic to remove it.)

These procedures can be carried with your newly pierced ears out 2 times a day – morning and evening, and the rest of the time just use antiseptic. Since the dirt or dust can easily get into a piercing puncture, you should apply a gauze saturated with antiseptic after any contact for at least a couple of minutes (after sleeping, walking, sweating and just someone’s touch).

Swelling may appear at the piercing puncture spot in the early days. Do not be afraid, this is completely normal. However, if within a week the swelling does not disappear, it is necessary to call your piercing master and listen to his recommendations.

DAYS 8-14:

The piercing puncture should no longer be sore and deliver any inconvenience, but it is still too early to relax. We need to continue to do the bath 1-2 times a day and still need to use antiseptic, but begin to apply less seal, in order not to earn any irritation from the seal glue. You can already walk around the house without a plaster, but with clean hair and clean clothes. Seal up just before going out and bedtime. (Tip: At this time you may use contact lens solution to clean your piercings)

DAYS 15-30:

To avoid the piercing puncture overdrying it is necessary to reduce the number of bathes up to 1 time a day and use an antiseptic only when needed.

DAY 31 AND BEYOND:

Now, if you carefully followed our instructions for your newly pierced ears and successfully passed primary healing, the swelling’s gone down, and the puncture is not a excrete lymph. You still need to continue to do preventive baths with saline a few times a week, but it is desirable to replace the primary piercing with the final short one so you don’t accidentally hook it. Certainly, it is better not to do it yourself and not be lazy to walk to your piercing master, where he will replace it with the help of special tools that will eliminate the possibility of injury.

WHAT TO AVOID DURING NEW EAR PIERCING HEALING TIME:

• Do not touch the puncture. The less you disturb the wound the faster it heals.
• Do not rotate and especially not to remove the decoration.
• Do not use peroxide, alcohol, or any other aggressive substances. Don’t use ointments, because of the very pleasant consistency for bacteria.
• When visiting a bath, swimming pools, sauna, and solarium it is necessary to seal the puncture spot with plaster or an adhesive dressing.
• Avoid getting cosmetics and perfumery into the puncture.
• Don’t drink (or at least minimize the use of) alcohol, smoking, and taking aspirin. All of this dilates blood vessels and increases the bleeding, thereby prolonging the healing.
• Remember that the puncture is not healed with a miracle cure, but your body. It is therefore desirable to well ensure the hygiene (wash clothes, bed linens, wash and brush your teeth) and to support the immune system at a decent level (take a combination of vitamins and minerals, good sleep, drink plenty of pure water and exercise).

This next paragraph was a forum post, that was posted by a coach in frustration to the rule of pierced ears. I do agree a lot in part of what the post says. I always wondered even if its summer league and a girl had a nose ring I’m sure the referee would make the player take it out. Would they not? And if so what’s the difference.

FORUM POST..

For the lawyers and wanna be lawyers on this forum: Can you point me to a specific legal case where an official has been held liable or sued for negligence because he allowed a girl to play while wearing earrings and someone was injured and blamed the official?

I have been told, clearly and unequivacoally, not to allow girls (and boys) to play while wearing earrings, even if they put tape over the earrings. It has always been an easy call for me — until this weekend.

Girls varsity level …end of summer tournament hosted by a local college. The tournament director is the college basketball coach. I am U1 (2-man crew) and before the opening tap, I see one player with tape on one ear lobe. She tells me it is covering an earring. I then see a small stud earring in the other ear that is not taped (this one is not on the ear lobe.) I tell her that she cannot play with earrings — taped or not. I also told her that as a varsity player, she should know that she cannot play with earrings. The head coach is a dad…since Massachusetts does not allow varsity coaches to coach in the off-season. I tell him the situation and he has no problem with the ruling. The girl declines to remove the earrings (I did not tell her to do that…I only told her that she could not play with them.)

We get a substitute for the player and a couple of minutes later the tournament director approaches me. She said that this is an “informal summer tournament” and I should not be so rigid about the rule. I tell her…in clear, unambiguous words…that this rule is a safety and liability issue. She said that she will allow the player to participate if the earrings are taped and she will accept liability. I tell her that I want a written waiver and from her and the girl’s parent and she agrees.

The player later enters the game, with both earrings taped. The game proceeds without incident and I have not heard from any lawyers yet. That night I get a call from the tournament assignor, who officiated several games. He said he had an “earring incident” in one of his late games (girl playing with tape over earrings; not discovered until very late in game; he tells girl she cannot play with earring; girl, coach and parents say she has played all day like that and no other official said anything.)

Now…when I told the girl in my game that she could not participate, my partner said, out loud, that it was fine as long as they were taped. I pulled him aside and told him “absolutely not. We are not going to waive this rule.” He had the same attitude as the tournament director: “It is only summer ball. It is no big deal. Let’s get the game going.” To be fair, after I spoke with him later and after he thought about it, he changed his mind. He said he is an “old timer” who doesn’t worry about these things, but upon reflection, he agreed that I was correct in insisting that she not play with the earrings.

When I described this to another official today, he said, “Tape them. Let’s play. It’s only summer.”

So…back to my original query. If it is a summer tournament…not played under any the sanction of the MIAA or any other formal organization (but using NFHS rules), can the tournament director decree “taped earrings are OK”? Should I insist on a written waiver in advance? Am I being ridiculously overcautious? And lastly…what is with these girl athletes? Why don’t they just leave the earrings at home or in the car before a game…any game.

Children and adults with pierced ears must take special precautions while playing sports. Especially in the first months after piercing, the ears are susceptible to damage and infection. Pediatrician William Sears, MD advises that parents should not pierce their children’s ears until the child is able to competently care for her ears herself. Adults with pierced ears must also be careful to avoid serious injuries.

Can NFL players wear Earrings during games?

NFL players can and do wear earrings during games in fact some players do wear jewllery during their footbal games. I guess the NFL has not banned it as there hasnt been any severe issues with mishaps on the field.

Further Readings:

• Can You Play Basketball After Getting A Tatoo? Do’s & Dont’s
• 10 Must Have Basketball Accessories
• Is Basketball Safe To Play While Pregnant?