When fashion becomes a health hazard

While it seems trendy for women to wear earrings, it’s important to think of the health risks involved. With the kind of metal used to make earrings, some of these fashion statements might be disastrous!

Wednesday, September 04, 2013

While it seems trendy for women to wear earrings, it’s important to think of the health risks involved. With the kind of metal used to make earrings, some of these fashion statements might be disastrous!

Wikipedia defines an earring as a piece of jewelry attached to the ear via a piercing in the earlobe or another external part of the ear. Earrings are worn by both sexes, although more common among women, and have been used by different civilisations in different times.

In the recent times, if one is not careful with the kind of earrings they wear, they may end up festering a kind of scar tissue forming around the pieced area on the ear as a result of the nature of earrings or improper hygienic procedures. Besides minor infections, one could get allergic reactions to the jewellery because of the metal. 

An article by Nicole Michelle on livestrong.com, "How Long Do You Keep Your Earrings in After Getting Your Ears Pierced?” shows that getting your ears pierced can be a fun and exciting endeavour. However, it recommends doing some research before the piercings bring complications. It is important to do research on where you get your ears pierced as well as how to care for your new piercing to help speed up the healing process.

Experts have also showed that it’s important to avoid frequently wearing very heavy earrings. 

According to online website readersdigest.com big earrings can cause big problems. The website states that big earrings may be an important fashion accessory but experts warn that they’re not the best for our earlobes. 

On the same website, Peter Callan, President of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons, says earlobe operations at his practice in Geelong, Victoria, have risen from three a year to at least 20, the highest in his career. 

He further says that torn earlobes are easily repaired by surgery, but to avoid the problem in the first place, women should avoid wearing heavy earrings for lengthy periods.