My daughter (5 YO) got her ears pierced last Feb. They've been fine up until a couple of months ago. Now she complains about them "hurting." She takes them out at school a couple of times a week (so we've lost a bunch). I'm thinking she may have a nickel sensitivity. I developed one when I was a kid after wearing earrings for a while. Back then, my mom ordered my earrings from a catalogue that specialized in allergies to certain metals. Does anyone have suggestions where to get kid's earrings that are nickel free? I want them to still be cute and fun. Also, do your daughters sleep in their earrings? I'm wondering if leaving them out overnight will allow her holes to heal some. I do tend to put neosporin on the posts when I put them in her ears and that helps some (I still have to do that to myself occassionally). Any ideas to help her be able to wear earrings without irritation would be great!
My ears are sensitive too and I can only wear silver (I don't really wear earrings anymore anyway and I think they might even be closed now). But, when I did wear earings I would just buy regular earrings, the ones ones with the little loop and I would replace the loop part with silver ones bought from a jewelry supply place.
When I was a teen and young adult, most earrings made my ears burn and hurt and if I kept trying they would ooze. Then one day, a friend had me try Simply Whispers. They were a life saver and for many, many years that is all I wore. Yes, 24k gold would work, but the cost was prohibitive for a young mom with tots. I wouldn't want to spend that on my young daughters either. The Simply Whispers have super cute earrings in all styles and are very reasonably priced. http://www.simplywhispers.com/
I can't wear sterling silver...only pure gold!
Titanium works well.
gold or sterling silver should be good. I have to wear good quality earrings or I'll react to them, too. I hate that they're more expensive, but if they cure the problem and don't hurt, she won't be taking them out at school, and you won't have to be replacing them. In fact, I just leave mine in all the time and only change them when we're doing something special like a rare date night! hth
I am also dealing with this with my 9 year old. Our pediatrician just gave me this suggestions yesterday. 1) Try surgical steel, if the problem doesn't clear up within a couple days she may just be sensitive to everything, but you don't have to give up just yet! 2) Get earrings that are higher grade metals - titanium, 18k gold, sterling silver, and the surgical steel - then change her earrings every day rotating from one type of metal to another. Make sure her ears are getting cleaned every day and that earrings are always cleaned before use. She said that she used this process on her own daughter and it took at least 6 months before her daughter's ears were completely healed (no more redness or seeping), but she still can't wear the same pair of earrings for days at a time.
Also, on another note, I have extremely sensitive skin and neosporin is the worst product I could use. I was using it on a simple cut and the area around it turned red and inflamed, the cut started seeping this clear fluid, and it itched like mad! My doctor told me that there wasn't an infection, but that most people with sensitive skin can't handle antibiotic creams that have more than one antibiotic in them (like neosporin). The solution is to use something that bacitracin, or bactroban - anything that only has one antibiotic in it. For some reason the combined antibiotics can be to harsh and irritate the skin enough that it simulates infection. I just thought that information might be useful!
I'd love to hear what you find to actually work for your daughter!
I can't wear gold, and have very sensitive skin. I've had great luck with sterling silver.
My daughters has had hers since she was 3 months old. She sleeps with them and no infection so far (she is 2 now).
What I do know is that 24k gold is the best option for sensitive ears.
I only wear 1 pair of earrings...and they are nickel free. We found them at Kohls.
My grand daughter has the same sensitivity and after washing her ears at least 3 times a week in alcohol to get her over the hurting from other type earrings, we found we have to use nickel free earrings from Kohls for her, too.
We miss out on the cute earrings and styles out there, but we also don't hurt anymore.
I get my daughter's earrings at Claires, they have a decent selection of fun earrings there, plus almost all of their earrings are sterling silver. I get the continuous loop earrings for nighttime, they seem to bother a LOT less than the traditional post style ones.
You might try stainless steel if silver and gold don't work. The problem with Stainless is it is usually used for body piercings and such, so has a specific look to most of the styles. You might be able to find small studs though. I did see some briefly when I checked out the simply whispers website another poster suggested. Maybe you can call and describe what you are looking for for you daughter and they can help with suggtestions. I purchased a set of traditional studs from QVC that are stainless steel and my ears are the least sensitive to them. The problem is they are heavy so in the set I only wear the smallest size or gravity tends to pull them down turning my earlobe. Another thought! I've seen stainless steel at Walmart before. You might check there too.
