How to Open a Partially Closed Ear Piercing Hole (And When to See a Pro)

Wearing earrings is a fun way to accessorize or transform your look, but if you don’t wear earrings often, your piercings may begin to close up. Professional help may be needed in some circumstances, but it is possible to reopen the hole at home if you sterilize your environment, work slowly, and take care to prevent pain and infection. With careful preparation and patience, you can safely reopen an earring hole and begin wearing earrings again.

How to Keep an Ear Piercing Hole Open

Leave your jewelry in to keep the hole open (especially for new piercings, which take at least 6 weeks to heal). The hole may shrink without jewelry, and newer piercings close faster than old ones. To reopen the hole, sterilize your ear and earring with rubbing alcohol and weave the post through the shrunken opening.

Section 1 of 3:

Reopening a Closed Ear Piercing Hole

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Before attempting to reopen your earring hole, soften the skin by holding a warm washcloth to your earlobe or by taking a warm shower. This makes it easier to reopen the hole.^{[1]
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Thoroughly wash your hands with warm water and antibacterial soap for 30 seconds to remove any dirt, debris, or bacteria. After you have completely rinsed and dried your hands, put on a pair of latex or rubber gloves. This helps prevent introducing bacteria into the earring hole.^{[2]
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Disinfect your earrings with rubbing alcohol. Isopropyl alcohol, commonly known as rubbing alcohol, is a strong disinfectant and kills most bacteria, fungi, and viruses living on a surface.^{[3]
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Research source} Dampen a cotton ball or a cotton swab with rubbing alcohol and wipe the posts of the earrings you’ll be wearing.^{[4]
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- If you have allergies, be sure to use a sterling silver or hypoallergenic earring to avoid an allergic reaction.^{[5]
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Use a new cotton ball or cotton swab to wipe your earlobe with the rubbing alcohol. Be sure to clean the front and the back of the lobe, and pay close attention to the opening of the earring hole. This removes any lingering bacteria or germs on the ear.^{[6]
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Lubricate your earlobe and earring with petroleum jelly. Spread a generous amount of petroleum jelly or unscented moisturizer over your earlobe and the earring post to soften the area and reduce friction. Using gloved fingers, carefully rub the lubricant onto your earlobes over the piercing hole.^{[7]
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- Be sure that you are using earrings with thin posts. Thick earring posts may not be able to fit through a slightly closed piercing hole. Forcing a thick post into the earring hole may cause pain, scarring, or bleeding to occur.
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Insert the earring gently into the piercing hole. While looking in a mirror, slowly insert the earring through the front of the piercing hole with one hand, using your other hand to grip your earlobe. Lightly press your thumb against the back of the piercing hole, and wiggle the earring post through.^{[8]
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- You may also need to wiggle the earring around for several minutes to find an appropriate angle that allows you to push through the earring hole.
- Avoid twisting and forcefully pushing the earring through. Be gentle and take your time. If the earring post doesn’t slide through with a gentle push or you feel pain, go to a professional.
If you’ve successfully reinserted the earring, be sure to wash your earlobe with warm water and antibacterial soap to prevent irritation or infection. Keep your hands away from the earlobe as the lobe heals to avoid introducing bacteria into the opening. Also, stay away from hair products and powdered make-up for several days to ensure that the area remains clean.^{[9]
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Reopening a fully closed earring hole without proper care and sterilization can lead to blood loss, infections, and nerve damage. If you experience pain or are unsuccessful in trying to reopen the piercing, do not continue. Talk to your doctor or a professional at a piercing parlor or jewelry store about safely reopening your earring hole in a licensed and sterile environment.^{[10]
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Section 2 of 3:

Caring for New & Reopened Piercing Holes

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After you have reopened your piercings, plan to keep your small earrings inserted for at least 6 weeks, even at night. If you remove the earrings earlier, the holes may begin to grow over again.^{[11]
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Clean your ears with soap and water. Establish a cleaning routine every morning or evening. Use antibacterial soap to wash your hands, and then wash your earlobes with warm water and soap once a day. This will help keep the area clean and prevent it from becoming infected.^{[12]
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- You can also help prevent scabbing by cleaning the area with rubbing alcohol twice a day. Use a cotton ball or cotton swab and apply the rubbing alcohol around each piercing.
- Avoid using harsh chemicals like hydrogen peroxide or iodine to clean your ear piercing, as these can prevent further irritation and injure the skin.^{[13]
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While it may be tempting, avoid twisting, playing with, or touching a new piercing. Keeping the jewelry in place helps a new piercing hole heal properly, and not touching it can help prevent infections.^{[14]
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Avoid swimming when you have a new piercing. Stay out of pools, hot tubs, oceans, lakes, and other bodies of water until your piercing is fully healed.^{[15]
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Section 3 of 3:

Piercing Holes: Frequently Asked Questions

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How long can a piercing hole stay open? Typically, a less-than-a-year-old piercing can close in a few days, while a piercing that’s several years old may take several weeks to close. Newer piercings can close faster than older piercings. Piercings aren’t permanent, and even when they’re healed, they have a chance of being closed.^{[16]
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- Always place your piercing back in the hole to prevent it from closing.
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How do you keep new piercings open? Avoid taking out your jewelry to keep new piercings open. Piercings can take at least 6 weeks to heal. Leave the jewelry in the piercing hole until it’s fully healed to prevent it from closing.^{[17]
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- A piercing is fully healed when there’s no longer any redness, irritation, swelling, discharge, or flaking around the piercing.
EXPERT TIP

Karissa Sanford
Body Piercing Specialist
Karissa Sanford is the Co-owner of Make Me Holey Body Piercing, a piercing studio based in the San Francisco Bay Area that specializes in safe and friendly body piercing. Karissa has over 10 years of piercing experience and is a member of the Association of Professional Piercers (APP).

Karissa Sanford
Body Piercing Specialist

Piercing holes are more likely to shrink, not close. Without jewelry in it, piercing holes tend to shrink, not close. If the hole was completely healed when you took the jewelry out, it's less likely it closed completely. You can usually find a reputable piercing shop and have a professional reopen a partially closed or shrunken hole.
Keep your earring in place to prevent the piercing hole from closing. Most piercings take around 6 weeks to heal, but it could take longer. Lean on the safe side and avoid removing the jewelry when you can. Leaving the earring alone can help speed up healing and prevent the hole from closing.^{[18]
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Community Q&A

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Question

What will happen if you just literally push the earring through without any of these steps?

Community Answer

It's best not to do that. If you force the earring through, you're risking intense pain, possible infection, crooked alignment, and permanent nasty scarring. Be gentle with your piercing, and go to a doctor or nurse for help if necessary. It's a safer and easier option than trying to force the piercing in.

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I got my earrings back in but how long do I have to wait until I can change them again?

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Wait for 2-3 weeks. The longer the better, try to be patient.

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How do I keep it so my ears don't close up?

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If it's a new piercing, keep the starter earrings in for six weeks. Then switch to other earrings, but keep them in at all times for six months. Afterwards, it should be safe to take them out. It's recommended that you wear a pair at least once a week to prevent the hole from closing up. However, for some, the holes may quickly close up if earrings aren't worn on a daily basis. If you've recently reopened your piercings, wear your earrings for a few days, and keep twisting them to keep the hole open. If you're worried that they might close up, you could also wear them to sleep. After that, it might be safe to occasionally remove them.

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If you feel discomfort or pain when trying to push your earring back in, stop immediately and seek the help of a professional.

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Tips from our Readers

The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

If you feel a bump in your ear, ask a piercing professional to check it out. It's often nothing serious, but it could be a cyst that needs to be taken care of medically.
Use the earrings that were originally used to pierce your ears, since they often have a sharper tip. Just make sure to sanitize them first with rubbing alcohol!
Go to a reputable piercer in your area and ask them for help. Most will reopen your piercing for free and help prevent any infections.

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Warnings

If you notice excessive redness, swelling, or experience pain in your earlobe, seek medical attention as these are symptoms of an infection.

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