We all know the drill- you get a brand new piercing you've been excited about getting for months, only to realize once you get home that you can no longer sleep on your favorite side! 😱
You may begin to question this whole 'piercing' thing.
You may be frustrated at your new adornment.
Or.. you may know that you can use a travel pillow and still be able to sleep comfortably with your ear in the center 🖤
Whichever of these fits you- you may still wonder if there is ANY piercing that you can actually sleep on!
The short answer to this is yes, and no. Let's dive into a few more details in order to better understand this answer!
When you are pierced initially, your piercer uses a piece of jewelry that has extra room- length if is a labret or barbell, or diameter if its a horseshoe or a hoop- in order to allow the fresh piercing the freedom to swell and allows the piercing to breathe while healing. While you have this long jewelry in there, you definitely should NOT sleep on your piercing as it will cause the jewelry to lay at an angle and put tension on the piercing. This tension can cause hypertrophic scarring, or the dreaded piercing bump. If done long term, your piercing can even heal at an angle, causing it not to sit straight in your ear even when it is healed! Nobody wants a lopsided piercing.
Your piercer should downsize your jewelry as your piercing heals. By the time it is fully healed, for any piercing with a labret there should barely be any excess room on either side- the jewelry should fit snugly. At this point, you *could* sleep on the piercing as the jewelry is not long enough to cause any tension on the piercing site! Please note that it does take at least one year for most piercings to heal to this point. Piercings heal from the outside to the inside, so it may appear healed but the inside is still not fully healed!
But for any piercings that flare up or cause issues periodically, you should continue to avoid sleeping on the piercing!
With that being said certain piercings such as daith piercings are far enough on the inside of the ear that you could possibly sleep on it from day one with no issue, but this does depend on your ear anatomy!
I hope this clears up a little of the confusion! It is not a sin to sleep on your piercings, just make sure you take precautions and only do so when it will not put tension on the piercing 😊
Until Next Week,
Kourtney 🖤
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