Why are We Told to Twist Our Earrings? | The History of Modern Ear Piercing

Have you ever been given the advice to twist the jewelry in your piercings while it heals? Maybe you heard it from a family member or a friend, often a grandmother who gave you some pearls of wisdom “Don’t forget to twist your earring so it doesn’t get stuck to your skin!” This is some advice many of us have grown up hearing. Of course, these days many folks know that you shouldn’t spin, twist, or rotate jewelry in your fresh piercing. We understand now that this can help introduce bacteria into the piercing channel. We also know that the healing tissue of a wound is pretty fragile, and twisting jewelry can damage that healing skin and cause irritation to occur. Most of us who are getting piercings in modern times have heard from our piercers not to twist, and why.

But where does the advice to twist our earrings come from? The history is more interesting than you might expect!

These days we are used to getting our ears pierced with a piercing needle and jewelry, or for some, a piercing gun. Metal earrings are inserted into the piercings, and they are then left to heal. But this hasn’t always been the case. Traditionally, in many parts of the world, ears were pierced with a needle and thread, often silk. The silk was tied into a small loop like hoop earrings and rotated through the piercing often. Because silk and thread were porous, they could become stuck to the healing wound, so moving them regularly prevented this. After a time, metal earrings could be inserted, and the piercings would be considered healed. We have stories of this method from around the world. Often in my piercing room while explaining to clients why they don’t have to twist their earrings (since metal jewelry cannot get stuck to you) an aunt or grandmother will chime in “Yes, the thread! That’s how my ears were pierced when I was a little girl.” I’ve had clients from Pakistan, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Vietnam all express that their ears were once pierced with a needle and thread, and they wore the thread for a few weeks before they could wear proper earrings.

In fact, you don’t just have to take my word for it, we have some documentation as well!

Louisa May Alcott's novel Eight Cousins, published in 1875, mentions threading the needle with silk thread, which is then tied into loops like thread hoop earrings, to be turned through the holes often.

The First Ear-ring." Sir David Wilkie, 1835

“Rose adored pretty things, longed to wear them, and the desire of her girlish soul was to have her ears bored, only Dr. Alec thought it foolish, so she never had done it. She would gladly have given all the French she could jabber for a pair of golden bells with pearl-tipped tongues, like those Ariadne wore; and, clasping her hands, she answered, in a tone that went to the hearer's heart "They are too sweet for anything! If uncle would only let me wear some, I should be perfectly happy.”

"I wouldn't mind what he says. Papa laughed at me at first, but he likes them now, and says I shall have diamond solitaires when I am eighteen," said Ariadne, quite satisfied with her shot…

"Then do it. I'll pierce your ears, and you must wear a bit of silk in them till they are well; your curls will hide them nicely; then, some day, slip in your smallest ear-rings, and see if your uncle don't like them.”

_____________

That last word settled the matter, and, closing her eyes, Rose said "Punch!" in the tone of one giving the fatal order "Fire!"

Ariadne punched, and the victim bore it in heroic silence, though she turned pale and her eyes were full of tears of anguish.

"There! Now pull the bits of silk often, and cold-cream your ears every night, and you'll soon be ready for the rings," said Ariadne, well pleased with her job, for the girl who spoke French with "a fine accent" lay flat upon the sofa, looking as exhausted as if she had had both ears cut off. “

The advice to twist your earrings comes from the days of piercing with a needle and thread and leaving that thread in the piercing channel for initial healing. These days, however, we pierce with metal, and metal won’t get stuck to you the same way. We also have a much greater understanding of how wounds heal, and the cellular processes behind healing- which is also why we understand that twisting our earrings causes more harm than good. Still, it is an interesting piece of history to understand where that advice to twist our earrings comes from, and a fun story to share with clients when they ask!