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How To Sleep With Earrings

How To Sleep With Earrings

Sleeping comfortably every night is our main goal once we got home from a tiring day at school or work. Therefore, we do not want any small or slightest distraction, such as an earring that is piercing to our cheeks can interrupt our sleep.

That is why some people opt to remove their earrings every day, but I know it is impossible to do that due to the possibility of losing them. However, if you wish not to remove them, here are the ways on how to sleep with earrings comfortably.

To sleep with earrings properly and comfortably, first, you need to sleep in the appropriate sleeping position, preferably lying on your back. And then, look for a pillow, specifically an ear hole pillow, so that it will not cause pain and irritation if you have accidentally slept sideways.

Some people experienced ears inflamed, reddened, or worst irritated while wearing earrings on their sleep.

That is why it is very crucial to know the tips on how to handle this kind of day-to-day situation every night to avoid ear irritation. Hence, you can see below are the steps on how to sleep with earrings comfortably at night.

How to sleep with earrings comfortably at night

Just follow this simple step-by-step guide, and you will be able to sleep with earrings comfortably either every night or in circumstances where you are not able to remove them.

Step 1: Use earring clasps

The type of earring fastener you wear will affect the way you sleep at night. This includes your sleeping position, especially if you are a side sleeper since one side of your ear will be affected.

Some people prefer wearing post earrings, and the best kind of post earrings are made from clear and soft silicone, which cannot be seen by the naked eye, yet they help your earrings secured from falling off and sticking into your face or in your pillow while sleeping.

Here are the best earring backs you can find on Amazon, characterized as clear and soft silicone.

Universal EZback Earring Backs

Universal EZback Earring Backs

On the other hand, you can also choose screw earrings as an alternative option. Thanks to their screw-shaped pointed end, which can also prevent the earring from sticking to your hair, face, and to your pillow, unlike the traditional butterfly type of back earrings.

Moreover, this type of earrings has a unique mechanism wherein the flat back portion lies against your ear and then screws into the earring to make it secured.

Lastly, another type of earring that you must also be cautious with is the hook earring. When you are sleeping with this type of earring, you must use silicon post earring so that your neck is protected from the sharp and painful hook that can irritate and dig on your skin.

Furthermore, since this type of earring can be lost easily, using a silicon stopper comes in handy for securing and keeping the hook earring in place.

Step 2: Look for the right kind of pillow

When you choose to sleep with earrings, there are certain adjustments you must consider in able to get a good sleep.

Well, Amazon has a special pillow that is designed to make you comfortable even though you are wearing your earrings at night, and this is called an earhole pillow:

Pillow with a Hole

Pillow with a Hole

Using an earhole pillow can reduce the amount of pressure applied on your ear if ever you are a side sleeper since it has a small hole that can keep your ear safe and secured at all times.

As an alternative, you may also want to purchase a U-shaped Pillow, as this can help you feel comfortable sleeping on your back and can relieve pressure on your ears while you sleep at night:

Pillow -U-Shape

Pillow -U-Shape

Step 3: Choose the right sleeping position

If you are sleeping with earrings on, of course, sleeping on your side and lying on your stomach are the sleeping positions you should stop doing as these positions can put much pressure on your ear.

Hence, the best and the safest sleeping position you can do is through lying on your back; however, a lot of people are not used in this kind of sleeping position; therefore, here are some steps to master this position.

Let us break it down into three simple tips.

Tip 1: Give yourself enough time

Practicing this new habit, if you are not used to this kind of sleeping position, will take months to learn; therefore, you must give yourself enough time to get used to it. Never give up!

Tip 2: Use pillows as support

Placing several pillows around you can help you prevent from turning sideways when you are sleeping on the back position. However, make sure to bend your knees slightly as this can help you sleep comfortably while providing great support for your back.

Tip 3: Practice appropriate arm placement

Make sure when you sleep, your arms are placed in these three positions:

  • Your arms are tucked underneath your pillow
  • Your arms are lying on top of your pillow
  • Your arms are placed on your side

In this simple way, it can help you maintain your back position throughout the night. As I said a while ago, this sleeping position takes time to get used to it; however, by knowing these things can be beneficial than just sleeping with your earrings on.

Step 4: Keep your hair tied

Make sure to tie your hair while you sleep so that your earrings will not be tangled on your hair.

This is because when we sleep, we often toss and turn our hair, which can cause our hair to move in different directions. Once this happened, your earrings can be tangled with your hair that may cause it to damage and irritate your ear lobes.

Therefore, to avoid this incident from happening, it is recommended to tie your hair back loosely, or if you don't want to wake up with a ponytail dent in the morning, you can cover your hair with a satin scarf as an alternative:

Alnorm Long Satin Bonnet Sleep Cap

Alnorm Long Satin Bonnet Sleep Cap

Step 5: Use sleeper earrings

Sleeper earrings are a perfect choice for earrings to sleep since they come in a circular shape that you just need to snap the clip together for them to secure in your ear.

365 Sleepers 2 Pcs Solid Sterling Silver

365 Sleepers 2 Pcs Solid Sterling Silver

This type of earring is usually used for those who had a new piercing and is suitable for most body piercings such as in the eyes, nose, cartilage, lip, nipple, eyebrow, and others.

However, with the invention of the stud and insertion tool, the piercing process is much quicker than the conventional style of ear piercing with the use of needles.

What most people usually do is that they pierce their ears with the stud, and then once they are healed after a couple of days, they shift to sleeper earrings because they are more comfortable to sleep with, wearing on.

Another comfortable alternative aside from sleeper earrings is the use of flatback earrings wherein this kind of earring has a completely flat back end, and this means that no sharp or pointed ends will hurt or irritate you while sleeping.

ORAZIO 18G Stainless Steel Ear Stud

ORAZIO 18G Stainless Steel Ear Stud

Well, these steps apply for sleepers who had a piercing for a long time, but how about for people who had newly pierced ears. Are there any ways or some tips to make sure they can still sleep comfortably?

Well, you may continue reading below to know these safe and helpful tips on how to sleep comfortably for sleepers with newly pierced ears.

Sleeping with a new ear piercing

earings close up

With the hyped of getting an ear piercing nowadays, we always get excited about certain things such as the location of the piercing and the style of earrings you wish to wear; thus, this makes us sometimes forget the consequences that may occur after the procedure such as the pain and the comfort when we sleep at night.

Hence, to make your ear piercing almost pain-free (though you will still feel some tingly pain), here are some tips that will surely come in handy when you handle your new ear piercing. Before that, you must know this gentle reminder about why you should not sleep on your newly-pierced ear.

  • New piercings will take some time to heal completely, but it can close within a few hours of the night; therefore, you should not sleep without your earring
  • If you are a kind of sleeper who always move around while sleeping, the piercing can be pulled and stretch during the night
  • If the piercing hole is stretched, it will become out of shape. Therefore, it will not follow the shape of the earring
  • Once this happened, the piercing will heal at a weird angle and does not look good, which can also leave scars. When this happens, changing your earrings will be difficult.
  • Do not put any pressure on your newly-pierced ear until it is completely healed. This can also help you avoid infections and ear inflammation that can happen from sleeping on your new ear piercing.

Always clean your new ear piercing before going to bed

If you clean your new piercing every night before bed and in the morning, it can greatly help in stopping infection. Just make sure to tighten your piercing before going to bed so that it will not fall off while you sleep and start to heal during the night.

Benefits:

  • It provides great lubrication thereby allowing the earring to move freely in the hole
  • It prevents the surrounding skin from drying out and becoming painful during the healing process

It is normal that cleaning your newly-pierced ear can be a bit painful and stingy. Hence, you must try this specialized spray on Amazon that is designed to clean the incision or hole:

NeilMed NeilCleanse Piercing Aftercare

NeilMed NeilCleanse Piercing Aftercare

Try not to sleep on the piercing

Easier said than done as they say, however, you must make sure not to put much pressure on the side of the ear you had pierced since this can inflame and irritate your earlobe.

Hence, you might be wondering when you can sleep on your new piercing since each has a different level of pain threshold. Well, here is my straight and direct answer to this concern:

When your new ear piercing does not cause pain when you sleep on it, that is a clear sign that you can now sleep on it. However, be mindful that it can still be painful and a little bit sensitive, especially if you always move around during the night.

Practice sleeping on the recommended sleeping position before getting your ear pierced

Side sleeper and stomach sleeper will find this difficult, especially if the best sleeping position for the type of piercing you will get is to sleep on your back. Sleeping on your back takes some time to get used to it.

Below you can see below are the best sleeping position recommended for every type of ear piercing, as well as their estimated healing time.

Type of ear piercing Recommended sleeping position Healing time
Traditional ear piercing Back 4 to 6 weeks
Inner cartilage/ Daith piercing Back 8 to 16 weeks
Ear cartilage/ Conch piercing Back 8 to 16 weeks
Upper ear cartilage/ Industrial piercing Back 3 to 12 months
Cartilage in front of the ear canal/ Tragus piercing Back 8 to 16 weeks
Cartilage upper ear/ Helix piercing Back 2 to 12 months
Ear/Sung Back 8 to 16 weeks
Other types of body piercing Recommended sleeping position Healing time
Navel piercing/ Bellybutton piercing Back 3 to 6 months
Nipple piercing Back 6 to 12 months
Pubic piercing Back 3 to 6 month
Genitalia Back 4 to 6 weeks
Soft palate/ Uvula piercing Back 2 weeks
Lip/Labret piercing Back/Side 6 to 7 weeks
Tongue pillar piercing Back/Side 8 weeks
Soul patch piercing Back/Side 3 to 6 weeks
Tongue frenulum piercing Back/Side 2 to 8 weeks
Inside lip/Lip frenulum piercing Back/Side 1 to 2 months
Nose/Septum Back/Side 6 to 8 months
Gauge piercing/Stretch (Nose/Lip/Tongue) Back/Side Varies

Finally, you have already learned some tips on how to deal with earrings while you sleep, as well as the proper care if you have a newly-pierced ear.

However, have you ever wondered if it is really okay to sleep with your earrings? Well, you can see below are the five reasons why you should rethink sleeping your earrings.

Is it okay to sleep with earrings?

In my personal experience, sleeping with your earrings is alright as long as you do not forget to clean the hole twice a week. In fact, I already developed the habit of sleeping with earrings, and once you get used to it, it feels like you are wearing nothing.

I also had an experience of NOT wearing it for a year, and guess what?

The holes in my ear did not close, and I can still wear earrings without any pain or discomfort. However, there are some things you should rethink if you will wear earrings while you sleep and they are listed below:

It can tarnish your earrings

It is no wonder why sleeping with earrings can tarnish your jewelry, especially if you are an active sleeper who always moves a lot during sleep.

If this happens, there is a greater possibility of losing the back of your earrings; that is why many people opted in using a silicone stopper to prevent this from happening.

Risk of ear infection

Frequent friction between your ear and the earrings, especially if they are unsterile, may lead to an ear infection. Hence, it is essential to clean your earrings so that it can remove dirt and bacteria that may build up between each wear.

You may want to buy this piercing solution on Amazon, which can safely clean and disinfect your piercings:

Urban ReLeaf Piercing Solution

Urban ReLeaf Piercing Solution

Hence, it is better to give your ear a break at night and consider soaking your earring in warm water to remove dirt since bacteria and dirt on tarnished earrings may also cause ear infection, later on.

Premature sagging of ear

This happens if you are wearing heavy and long earrings that can pull down and stretch the piercing, which can result in sagging. In a worst-case scenario, a severe pulled-ear may cause your ear lobe to split.

Therefore, you think those nights where you toss and turn your head, and if each time you wake up with a missing earring, that means that it was pulled out while you are sleeping.

Snag your bedsheets or in your pillowcase

Wearing studs while you sleep may not just poke your face every time you sleep, but higher chances of snagging on your pillowcase or on your blanket when you sleep while wearing your earrings.

Hence, to avoid this from happening, make sure to remove your earrings if you will be sleeping for longer hours.

Uncomfortable

While most people can sleep with earrings on, just I do; unfortunately, there are some sleepers who are not comfortable wearing studs while they sleep due to issues of stabbing and poking on their skin.

Therefore, if you do not want to wake up with all those unwanted and accidental scars from all those earring jabs, kindly remove your earrings if you are going to sleep.

P.S

There is no need to worry if you are sleeping with earrings since there is no such incidence of sudden death or your ears fall off while wearing earrings.

However, it is very important to consider the level of comfort while you sleep since this is a major key to a good night's sleep.

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Image by Анастасия Гепп from Pixabay
Image by starbright from Pixabay