Perfect plated platinum 925 sterling silver heart-shaped stud earrings HFZJ07

$46.08

Plated platinum 925 sterling silver heart-shaped zircon stud earrings HFZJ06

$46.08

Plated platinum 925 sterling silver starfish-shaped stud earrings HFZJ05

$46.08

Plated platinum 925 sterling silver tear drop-shape cat's eye dangle earrings HFZJ04

$46.08

925 Sterling Silver cherub-shaped stud earrings HFZJ03

$46.08

White gold plated 925 sterling silver heart-shaped stud earrings for women HFZJ02

$46.08

White gold plated 925 sterling silver heart-shaped zircon-studded earrings HFZJ01

$46.08

 An earring is a piece of jewellery attached to the ear via a piercing in the earlobe or another external part of the ear (except in the case of clip earrings, which clip onto the lobe). Earrings are worn by both sexes, although more common among women, and have been used by different civilizations in different times.

Common locations for piercings, other than the earlobe, include the rook, tragus, and across the helix (see image at right).The simple term "ear piercing" usually refers to an earlobe piercing, whereas piercings in the upper part of the external ear are often referred to as "cartilagepiercings". Cartilage piercings are more complex to perform than earlobe piercings and take longer to heal.

Types of earrings

• Huggy earrings - Huggies are a popular style of earring where the setting actually 'hugs' your earlobe. These can come in different shapes and sizes, from hearts to rectangles. Many custom jewelers make huggy earrings because of the many varieties of setting that can be used to make a good template for their craft. Most times, stones are channel set in huggy earrings.

• Slave earrings - The slave earring is also called a "Bajoran earring", which became highly popular after it appeared on Star Trek.

• Ear Thread - Or Earthreader, Ear String, Threader, a chain that is thin enough to slip into the ear hole, and come back out, dangles. Sometimes, people add beads or other materials on to the chain, so the chain dangles with beads below the ear.

• Ear Spikes - A type of plastic stick 1 mm in diameter and 1.5 cm long that goes into the ear piercing. It does not fall out because it is slightly bigger than the piercing. It is quite popular amongst teenage and preteen girls in Hong Kong, as most schools do not even allow stud earrings.

Health risks

The health risks with conventional earlobe piercing are common but tend to be minor, particularly if proper technique and hygienic procedures are followed. One study found that up to 35% of persons with pierced ears had one or more complications, including minor infection (77% of pierced ear sites with complications), allergic reaction (43%), keloids (2.5%), and traumatic tearing (2.5%). Pierced ears are a significant risk factor for contact allergies to the nickel in jewelry.Earlobe tearing, during the healing period or after healing is complete, can be minimized by not wearing earrings, especially wire-based dangle earrings, during activities in which they are likely to become snagged, such as while playing sports. Also, larger gauge jewellery will lessen the chance of the earring being torn out.

With cartilage piercing, the blunt force of an ear piercing instrument will traumatize the cartilage, and therefore make healing more difficult. Also, because there is substantially less blood flow in ear cartilage than in the earlobe, infection is a much more serious issue. There have been several documented cases of severe infections of the upper ear following piercing with an ear piercing instrument, which required courses of antibiotics to clear up. There are many ways that an infection can occur: the most common way is when the person that got pierced decides to take out the piercing too early. According to the A.M.A,^[11] the proper waiting period to change or take out a piercing with substantially less risk of infection would be three weeks.

For all ear piercings, the use of a sterilized hollow piercing needle tends to minimize the trauma to the tissue and minimize the chances of contracting a bacterial infection during the procedure. As with any invasive procedure, there is always a risk of infection from blood borne pathogens such as hepatitis and HIV. However, modern piercing techniques make this risk extremely small (the risk being greater to the piercer than to the pierced due to the potential splash-back of blood). There has never been a documented case of HIV transmission due to ear/body piercing or tattooing, although there have been instances of the Hepatitis B virus being transmitted through these practices.