Be careful with earrings that are too large: they can be harmful to your health.
They can cause damage, especially if worn frequently. Here’s what you need to know about maxi earrings.
According to Dana Oliver, Executive Fashion and Beauty Editor, of the online magazine The Huffington Post, giant earrings are dangerous for the wearer. An article in the American edition of the web newspaper published some time ago, reported the opinion of the plastic surgeon Edward Miranda, according to which there are three main risks caused by earrings that are too heavy:
- Mild infection that can occur, usually shortly after the initial piercing.
- Since earrings worn add weight to the earlobe through a thin strip of skin, the wear and tear from gravity will stretch the earlobe from round to oval. In the long run, the lobe can even break and split in two.
- Large earrings, especially hoop earrings, can easily get caught on clothes or be torn off by a child, resulting in laceration of the lobe.
Surgical interventions
“Our earlobes are a very delicate and soft area in our ears, wearing big earrings every day increases the chances of earlobe stretching at an ever increasing rate. This can cause the skin to stretch and the earlobe to crack,” warns Deepak Dugar, a cosmetic surgeon based in Beverly Hills, California. Of course, everything also depends on the weight of the jewel. Some earrings can be very large, but also very light. That’s not always the case, however. In less serious cases, maxi earrings can still cause headaches.
The danger is so real that there are doctors who specialize in lobe reconstruction. An ear lift, to rebuild the lower part damaged by too heavy earrings is common. The procedure includes two options: one for a lobe where the piercing has stretched the lobe, and the second is for thickening ears that have simply gotten thinner with age. The cost of the intervention varies, in the USA, between 1,500 and 3,000 dollars. In any case, the earlobe never goes back to the way it was. So, be careful not to go overboard with ultra heavy earrings.
