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If If you have ear piercings (one or many), you’re probably familiar with those tiny, clear silicone earring backs that come with a new set of earrings. They are super clutch for me if you lose one of your regular metal flatbacks and need to tighten your studs. However, according to a recent TikTok PSA that’s starting to go viral, those clear, rubbery backs can be super risky to wear for extended periods of time.
On Thursday, October 10 TikTok creator Amber Guttilla shared her recent experience that she was almost sent to the hospital because her clear earring backs stuck to her earrings like glue. Speaking exclusively to Well+Good, Guttilla says that “it was a very surreal moment” when she realized she needed professional intervention to remove her earrings. In her TikTok, Guttilla explains that she had been wearing silicone earring closures for “a month or two” before she tried to take them off. “Let me be the first to tell you,” Guttilla said in her video, “that these are not meant to be worn for long periods of time.”
Guttilla says she initially thought the difficulty removing the silicone backings was user error, but after multiple failed attempts by both her and her fiancé, she tells us she New flower body piercing studio in Long Beach, California to get professional help.
@amber.guttilla PSA for earring wearers! I’ve had my ears pierced for 30 years and never knew this 🫠 #earrings #earringtips #earringcare #serviceannouncement #PSA #jewelrycleaning ♬ original sound – Amber Rose
Guttilla says the piercer told her that the backs of silicone earrings are great porous and tend to absorb a lot of dirt, oil, sweat and makeup, creating a “glue-like” substance that almost “fuses” into the back of your earring, making them difficult (or impossible) to remove. Guttilla’s piercer also told her that the last person who came in with silicone backs wore them for a year and had to go to the hospital to have them removed.
Luckily for Guttilla, the process didn’t require a trip to the hospital, but she tells Well+Good that it did require some brute force from the piercer. “He took me to a private room, put on gloves, sterilized my ears with alcohol and used two clamping tools to hold the earring on both sides, then used his force to pull them apart,” she says. “It took about six or seven minutes total, and it was a little painful because he had to twist my earlobe to pry the earring and the silicone apart.”
The pain was worth it for Guttilla, who was able to walk out of the store with silicone-free earrings. “I looked at what was taken out and the silicone was yellow,” she says. “I had no idea silicone was porous and felt really blindsided when I heard that they are not allowed to be worn regularly.”
Was this just a fluke?
According to Hadley KingMD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City, “silicone can stick to the skin due to the chemical properties of the polymer, creating an adhesive effect.” Combine that response with body heat, pressure and time, “and the adhesive effect can become stronger,” she says.
“We see this a lot with earrings in general, where a buildup of wax, oil, or something else can get stuck in the space of the earring and harden,” says Marisa GarschickMD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City. “This doesn’t mean it will necessarily solidify with the silicone, but the buildup can get stuck in the plug of the back of the earring, making it harder to get out.”
The aftermath
Guttilla’s teachable moment has This has since sparked discussions on TikTok (her video currently has over 1.5 million views), about the proper care of earrings to avoid similar situations. “Wait…don’t we all take our earrings off before we go to bed?” one commenter early on the video, while another added: “Sleeping and showering with jewelry, especially earrings, is wild.”
While Guttilla’s comment section is divided on whether or not you should remove earrings daily, says Dr. Garshick general, it is good practice to remove them regularly. However, with some piercings (such as a new cartilage piercing) this is not always possible needs to stay in for healing, for example), which is why you should avoid silicone backings altogether if you’re someone who forgets (or can’t) take out your earrings on a daily basis.
“I Personally, I take my earrings out every night, but that doesn’t have to be the case for everyone,” says Dr. Garshick. “Removing them regularly, if not daily, can thoroughly clean the area around the piercing and also help relieve tension from the ear when you wear earrings or rings.”
If you don’t take your earrings out daily, says Dr. Garshick says you can regularly remove the deposits with a clean cotton swab dipped in water (or saline solution for piercings) to gently clean the area. “If you feel like there is buildup on the back of your earrings, you can also use a petroleum jelly-based product such as Vaseline or Aquaphor and massage it into the area to loosen it up,” she says.
Final thoughts
Ultimately, whether to remove your earrings daily (or not) is a personal choice and habit, but if build-up and preventing irritation is your goal, try to clean your earrings as often as possible. “Earrings often become part of your everyday look, so it’s easy to forget things — it doesn’t mean you’re dirty or out of place; buildup is completely normal,” says Dr. Garshick. And just to be on the safe side, why not ditch the silicone altogether and go for titanium or gold flatbacks?
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