Earring

See body piercing aftercare for more information on the healing process for pierced ears. Italics denote a tie game.
* - Denotes BCS Championship Games. It is worth noting that 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 (see CDC Fact Sheet: HIV and Its Transmission). In 1998, the Fiesta Bowl featured the first BCS National Championship Game, which Tennessee won over Florida State, 23 to 16. However, modern piercing techniques make this risk extremely small (the risk being greater to the piercer than to the piercee due to the potential splash-back of blood). Finally, with the addition of the Big Ten and Pac 10 conferences to the rechristened Bowl Championship Series, the Fiesta Bowl became a permanent fixture in the four year BCS National Championship Game rotation. As with any invasive procedure, there is always a risk of infection from blood borne pathogens such as hepatitis and HIV. When this series incorporated a title game with a preset rotating site beginning in 1996, the Fiesta Bowl was the first to host the game, featuring undefeated #1 Nebraska playing undefeated#2 Florida for the National Championship.

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. In 1992, the Fiesta Bowl was invited to participate in the Bowl Coalition, a predecessor to the Bowl Championship Series, assuring the game would feature major conference champions or prestigious runners up, and the possibility of hosting further national title games. There have been several documented cases of people developing severe infections of the upper ear following piercing with an ear piercing instrument, which required courses of antibiotics and/or surgery to clear up. For the 1991 game, several major universities declined invitations due to the State of Arizona's decision at that time not to adopt the Martin Luther King Holiday. Also, because there is substantially less blood flow in ear cartilage than in the earlobe, infection is a much more serious issue. By this time, the Fiesta Bowl's ability to stage games with national championship implications propelled it to major-bowl status in the minds of college football fans, replacing the Cotton Bowl as a member of the postseason's "top four.". With cartilage piercing, the blunt force of an ear piercing instrument will traumatize the cartilage, and therefore make healing more difficult. Two years later, #1 Notre Dame played undefeated#3 West Virginia for the National Championship at the Fiesta Bowl.

Also, larger gauge jewellery will lessen the chance of the earring being torn out. The 1987 game, won by Penn State 14-10, was the most watched college football game, in terms of television viewership, until the 2006 Rose Bowl Game. 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. Both universities were independents at that time, all of the so-called major bowls had tie-ins with conferences, and of the other bowls only the Fiesta Bowl had the resources to pull off a matchup of this magnitude. More commonly, the person will develop an allergic reaction to nickel in some jewelry. A major breakthrough occurred in 1987 when the top two teams in the country, Miami and Penn State, agreed to play for the National Championship in the Fiesta Bowl. Earlobes will sometimes develop a minor infection. The game continued to attract high quality matchups, however, and beginning with the 1981 game shifted to New Year's Day with the other major bowl games.

The health risks with conventional earlobe piercing tend to be minimal, particularly if proper technique and hygenic procedures are followed. In 1978, Arizona and Arizona State each joined the Pac 10 Conference, and the Fiesta Bowl's tie-in with the Western Athletic Conference ended. After healing, earlobe piercings will shrink to smaller gauges in the prolonged absence of earrings, but may never completely disappear. In 1977, the game was again able to attract a top five opponent in Penn State. Cartilage piercings will usually require more healing time than earlobe piercings, sometimes 2-3 times as long. By 1975, the game was able to attract Big Eight co-champion Nebraska to play undefeated Arizona State in a matchup of top five teams. Piercing professionals recommend wearing earrings in the newly pierced ears for at least 6 months, and sometimes even a full year. The 1971 inaugural game featured another top ten Arizona State squad against top twenty opponent Florida State.

After that time, earrings can be changed, but if the hole is left unfilled for an extended period of time, there is some danger of the piercing closing. The Fiesta Bowl therefore initially provided an automatic bowl tie-in for the Western Athletic Conference champion. Initial healing time for an earlobe piercing performed with an ear piercing instrument is typically 6-8 weeks. In 1968 and 1969, respectively, champions Wyoming and Arizona State failed to obtain any invitation, while in 1970, undefeated Arizona State was bypassed by the major bowls and had to settle for a less prestigious Peach Bowl appearance. In primitive cultures and among some neo-primitive body piercing enthusiasts, the piercing is made using other tools, such as bone spurs. The creation of Fiesta Bowl grew out of the frustration of the Western Athletic Conference in trying to obtain suitable bowl invitiations for its champions. This procedure is available at body piercing shops, and often also at tattoo shops that also offer body piercing. .

This technique is similar to the early sewing needle approach, but when done by a professional body piercer is extremely safe, less painful than an instrument piercing, and produces a piercing with faster healing time. In January 2007, the game will be played at Cardinals Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, along with the new stand-alone BCS National Championship Game. An alternative and growing practice is to use a hollow piercing needle, as is used for body piercing. In 1999 the Fiesta Bowl became part of the Bowl Championship Series, and every four years (most recently in 2003) is the designee for the national championship game. Cartilage piercings tend to be more painful. The Fiesta Bowl, now sponsored by Tostitos tortilla chips (a Frito-Lay product), is a United States college football game played annually since 1971 in Tempe, Arizona, hosted by Arizona State University's Sun Devil Stadium. An earlobe piercing performed with an ear piercing instrument is often described as feeling similar to being snapped by a rubber band.

Today most people in the Western world have their ears pierced with an ear piercing instrument in specialty jewelry or accessory stores, or at home using disposable ear piercing instruments. Ear piercing instruments, sometimes called ear piercing guns, were originally developed for physician use but with modifications became available in retail settings. However, these could slip from their initial placement position, often resulting in more discomfort, and many times would not go all the way through the earlobe without additional pressure being applied. Another method for piercing ears, first made popular in the 1960s, is the use of sharpened spring-loaded earrings known as self-piercers, which gradually push through the earlobe.

Alternatively, a gold stud or wire earring may be directly inserted into the fresh piercing as the initial retaining device. sewing thread may be drawn through the piercing and tied, as a device for keeping the piercing open during the healing process. A long-standing home method involves using ice as a local anesthetic, a sewing needle as a puncture instrument, a burning match and rubbing alcohol for "sterilization", and a semi-soft object, such as a potato, cork, or rubber eraser, as a push point. A variety of techniques are used to pierce ears, ranging from "do it yourself" methods using household items to medically sterile methods using specialized equipment.

However, these forms of ear piercing are uncommon compared to standard ear piercing. In addition, earlobe stretching, while common in primitive cultures for thousands of years, started to appear in Western civilization in the 1990s, and is now a fairly common sight. These include the tragus piercing, antitragus piercing, rook piercing, industrial piercing, helix piercing, orbital piercing, daith piercing, and conch piercing. A variety of specialized cartilage piercings have since become popular.

Asymmetric styles with more and more piercings became popular, eventually leading to the cartilage piercing trend. Initially, the trend was for females to wear a second set of earrings in the earlobes, or for males to double-pierce a single earlobe. Multiple piercings in one or both ears first emerged in mainstream America in the 1970s. Since the early 1990s, the concept has largely lost its signficance (bmezine.com).

Sometimes, men would pierce a particular side to symbolize their preferred role in a relationship (see hanky code), or for personal style preference. However, the convention tended to vary from one region to the next, and was not always followed. Men with bilateral ear piercings were relatively rare, and were sometimes interpreted as effeminate or bisexual. In some circles, it was the left ear, while in others, the right.

In the latter part of the 20th century, some Americans and Europeans adopted the convention that when a man pierced just one of his ears, it symbolized his being gay. T was an early example of an American celebrity wearing earrings in both ears, although this trend did not become popular with mainstream American males until the 1990s. The heavily jeweled Mr. British males started piercing both ears in the 1980s; George Michael of Wham! was a prominent example.

By the 1980s, the trend for male popular music performers to have pierced ears helped establish a fashion trend for men, which was later adopted by many professional athletes. In the late 1970s, amateur piercings - often with safety pins and multiple piercings - became popular in the punk rock community. In the late 1960s, ear piercing began to make inroads into the male population through the hippie and gay communities. At these events, a nurse or other trained person would perform the procedure, either pushing a sharpened and sterilized starter earring through the earlobe by hand, or using an ear-piercing instrument modified from the design used by physicians.

Department stores throughout the country would hold ear piercing events, sponsored by earring manufacturers. By the 1970s, ear piercing was common among many females, thus creating a broader market for the procedure. Some of the earliest commercial, non-medical locations for getting an ear piercing appeared in the 1960s at Manhattan jewelry stores, although the overall commercial market was still in its infancy. Ear piercing became commonly available in physician offices.

Such an event is depicted in the 1978 motion picture Grease, where Sandy (Olivia Newton-John), the leading lady, is pierced by her friends. Teenage girls were known to hold ear piercing parties, where they performed the procedure on one another. At that time, the practice re-emerged, but since there did not exist a commercial market, most ear piercings were done at home. Ear piercing continued to be practiced by Western women of various cultures, e.g., Hispanic, but was less common in Anglo-based cultures until the 1960s.

There was also a long-held belief that puncturing the earlobe was beneficial to increasing the accuity of eyesight (see acupuncture) or of hearing (perhaps through resonance). There continued to be a small male following, however, particularly among sailors, where a pierced earlobe often meant that the wearer had sailed around the world or had crossed the equator. Pierced ears were popular in the United States through the early 1920s, then fell into disfavor among women due to the rising popularity of clip-on earrings. Ear piercing is one of the oldest known forms of body modification, with artistic and written references from cultures around the world dating back to early history.

The holes become permanent when a flesh tunnel is created by scar tissue forming around the initial earring. The holes may be permanent or temporary. Pierced ears are earlobes or the cartilage portion of the external ears which have had one or more holes created in them for the wearing of earrings. Besides permanent installations, locking earrings are occasionally worn by people of both genders, due to their personal symbolism or erotic value.

Occasionally, hoop earrings are permanently installed by the use of solder, though this poses some risks due to toxicity of metals used in soldering and the risk of burns from the heat involved. They appear today in the form of larger gauge rings which are difficult or impossible for the wearer to remove without assistance. They were once used as a mark of slavery or ownership (e.g., see Ex.21:2-6). Whereas most earrings worn in the Western world are designed to be removed fairly easily to be changed at will, earrings can also be permanent (non-removable).

Several varieties of non-pierced earrings have been invented over the years, presumably so that the wearers could avoid the discomfort of having their ears pierced. Body piercing jewelry is often used for ear piercings, and is selected for a variety of reasons including the availability of larger gauges, better piercing techniques, and a disdain for mainstream jewelry. Regardless of the type, modern standard pierced earrings have two primary means of attachment: posts and wires. .

Although not as common as with females, ear piercing among males has also become popular in North America and Europe. This has become somewhat controversial because of its involuntary nature, similar to, but much less severe than circumcision. In many cultures, it is common to pierce the ears of young girls soon after birth. Earrings are worn around the world in most cultures, both currently and historically.

People who habitually wear heavy earrings may find that over time, the earlobe and piercing stretch. Earring size is generally limited by the physical capacity of the earlobe to hold the earring without tearing. Earring designs can range from small loops or studs to large plates or dangling items. Earring components can be made out of any number of materials, including metal, glass, precious stones and beads.

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 "cartilage piercings." Cartilage piercings are more complex to perform than earlobe piercings, and take longer to heal. Earrings are attached to the ear through a piercing in the earlobe or some other external part of the ear, except in the case of a clip earring, which clips onto the lobe. Earrings are worn by both genders, although they are generally more commonly worn by women. Earrings are often made out of metal but can also be made out of bone or similar hard material.

An earring is an ornament that is worn in the ear. ISBN 8881189739. van Cutsem, Anne, A World of Earrings: Africa, Asia, America, Skira, 2001. ISBN 0965046931.

Vale, V., Modern Primitives, RE/Search, 1989. ISBN 0533112370. Steinbach, Ronald D., The Fashionable Ear: A History of Ear Piercing Trends for Men and Women, Vantage Press, 1995. ISBN 0892818093.

Mercury, Maureen and Haworth, Steve, Pagan Fleshworks: The Alchemy of Body Modification, Park Street Press, 2000. ISBN 0743213041. McNab, Nan, Body Bizarre Body Beautiful, Fireside, 2001. ISBN 0500281610.

Mascetti, Daniela and Triossi, Amanda, Earrings: From Antiquity to the Present, Thames and Hudson, 1999. ISBN 0688038204. Holmes, Anita, Pierced and Pretty: The Complete Guide to Ear Piercing, Pierced Earrings, and How to Create Your Own, William Morrow and Co., 1988. Spring hoop earrings- spring hoops are almost indistinguishable from standard hoop earrings and stay in place by means of spring force.

They are considered a novelty item. Stick-on earrings - Stick-on earrings are adhesive-backed items which stick to the skin of the earlobe and simulate the look of a (pierced) stud earring. Magnetic earrings - Magnetic earrings simulate the look of a (pierced) stud earring by attaching to the earlobe with a magnetic back that hold the earring in place on by magnetic force. It stays on by pinching the ear.

Ear cuff - An ear cuff is a curved band of metal that is pressed onto the helix of the ear. Once extremely popular with American women, they began to fade with the rising popularity of pierced earrings in the 1960s and 1970s, and are now relatively rare. They are designed with a tension clip that attaches them to the body by pinching the earlobe. Clip-on earrings - Clip-on earrings have existed longer than any other variety of non-pierced earrings.

Flesh tunnels are most commonly used in larger gauge piercings either because weight is a concern to the wearer or for aesthetic reasons. Flesh tunnels - Flesh Tunnels, also known as eyelets, are similar to flesh plugs, only they are hollow in the middle. They are usually used in large gauge piercings. Some plugs have flared ends to hold them in place, others require small elastic rubber rings ("O-rings") to keep them from falling out.

Flesh plugs - Flesh plugs are short cylinders. This allows for much easier insertion and removal than with ball closure rings, but at the loss of a continuous look. Circular rings - Circular rings are similar to ball closure rings, except that they have a larger gap, and have a permanently attached bead at one end, and a threaded bead at the other, like barbells. Since the threads on externally threaded barbells tend to irriate the piercing, internal threads have become the most common variety.

The other end is threaded, either externally or tapped with an internal thread, and the other bead is screwed into place after the barbell is inserted through the ear. Barbells - Barbells are comprised of a straight piece of metal, with a bead permanently fixed to one end. Larger gauge ball closure rings exhibit considerable tension, and may require ring expanding pliers for insertion and removal of the bead. The gap is closed with a small bead that is held in place by the ring's tension.

Ball closure rings - Ball closure rings, also known as captive bead rings, or CBRs, are a style of body piercing jewelry that is an almost 360^o ring with a small gap for insertion through the ear. Slave earrings - A rarely seen type of earring is the slave earring, in which a stud is connected by a delicate chain to an ear cuff (see below) or a cartilage pierce worn higher on the ear. Rarely, dangle earrings use the post attachment design. A variation is the French hook design, which merely hangs from the earlobe without closure, although small plastic retainers are sometimes used on ends of French hooks.

They are generally attached to the ear by the use of thin wires, which go through the earlobe and connect to themselves in a small hook at the back. Dangle earrings - Dangle earrings are designed to flow from the bottoms of the earlobes, and are available in various lengths from a centimeter or two, all the way to brushing the shoulders. Because their small size makes them comfortable, sleepers are sometimes worn at night to keep an ear piercing from closing. This is a very small continuous piece of (typically) gold wire which essentially hugs the base of the earlobe with the ends connecting in the back.

One special type of hoop earring is the sleeper earring. The other end is inserted into the tubing or bead, and is held in place by tension. One of the ends is permanently attached to a small piece of metallic tubing or a hollow metallic bead. In this design, the earring is constructed of a continuous piece of solid metal, which penetrates through the ear and can be rotated almost 360^o.

A variation is the continuous hoop earring. Other hoop designs do not complete the circle, but penetrate through the ear in a post, using the same attachment techniques that apply to stud earrings. The entire device is held together by tension between the wire and the tube. The hollow tubing is permanently attached to the wire at the front of the ear, and slips into the tube at the back.

They are often constructed of metal tubing, with a thin wire attachment penetrating the ear. Hoop earrings - hoop earrings are circular or semi-circular in design, and look very similar to a ring. This is useful in preventing the loss of expensive earrings containing precious stones or made of precious metals. Occasionally, the stud earring is constructed so that the post is threaded, allowing a screw back to securely hold the earring in place.

The post is held in place by a removable friction back or clutch. Studs are invariably constructed on the end of a post, which penetrates straight through the ear. Stud earrings - The main characteristic of stud earrings is the appearance of floating on the ear or earlobe without a visible (from the front) point of connection.