Can You Pierce Your Ears After Keloid Treatments?

If you have undergone treatment for keloids of the earlobes, I would highly suggest that you do not get your ears pierced in the future. Obviously the reason you had a keloid of the earlobe in the first place is due to earlobe piercing and if after the treatment of the keloid, if you end up with a good result, it would be unwise to then re-pierce the ear due to the extremely high risk of the recurrence of the keloid.

How do you get rid of Keloids?

Keloids can be exceptionally difficult to completely eradicate and if you are fortunate enough to get an excellent result after treatment of the keloid of the earlobe, I would again highly discourage re-piercing this earlobe. Your physician may recommend

• Corticosteroid shots to break the bonds between collagen fibers and minimize the scar tissue.
• Cryotherapy, to freeze the skin (just like you would treat a wart).
• Surgical removal, if they are extensive. However, this may create new scar tissues and new keloids.
• Pressure earrings, or plastic pieces that you clip on to provide uniform pressure over the earlobe.

Alternatively, you can obviously wear clip-on or no-pierce earrings as these would pose no risk to recurrence of a keloid and the pressure from these can actually improve your chances of preventing a recurrence of the keloid after removal.

What are keloids?

A keloid is overgrown scar tissue and can range in color from light pink to dark brown. They appear in connection with skin trauma, from piercings to tattoos.