Dr. Komarovsky on when you can pierce a child”s ears

For many parents, getting their child’s ears pierced is a big decision. Concerns concerning the appropriate age, possible dangers, and post-operative ear care are frequently raised. Parents naturally want to know that they are raising their child in the best possible way.

Renowned pediatrician Dr. Komarovsky has offered his opinions on this subject. He helps parents understand what to consider and when it might be a good idea to get an ear piercing by providing them with helpful advice.

We’ll examine Dr. Komarovsky’s suggestions in this post, going over the essential details regarding child ear piercings and the information parents should have before deciding.

The best age

According to Dr. Komarovsky, there are no rigorous guidelines on when to get an ear piercing in medicine as a whole. However, the majority of physicians still believe that piercing a child’s ears before the age of one is not reasonable.

Therefore, the decision about when to pierce a girl’s ears should only be made by her family. Every family has a different notion of what constitutes appropriate. A few months after their daughter is born, some parents pierce her ears in the belief that this will relieve the child of needless stress, as children are naturally wary of being manipulated. Others wait until the girl reaches puberty to ask to have her ears pierced, at which point she will consciously make her decision.

Evgeny Komarovsky highlights that even though earlobe piercings are minor, they nevertheless involve traumatizing manipulation. Because of this, it is crucial to consider the unpleasant side effects of the procedure—such as swelling, infection, suppuration, and inflammation—when making a family decision.

It’s common knowledge that a child will experience less psychological trauma the younger he is. This is true to some degree. However, an impressive "army" of medical experts also contend that it is best to pierce ears three years later.

The following are the arguments:

• after the age of three, local and general immunity becomes stronger, and therefore healing occurs faster;
• up to the age of three, it is difficult for a child to control his own actions – the baby will cling to earrings, touch them with clothes, toys, which can lead to injury to the earlobe;
• earrings can come undone, the child can drag them into his mouth and choke, after 3 years, children are less likely to try everything with their teeth;
• the younger the child, the stronger the allergic negative reaction to the materials from which jewelry is made can be.

Komarovsky suggests following the reasonableness principles when making decisions. Regretfully, the mother’s motivation is frequently her need to fit in with society’s expectations rather than her desire to provide a healthier and better life for her child. Why not pierce your own daughter’s ears as well, since the neighbor’s girl has had them done since the early months?

Waiting patiently for the child to ask for earrings on his own is Komarovsky’s recommendation to prevent values and interests from being substituted. He will make this decision consciously and on his own. If the child is able to clean his ears by himself, that will be ideal.

The piercing technique is the same regardless of the age of the child whose parents choose to pierce their child’s ears; the piercer is indifferent to the child’s age or number of months.

According to some scientific studies, piercing a daughter’s ears after the age of ten is associated with the formation of unsightly scars on the earlobe, as Evgeny Olegovich points out. Sometimes parents try to rush things just because they’ve heard about similar consequences from getting their piercings too late. Studies have not been verified in real life; girls who choose to get their ears pierced later in life, as well as those who did so during their adolescence, do not report earlobe scarring.

According to Dr. Komarovsky, parents should decide whether to get their child an ear piercing when they feel the child is ready. For health reasons, he suggests holding off until the child is at least six months old, as this is when their immune system is more developed. In order to prevent infections and problems, he also stresses the importance of making sure the piercing is performed in a clean, safe environment.

The right attitude to choosing the time and place

Pediatricians do not stand aside and offer advice regarding the selection of an appropriate day and location for the procedure if they are not advisors in matters of age. Komarovsky suggests treating these matters of child safety seriously.

Adherence to uncomplicated guidelines can aid in preventing adverse outcomes.

• At the time of the manipulation, the child must be completely healthy. If teeth are cut, a runny nose, cough, there are signs of diathesis, first you need to solve these problems so as not to overload the child"s immunity with another task.
• It is better if the important day is scheduled for early autumn or the second half of spring. In winter, the child wears hats, scarves that can cling to jewelry, which increases the risk of injury to the earlobe. In the summer it is hot and dusty, there is a risk of infection and infection joining the wound.
• You shouldn"t pierce a girl"s ears at home on your own. It"s best to go to special offices or clinics that provide piercing services. Parents should make sure that the clinic or office is clean, the instruments are sterile, and that the specialist is able to give detailed and comprehensive recommendations on how to care for the lobes after the piercing. If, apart from the price list for the services, the office cannot provide anything, it"s worth finding another one, Evgeny Komarovsky is sure.

All of this should lower the likelihood of any complications, especially when paired with meticulous post-procedural care for the ears.

Methods

Children today are not subjected to the agony of having their earlobes punctured by a thick gypsy needle, as their grandmothers were. Nowadays, getting pierced is a relatively quick, nearly painless, and occasionally bloodless process.

There are now three primary methods for piercing ears:

• you can use a silent device – the STUDEX SYSTEM 75 "stapler" (which is ideal for small children who won"t even have time to get scared);
• use the so-called gun, which is noisier, but also quite fast and safe;
• the old-fashioned way, agree to manual piercing using special piercing needles.

The first two methods are usually preferred by parents; they are more costly, of course, but they accomplish the goal of quickly and painlessly piercing the baby’s ears without causing blood or suffering, causing fear, or requiring a lengthy healing period.

How to care?

Komarovsky advises being especially cautious with the aftercare of the piercing. Mothers must heed the advice in order to avoid complications, even though the child may not always enjoy the manipulations.

In order to prevent bacteria or viruses from entering the wound with the water, you should bathe the child no sooner than three to four days after the piercing. It is possible to wash a girl, but you must take care to prevent water from getting into the earlobe wounds while doing this. It is forbidden to swim in public pools, rivers, or the sea for the full month following piercing.

Making sure the kid doesn’t perspire while playing games, doing activities, or going for walks is crucial. Sweat is an aggressive, salty environment, and it can hurt a child even when it gets into a wound that is healing.

The girl’s hair needs to be properly styled so that it doesn’t get in the way of her damaged earlobes. The ideal way to gather them is in a bun or ponytail. After about a month and a half, you can remove the earrings that were placed at the time of the puncture and replace them with new ones; by then, the wound’s edges should have tightened and healed entirely.

Three times a day, the child’s earlobes should be treated. Every home medicine cabinet has regular hydrogen peroxide, which is ideal for at-home treatments. Compounds containing alcohol shouldn’t be used. It suffices to drop peroxide in front of and behind the entrance hole and rotate the earring back and forth multiple times (clockwise and backward if the earrings are "studs"). Chlorhexidine and miramistin will work in the absence of peroxide. An antibiotic ointment, such as Levomekol, can be used to treat a wound that starts to fester and become inflamed.

Make sure the child doesn’t put his hands or his earrings on his earlobes.

Possible complications

Complications are extremely unlikely if everything was done correctly and the earlobes were regularly checked on and taken care of. However, in the event that something still goes wrong, parents ought to know what to do:

• purulent inflammation has begun – you need to show the child to the doctor and begin treatment with local antibacterial drugs;
• the wounds do not heal – it is possible that the child is experiencing immune rejection of a foreign body in the ears, you need to consult a doctor and, most likely, you will have to remove the earrings;
• Signs of an allergy have appeared, the temperature has risen, the earlobes have turned red, there are rashes on the neck, chest – again, you need to visit a doctor and start treatment for allergies.

A child’s comfort and health should always come first when getting their ears pierced. Dr. Komarovsky advises holding off until the youngster is mature enough to comprehend and take good care of their body piercings.

Selecting a hygienic and secure setting for the procedure is just as crucial as age. To prevent infections or complications, always make sure that the right procedures for hygiene and sterilization are followed.

Ear piercing is ultimately a personal decision. When your child is ready, it’s best to include them in the decision-making process so that it can benefit both of you.

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