Piercings are among the trendiest accessories today. Unfortunately, having new piercings every few months when you are dedicated to an active lifestyle and engage in sports often, a new piercing could be an Achilles heel.
While you may not have any problems sleeping with the earrings, some sports and workout prohibit wearing or earrings to the field.
And with piercing taking a minimum of 6 weeks to begin healing, others taking up to a year to heal fully, you may find yourself at crossroads because, in as much as you’d like to look good with the new piercing, you also need to stay safe?
So, how do you balance healing time safety practices? Simple: in addition to following the aftercare instructions diligently, the best practice when it comes to sports and jewelry is the complete removal of the jewelry, especially before a competition.
This is a customary requirement because jewelry could easily get caught up in sporting equipment or clothing, and a small stretch or any rapid body movement/ stretch could result in the tearing or the hole, bleeding, and prolonged healing time.
The good news, however, is that you could find a line between sticking to the rules and being safe – invest in a high-quality ear-piercing retainer.
What are ear-piercing retainers?
A retainer is a plastic jewelry piece designed to save you from preventable accidents during sports.
Since unhealed piercing holes could easily close up within hours, the retainers prevent the risk. The plastic retainers are clear plastic, almost impossible to see, but it’s recommended that you only wear a retainer in a healed piercing because of their porosity.
Wearing a retainer when a piercing is far from healed, especially for a prolonged duration, could increase your risk of infection thanks to the porosity of the retainers, which means a bacteria breeding ground.
Pros and cons of clear plastic ear-piercing retainer?
Pros
- Easy to remove or wear
- The retainer will reduce the risk of tearing the newly pierced ears
- They are easily available
- The retainers prevent the closure of the piercing holes
- Less bulky compared to the metal retainers
- Almost invisible and ideal for sports and intense workouts
Cons
- Easily misplaced because of the small size
- They encourage bacterial growth/ breeding and increase risk of infection, hence not recommended for use in unhealed piercings
- They are irreparable if they break or crack
- Cannot be readjusted/ realigned
- They warp when exposed to heat
Now that you know the importance of retainers and the risks involved, let’s take a look at 5 of the best brands for retainers ideal for sports.
5 Ear Piercing Retainers Brands for Sports on Amazon
1.BEADNOVA 500pairs Invisible Earrings for Sports
The BEADNOVA brand sells some of the best sports retainers ideal for wearing in school, work, and sports.
These clear retainers come as clear plastic earring studs and a nickel-free cartilage earring.
These clear earring posts and backs boast an anti-allergy design, thanks to the use of nickel-free and hypoallergenic plastic.
The retainers are durable, super-lightweight at 20g each, and thanks to their clear design, these retainers are excellent for sports competitions.
The retainers are sold in bulk, and each box has 500 pairs of high-quality retainers (500 backs and 500 earring pins).
Each retainer is 0.8mm in length, 11mm in diameter, and they all have a 3mm flat pin top. The back/ stop is 5mm.
2.YOYOSTORE 3mm Invisible Plastic Earrings
YOYOSTORE offers high-quality plastic retainers. All the retainers are clear, and your order will come with 50 pairs (100 pieces) of the best ear-piercing retainers for sports.
The earring pin is 11mm in length, 1mm thick, and the cup end has a diameter of 3mm.
3.AISHNE Clear Plastic Ear Piercing Retainers
If you are looking for a few clear plastic retainers to keep your ear piercing safe and to prevent closure, you may like these 10 pairs of high-quality anti-allergy plastic ear-piercing retainers.
Each of the 10 piercing studs is 11mm in length, and they have a cup width of 3mm.
The ear studs are made of safe plastic, and the ear nuts are made of safe rubber.
These retainers for sports come in translucent white color.
Besides being the best ear piercing retainers for sports, they are also ideal for kids and crafts projects.
4.eBoot Plastic Earring Retainers (Posts and Backs)
With each earring pin weighing 4.5g and the ear nuts weighing 11.5g each, these retainers are relatively lightweight.
Your order will include 400 pairs of the best ear piercing retainers, which is 400 earring pins and 400 earring nuts/ stops.
All the retainers are made using anti-allergy materials. The earrings pins are made with acrylic, while the earring stops/ ear nuts are curated using silicone rubber.
These materials are safe, even for people with sensitive skin, since they are allergy-free.
These design materials are also durable and lightweight.
Basically, these retainers are not heavier than your normal earrings, which means that they are comfortable to wear during intense sports.
Each retainer comes with a straight stud and a dome ear nut.
The earring pin stem is 12mm long, the ear nut cup measures 4mm, while the pin top’s diameter is 2.5mm. The ear nut’s cup is 4mm.
In addition to being great ear piercing retainers for sports, these retainers are also ideal for craft making, kids, and you could also wear them as jewelry if your workplace has rules against other types of jewelry.
5.Yidarton Clear Plastic Ear Piercing Retainers
Yidarton offers six pairs of the best-quality ear-piercing retainers made of antiallergy materials.
Every order has 6 plastic ear studs and 6 rubber ear nuts that are 100% safe on the skin.
The studs are 11mm long, and the cups have a diameter of 3mm.
All the retainers come in a translucent white color, and they could also be used for crafts, besides sports.
How to Protect Your Ear Piercings as an Athlete?
Despite access to the best ear piercing retainers, you need to protect yourself as an athlete.
As you already know, prevention is better than cure, which is why we recommend these strategies for your protection.
Here are some of the things you should do to protect your ear piercings
- Be Cautious about the healing times
After a new piercing, the piercer will issue a set of instructions that you need to stick to. These instructions offer aftercare tips, including the time that the original piercing jewelry should stay in for and how long the new piercing will take to heal.
Since the healing times depend on the location of the new piercing, you must follow the instructions provided. Failure to stick to the instructions provided would result in the closure of the piercing or, worse, increase the risk of infections.
Therefore, you must be cautious. For example, during the healing period, you shouldn’t touch the healing ear piercing with dirty hands, and you also need to keep the piercing area clean, especially after a rigorous session.
As mentioned above, the healing times would also be affected by the location of the piercing, which is why you should not remove the original jewelry for as long as it’s recommended.
If you just had a cartilage ear piercing, the minimum healing time for a piercing in that area is 6 months, which means that you need to keep the original piercing jewelry for at least 6 months.
We recommend getting the piercing during the least active periods or when you have a good chunk of healing time before major sporting events.
- Keep the Ear Piercing Clean
On top of exercising caution around ear piercings and jewelry, the most important consideration around new ear piercings is cleanliness. Being an athlete means dealing with more sweating, as well as inadvertent contact with germs, bacteria, and dirt from the shared sports equipment.
Therefore, you need to be very careful when it comes to hygiene. Invest in the best aftercare products and seek professional advice in case of persistent discomfort.
- Removal of jewelry
In line with the recommendation above regarding getting piercings during the off-peak sports seasons, it’s important to note that the best practice around ear piercings and jewelry recommend the removal of jewelry before a sports event or a workout.
Doing this means that you won’t have to worry about the earring being caught in your clothing or equipment. The risk of a stretch or a tear is too high, and the price you will pay for such incidences is even higher.
So, if the piercing is fully healed, remove your jewelry and wear a retainer instead. See the next section for what to do when your piercing is raw or partially healed.
- Is Taping an Option?
If you don’t have immediate access to retainers, the next best alternative would be taping. Taping seems to be a good idea when you have a new piercing since the taping will prevent the essential piercing jewelry from being caught on equipment or clothing.
The catch, however, is that taping isn’t always the best strategy for you since it may not offer sufficient coverage to prevent jewelry from getting caught, and the taping could also affect your range of movement. In other cases, the piercing might irritate the unhealed piercing wound.
Conclusion
As a jewelry-loving athlete, you need to be careful with how you handle your ear piercings, what you get close to the ear piercings, and all that means investing in the best sports retainers and also being keen about hygiene.
Don’t risk infection or a tear just to look good, take the necessary precautions.
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Tiger is a fashion&jewelry lover. He is also a fashion jewelry manufacturer that help thousands of small business to grow and also do business with some big fashion jewelry brands. He is a truly metal expert and he will share some information you are looking for.