The history of ear piercing dates back to ancient Perspolis in Persia. It is recorded that there were illustrations of soldiers with earrings on the walls of this city. During the Middle Ages, earrings and other jewelry declined as almost the entire population became impoverished. After the rise of nations, jewelry, including earrings, was a sign of luxury and high status in society. During the Middle Ages, beautiful dresses and elaborate hairstyles were all the rage, and earrings weren’t as popular. But a little later when the hair was worn down and the collars became higher, the earrings regained their popularity. During the following centuries, more and more jewelry experts appeared and new types of earrings were designed.
In the middle of the 19th century it was popular to tie the hair behind the head covering the ears, hats were in fashion and there was no place for earrings. It was also the time when society and religious establishments associated earrings with excess, vanity, and pagans and earrings lost their popularity. At the beginning of the 20th century, clip-on earrings without piercings appeared and simultaneously sailors began to wear earrings as a symbol of their adventures. In the 1960s it was hippies and homosexuals who helped drive the popularity of earrings up, in the 1970s punk rockers inspired the use of multiple earrings, and in the 1980s women began to wear earrings.
Today, ear piercing is the common type of body modification that is popular with men, women, and children around the world. Sometimes parents pierce their daughters’ ears even when they are only one year old.
There are several types of piercings and the most widespread is the earlobe piercing. It is the least painful type of ear piercings. Although the soft tissue of the lobe is the best place for a quick and painless piercing, there are at least eight other places where the ear can be pierced. The other popular types of ear piercing are vertical, industrial, helical, orbital, and anti-orbital piercings. The helical piercing is a piercing along the outer edge of the ear and although it is quite difficult to do, it is still very popular today. The other extended type of ear piercing is the industrial piercing that joins two holes in the ear with a long straight bar and you can also use two individual bars in these holes. Ear measurement is the other popular type of ear modification – a noticeable or even very large hole in the earlobe looks up-to-date and unusual at the same time.
The ear piercing healing process takes about two months and it is important to follow all recommendations including keeping the wound clean, avoiding swimming, not keeping phones and other subjects close to the pierced ear.
The choice of ear piercing jewelry today is vast and there are many reliable jewelers online that offer high quality and stylish bars, captive bead rings, earrings, plugs and other attractive ear piercing jewelry. Today a variety of materials are also available: silver, gold, stainless steel, acrylics, natural materials such as wood, pearls, bone and horn. Ear piercing is not only the way to follow fashion trends, but also the way to show your individuality and style.
