Ear lobe piercings are fairly resistant to irritation and also tend to heal quicker than other soft tissue piercings.

To clean your ear lobe piercing, apply a good soap and water lather over your ear, and, using the ring, scrub the inside of your piercing. Then flush with fresh water, again using the ring to rinse the soap out. Your lobe piercing should be left alone (do not turn or play with ring) between cleanings.

For the first three to five days, wash your lobe piercing twice per day (morning & evening). Over the next week or so, the second cleaning should be skipped occasionally, then more frequently, until by the end of the first 14 days you are down to once per day.

Continue cleaning once per day or less for a maximum of 10 more days. After that, only occasional cleaning should be required. Over cleaning is one of the most common problems we see. Over cleaning irritates and dries out your ear lobes; your skin chaps and cracks, exposing the underlying tissue to dirt and bacteria. Don’t be obsessed with cleaning; the less you do the better.

We recommend that you use an antibiotic ointment like Polysporin after each wash for the first ten days. The ointment will provide a barrier to infection during the initial healing. Use the ring to spread the ointment through your lobe, working the ring back and forth until it slides easily through your piercing. Clean off the excess ointment, as it can collect dirt and cause problems.

If you participate in sports or other strenuous physical activity, you should shower afterwards, cleaning your lobe piercing in the shower.

If you are exposed to a dirty environment (such as dusty working conditions), clean more frequently. To clean the area, use baby wipes or a similar product. As soon as you return home, a full cleaning of your piercing is recommended.

Hair cannot be disinfected, and should be kept as clean as possible. Regular shampooing is as important as cleaning of the lobe piercing for the first two weeks.

Lobes can be ignored for the most part after the first six weeks. These piercings can be stretched to accommodate thicker jewelry (diameters of 2" or more are possible).

After twenty days, you should not have to clean your lobe piercing any more. If it looks dry, moisturize your ear lobe with a regular moisturizer.

Resist the urge to wear thin wires and heavy pendants. Jewelry migration in your ear lobe tends to slowly enlarge your piercing by slicing it toward the margin.