How do I get this hoop earring out of my cartilage?

Picture link needs fixin’

Whoops! That was from another thread. There, fixed it. Thanks, @Harp

I’ve never bought those earrings because I never knew how they worked, and I like the look of the ones in that picture on the right. I have those in now, they’re size 12. I wore them for 6 months or so, but I quit wearing them in February. I just put them back in yesterday and I was astonished that they fit. So I guess I’m answering your side question and saying that I believe the hole will grow shut, but it’ll just take a while :)

I put an earring in again, after i hadn’t one for several years.
The hole seemed shut, but actually it was only a bit.
Was less then a piece of cake to re-pierce it.

The left earring looks like it has propeller wire closing.
Not sure though.

Typically, the ball screws off and you remove the earring. My belly button jewelry is like that. Remember, righty tighty, lefty loosey. I’m talking about the earring on the right. I’ve never had earrings like the one on the left.

I have two of those same hoops. You have to pull apart the hoop and then the ball pulls out- it doesn’t screw in. It’s realllllly hard to do. If you keep working at it you’ll get it. The ball has two little grooves where the hoop fits into. The hoop holds on real tight and is really strong. I had wanted to change mine but I only got one of mine to come out, and it went back in but it’s looser now. (the ball spins)

I’m not sure about the guage and closing up. Mine are just normal and I didn’t leave it out for more than a few minutes.

No, earring holes do not grow back. My ears were pierced when I was 3 years old – and I stopped wearing earrings at age 6. I just started wearing earrings again this year – and I’m 27.

Thanks everyone.

@row4food. I think I’ll have to get two pairs of pliers to pull the sides in opposite directions because I can never get a good enough grip. Thanks for solving the mystery!

It’s called a captive bead earring. Most of them do not screw in, but merely have indentations on each side of the ball and pressure against those indentations is what keeps the ball in place.

My ear lobe piercings will close in as little as a week if I don’t keep earrings in, and I suspect the cartilage piercing would be similar.

@syz : Geez, I didn’t realize it was such an ordeal! There are special tools and everything. Great link. Much appreciated. I wish I had known my piercer was going to use this type of earring, or I would’ve vetoed it. Good grief. Thanks for the info. Now I know the names of all the stuff, anyway.

My ear lobe piercings close in about 6 months if I forgo earrings. However, there is still a mark that looks like the hole is still there. Cartilage doesn’t grow very well, so I suspect those holes will last longer.

@bluu whaaaat? seriously? just a regular ear piercing? thats insane. 6 months ago i had a hole in my cartilidge in both ears and 4 holes in the lower part. every single one is already closed except for the bottom one. i suppose maybe it depends on the person.

@deni wow. I guess it does. Or perhaps the piercing method? I thought because it didn’t happen to me it was just a myth.

If you learn something everyday, your day is complete!

@bluu Mm yes perhaps! Did you have yours done by the gun or by that needle thing? I’ve only ever had a gun used to pierce mine but I’ve heard people say that the needle (I’m not really sure what it is, guess they kind of just thread a hole in your ear???) is the way to go, and cleaner, safer, yada yada yada.

I was three! No clue~

@deni and @bluu: I think it varies greatly. My earlobes were pierced at 13, and there were spans of years where I didn’t wear earrings and they never closed up.

However, this question is about cartilage, and gauged piercing at that… I don’t think that cartilage closes up, but the skin might form some scar tissue around it. Whether it fills in completely will depend on the size of the hole. The older the piercing, the less likely it would be to cover over too, I would think.

omg ! i have the EXACT same problem with the earring on the right. i got mine out today actually because i have to take it out for surgery.

what i did was ,
put a pair of longer pliers in the through the earring, then slowly open the pliers and the ball came right off : )

I had that done and i had the earring in my upper cartlidge for like 3 months. I had ot take it out for sports so they had to use plyers and break it. as soon as i took it out iti went back to normal earring size.

@dsghkae Thanks so much. I couldn’t find pliers so I used my longer scissors, worked perfectly~ now I can put whatever earring I want in there!