Earring Tips for Those with Sensitive Ears

I have REALLY sensitive ears when it comes to earrings. For most of my life, the only earrings I could wear were those that had at least 14K gold. Anything else caused my ears to swell, turn bright red and get all pussy and gross. It was also incredibly painful. Even earrings that were labeled "hypoallergenic" did not work for me.

Now that I sell earrings, I wanted to make earrings that everyone (including myself) could wear, but were still affordable. At first I looked into gold, way too expensive so that option was thrown out immediately. I found some "hypoallergenic" posts that were good, but I still had reactions to them if I wore them for too long. I wanted something better so I did some research and found a couple of solutions.


Titanium

The first option I discovered was Titanium. Titanium is a nickel-free, non-reactive metal that is used in surgical implants. If it doesn't cause reactions when placed inside our bodies, then it won't cause reactions when used in piercings. Best of all, it is totally affordable. It is only slightly more expensive than surgical steel. The only problem with titanium is that it is really hard and it cannot be soldered so its use is restricted. The titanium posts that I use actually use surgical steel too, the actual post is pure titanium, but the flat pad that I glue the flowers on and that the post is attached to is made out of surgical steel. The ear nuts (earring backs) I use are also made out of surgical steel as titanium is not flexible enough.
Surgical steel is also a great option for those with sensitive ears. It is also non-reactive and is the metal that is used in most surgical instruments. Although it is claimed to be nickel free, it does contain minute amounts of nickel, but the amount is so small that it usually does not cause allergic reactions.

For me, the titanium/surgical steel combination has been working great. I have had the same pair of earrings in  for over a week now, with no reaction whatsoever.

For all the titanium earrings in my shop please go here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/RisC?section_id=10220926

Plastic

Another option I found was using clear plastic posts so that there is no metal at all and therefore no metal allergy. These were a little harder to find, but they are REALLY cheap and easy. When I tried the plastic posts, they also did not bother my ears. The plastic is flexible and easy to work with and incredibly lightweight. I almost forget that I am wearing earrings when I have them on. My only issue with the plastic ones are that the end is really pointy to make it easier to get into your ear. Because they bend easy, the end has to be sharp so that they will go through the piercing instead of just bending when you try to put them on. I don't like to wear these at night because the end pokes the side of my head when I sleep and it is a little uncomfortable.

For all of the plastic earrings in my shop, please go here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/RisC?section_id=10220964

Plastic Earring Covers

The final option I have found that works okay are plastic earring covers. These are plastic sheaths that you slide over the earring post so that the metal does not come into contact with your skin. These are great if you have earrings that you really want to wear, but you cannot because of sensitivity. These take a little getting used to though. They make the post thicker than normal and take a little force to get into your ear. You also need to be sure your posts are long enough so that your back can still fit on. I don't like to wear these for very long either. I am paranoid that they will get stuck in my ear or something because they are so small.

Good Hygiene

My final tip is to make sure to use good hygiene when comes to wearing earrings. Before I mess with my ears, I make sure that I have washed my hands really well. Before putting any earrings on, I always disinfect them thoroughly with rubbing alcohol. I also clean my ears well with rubbing alcohol using a q-tip or cotton ball. If my ears are irritated at all, then I put a little antibiotic ointment (neosporin) on the earring before I put it on and that seems to help. Otherwise, if they are irritated to begin with, it doesn't matter what type of earring I put on, they don't like it. The more I mess with my ears, the worse they get, so I try to not change my earrings too frequently.


I hope these tips help you!!!

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Our garden and some tips for small spaces

For the past 4 years, we have grown our own vegetables in our backyard. Having your own vegetable garden is economical and great way to feed your family fresh, healthy, and pesticide-free vegetables. This year, it has been an unseasonably cold and wet spring which has not been great for the garden, but some plants are doing great, while others are not. Hopefully it will start to take off soon.

Living in a townhome, our backyard is not very big, but we have found various ways to better utilize the space, while still being able to use our backyard for play and entertaining. Here are some of the ways we plan to make the most out of a small space this year:


Plant more than one type of vegetable together

This space will be our "Three Sisters Garden"


A three sisters garden is corn, beans, and squash planted together to help eachother. The corn grow tall and allow the beans vines to crawl up them. The beans provide nitrogen for the soil, and the squash has big leaves that keep pests/rodents/etc. from getting to any of them.

The corn is planted first, but after several weeks of nothing, I planted Sunflowers as back up:Then a few days ago I saw this one little corn starting to pop up so all hope is not lost.


Use containers to create more growing space
We like using containers because we can move them around to get more sunlight, move them closer to the house on colder nights, and move them out of the way when we have people over and want to use the backyard for entertaining. It also keeps the voles that are prevalent in our neighborhood from eating our plants.

We love these self-watering containers, you poor water in the bottom and the soil soaks it up when needed. I am mosquito paranoid and don't want any standing water breeding grounds so we only use this feature when we go out of town.
Red cabbage (a recent hailstorm beat up a lot of our plants)

Mustard Greens

Swiss Chard

Herbs:

Strawberries

Broccoli

Plant for multiple seasons

Tomato, its not looking so good. I'm hoping it will hang in there and get better once it warms up some more. I also have more broccoli planted surrounding the tomato. The broccoli is a cool-season crop so I planted it first, it will die off once it gets too hot. Then the tomato can take over the space.

Peas
Last year at this time these had already climbed up several feet onto the trellis.

After the peas grow a bit more and establish themselves better, we are going to plant carrots intermixed with the peas. The peas die off once it gets hot in the summer so then we will still be able to utilize the garden space by having carrots which grow in the summer and are harvested late summer and fall.


I'll keep everyone updated on the progress of our garden as the season progresses.

Do you have tips you want to share?

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