Around this time of the year, cold temperatures and the dry air, it’s good to think about what you will wear in your stretched ear lobes. Although out here in California, we don’t really experience really low cold temperatures, and if you also live somewhere that doesn’t experience cold temperatures, you too can probably wear any type of jewelry in your stretched lobes all year-round. For those who do deal with very cold temperature, it is usually wise to avoid wearing jewelry made of certain materials, at least during the winter time.
The most popular type of material like metal and glass are both excellent conductors of cold, which means they can be poor choices for wintertime. Jewelry made of metal and glass gets colder overall, gets colder faster and stays colder longer than jewelry made of other materials. In the wintertime, we suggest avoiding wearing plugs or other jewelry made of metal and glass outside for extended periods of time.
Materials such as wood, horn and bone conduct cold much less than metal and glass, therefore are better options in the winter. A potential downside to these materials is that they can’t adjust to sudden temperature changes and can lead to the jewelry cracking, warping, or just completely break. Organics are much better than metal, but careful.
Stone plugs, would say are most loved during wintertime wear. Just like organic jewelry, stone also does not conduct cold as well as metal or glass. Stone plugs also doesn’t crack or break during sudden temperature change, although it can still crack or break depending on how it was taken care of, or by everyday activities.
One of the best features about stone is that it can absorb and retain heat from your body, which means your ears will stay a bit warmer for longer, even when you are outside in minus temperatures.
For those who can wear silicone jewelry, it can be a good alternative for wintertime. They don’t retain body heat like the stone plug does, it also doesn’t conduct cold very well, so it should help keep your lobes from getting cold as quickly.
The warmer you keep your ears, the happier and healthier, not just your ears, but overall you will be!
