I take my plugs out for work.

I work in a factory around food so I am required to remove all of my body jewelry above the neck while I am at work. I have 2 piercings in each earlobe and both are gauged.
My first lobes are at a 4 and have healed nicely. I wear glass spirals in those for the moment.
My second lobes are at an 8 and aren't so well behaved. I wear surgical steel threaded plugs in those. Every night I get home and do a sea-salt rinse on my ears before re-inserting my plugs. While I have them out for work, my 2nd lobes seem to undergo some shrinkage.

They have been getting infected, been sore, and scabbing up. I have noticed moisture is building up under the edge of the plug where it covers the hole.

Should I use a more "open" type of plug in them? One that doesn't trap moisture so close to my skin? I noticed that wearing jewelry which left the edges of the holes fully exposed seemed to give me less issues in my 1st lobes.

 

You can get skincoloured hider-plugs, maybe they could do at work?

 

you should go for glass or wood all the time in general just because they stink less and irritate your ear less but you definitely shouldn't be wearing metal plugs in winter. Every time I wore something metal in winter it got really irritated

and I wouldn't use threaded ones, personally.

But mostly it's getting fucked up from all the taking it in and out

 

i strongly prefer stone plugs. polished marble, tygers eye, limestone, and jade. they let moisture in and out, dont smell or encourage ear cheese, and are very comfey. (actually, i only wear stone now that i think about it) i put little to no special care into my piercings (outside of cleaning them with regular soap when i shower) and have no problems at all. Also the natural weight of them encourages your lobe to stretch a lil more than something light.

 

^that too

basically anything not plastic or metal

so nothing you can get at the mall, try a headshop

 

Stone & wood have def been my fav. I've never had a problem with either.

Just remember to oil your wood plugs/tunnels before wearing them.