Beautiful and heavy statement earrings add a lot of style and grace to your outfit, whether it’s casual or chic. But with the heavy and lavish earrings, comes a lot of pulling and tugging at the earlobe, which can cause discomfort and pain. Over a period of time, if one continues to wear heavy earrings, it can make the earlobes droop, and nobody signed up for saggy earlobes!
The good news? You can still flaunt your favourite heavy earrings with earring backs that can ease the wear and not tear away at your sensitive earlobes, but before we get to that, let’s understand why earring backs are needed in the first place.
Why Are Earring Backs Important?
Earring backs are metal posts at the end of your earrings that keep them from slipping off. Without them, earrings are almost impossible to wear. Earring backs are available in various styles and colours, including pushbacks, screw backs, and french wire.
The most traditional varieties, such as push backs and french wires are the least expensive and easiest to maintain. Made of stainless steel, these are the most common and cost-effective. Contrary to them, lever and screw backs are costly but more secure and long-lasting. High-quality earring backs are made of precious metals such as sterling silver, platinum and gold but they tend to be a bit expensive.
Now, before we give you the 5 best earring backs for heavy earrings, here are a few guidelines that you must consider so that you can make an informed decision while buying one.
Lift
The lift is necessary for any earring back because it allows the earrings to stay straight and be clearly visible besides keeping them in the perfect position. Lift is important for earrings with a lot of weight, such as gemstone or diamond earrings which can intensify the effect of a sagging ear.
Lock
You know how important locks are if you’ve worn earrings with a non-locking back or if you own a pair of nice hoop earrings that require a lock. Earring locks hold hoops and other earrings in place so that they don’t move around a lot. After all, you don’t want your earrings to be upright one minute and upside down the next.
Fit
The right fit is key when picking a back for heavy earrings. Earring backs must match the size of your earrings. Tiny earring backs are difficult to put on and may injure your ear cartilage and lobes. Loose earring backs might also cause your stud earrings to slip out, so make sure the fit is right before getting the apt earring back.
Now, the part that you’ve been waiting for…
5 Best Earring Backs for Heavy Earrings:
1. Adjustable Support Lift Backs
Hypoallergenic and super comfortable, these are ideal for heavy earrings. The adjustable support lift backs protect your earlobe and prevent it from stretching or sagging. Since these are adjustable, they can be worn with any and every type of heavy earring. Even if you have a pair of heavy and ornate diamond studs, you can still use these, as they are a popular pick when it comes to getting earring backs for studs that have significant weight.
Most adjustable support lift backs come in a variety of metals, such as silver, rose gold, white gold and copper. These backs are extremely strong and provide a secure grip on the earrings. If you’re planning to wear heavy earrings to an event that may take up the entire day, then we highly recommend that you cheque these out.
2. Screw Backs
Screw backs are often found on more expensive stud earrings, for example, diamond solitaire stud earrings. They do not slide off the post, making them more secure than a butterfly or scroll backs. This is also why they’re a popular choice for children’s earrings.
Earrings with a screw back have a thread that goes around them, and the earring back, also known as a clutch or ear nut, is twisted around the post like a nut. As a result, they will not come off the post easily and are a good option if you’re worried about the earring falling off.
Screw backs must be screwed onto the back rather than pressed. The threaded earring post allows the back to be rotated until the earring is completely screwed on.
3. La Pousette Earring Backs
In the category of earring backs, the La Pousette backs are the most elabourate, as well as expensive. In order to wear these, you must push down the tabs on both sides to contract the connectors inside the earring back, allowing them onto the earring post. After that, the connectors tighten and the earring backs are secured onto the earring by releasing the tab.
When a La Pousette earring back slides down the post, they get caught by a safety notch at the end. Thus, these earring backs combine the security of screw backs with the simplicity of friction backs.
4. Monster Earring Backs
The name says it all! Monster backs are similar to friction backs, except a sizable round post in this case helps the earrings to stay up straight despite the weight. These earring backs are perfect for heavy earrings and are also a good choice for those with torn or stretched ear piercings.
5. Push-On Stopper
With a bullet clutch design and push-back mechanism, this earring back secures a heavy earring in place and provides comfortable wear.
A push-on stopper has a non-adjustable diameter in the hole, which may not fit all earring posts. However, the security, comfort and ease of wearing make them a popular pick for heavy earrings.
Important Design Considerations
Now that you know the best backs for heavy earrings let’s take a look at the two design aspects that you must be aware of before buying a back for your favourite pairs.
Plastic Disks
Plastic discs are suitable, even for smaller earring backs. A plastic disc can be an excellent alternative to big earring backs for repositioning the earring and keeping the front from drooping. Plastic disks often come with earrings, in addition to the standard earring backs.
Materials
Metal or soft materials are commonly used for making earring backs. If you have sensitive skin, choose earring backs for studs that are made of hypoallergenic materials like gold, platinum, and stainless steel. Silicone and rubber earring backs are good picks if you want to use softer materials.
Conclusion
If you have been wearing heavy earrings for years and have started seeing a slight stretch in your ear lobes, then now is the time to invest in good quality earring backs that can prevent further damage. The last thing you want is to get to a point where you are unable to flaunt those pretty and heavy earrings without the exposed droopy earlobes.
Besides this, it is always a good idea to pay attention to the quality of the earrings and earring backs while buying them, as inexpensive material can do more harm to the skin around your ears and cause infection too. Invest in sturdy earring backs and wear those gorgeous heavy earrings without any worry!
Also See: What Are Lever Back Earrings?
5 Best Earring Backs for Heavy Earrings FAQs
- How To Remove A Flat Back Earring?You can easily remove a flat back earring with the help of tweezers, petroleum jelly, and rubbing alcohol. Begin by wiping your earlobe with rubbing alcohol, then apply a tiny bit of petroleum jelly to smoothen out the skin’s surface. Take a pair of tweezers and gently unscrew the front part of the earring. Once the front piece loosens, gently pull it away while holding the flat back.
- How To Remove Screw-Back Earrings?Screwback earrings are of a more vintage style. In order to put them on, you have to turn them to the right, and if you would like to remove them you need to turn to the left, or counterclockwise.
- How To Take Off Earrings With A Safety Back?To remove earrings with safety backs, hook the pin to the back and push the post with a firm tool like tweezers. The goal is to get the back to a point where you can wriggle or pull it away. When the safety back starts to move, gently pull it off.
- How To Loosen Butterfly Back Earrings?Gently twist one of the loops of the earring backs/butterfly scrolls with the tips of the round nose pliers (outwards to enlarge, inwards to tighten) to alter the loop. Once done, repeat the same thing with the other loop.
- How To Put On Butterfly Back Earrings?Slide the back half of the earring onto the metal hook once the front part is in. Then, secure it by bringing the back part of the earring slowly and carefully to the center. You should be able to put your earring on now!
- How To Take Off Earrings With A Round Back?With your fingertips, gently grasp the stud’s front. Turn the front stud one way and the clasp the other way. Turn the clasp while pulling back on it. Finally, pull the earring stud away from the earlobe to remove it.
