Tradition and history — not medical advice
Karnavedha (karṇavedha): what the Gṛhyasūtras say
Karnavedha (karṇavedha) is not among the birth-and-childhood rites of the fifteen surviving Gṛhyasūtras. No karṇavedha in any of the 15 DCS Gṛhyasūtras (searched: karṇa + vedh/vidh/bhed) nor in Oldenberg's 7 GS. Earliest source found in the local corpora is the Smṛticandrikā (nibandha), Sanskrit only.
| Smṛticandrikā (Saṃskārakāṇḍa, karṇavedha) |
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What the texts describe
Smṛticandrikā (nibandha digest) — Smṛticandrikā, Saṃskārakāṇḍa, "karṇavedhaḥ" section (print ed. page marker [57] inside the passage)
atha karṇavedhaḥ tatra jyotiḥśāstram | kārttike pauṣamāse vā caitre vā phālgune 'pi vā | karṇavedhaṃ praśaṃsanti śuklapakṣe śubhe dine || sunakṣatre śubhe candre susthye śīrṣodaye śubhe | dinacchidravyatīpātaviṣṭivaidhṛtivarjitie || śiśor ajātadantasya mātur utsaṅgavartinaḥ | [57] sauciko vedhayet karṇau sūcyā dviguṇasūtrayā || hasto 'śvinī svātipunarvasū ca tiṣyenducitrā harirevatī ca | candre 'nukūle guruśukravāe karṇau tu vedāv amarejyalagne || amarejyo bṛhaspatiḥ | iti smṛticandrikāyāṃ karṇavedhanam
No public-domain English translation available.
Sanskrit: Oliver Hellwig, Digital Corpus of Sanskrit (DCS), 2010–2021, licensed CC BY 4.0. English: Hermann Oldenberg (trans.), The Grihya-Sutras, Sacred Books of the East 29/30 (1886/1892), public domain, except where marked otherwise.
Safety today
Ear piercing (Smṛticandrikā: needle, child on mother's lap): AAP HealthyChildren — Avoiding Infection After Ear Piercing