Is Claires Accessories a relatively safe place to get ears pierced?

[KatyMac]

DD is having them done for her 11th Birthday

I am slightly dubious but have been over ruled bu DD, DH & my mum

I just want to make sure it is done safely & well

[thesockmonsterofdoom]

I had at least one of my many done there and it was fine, if you want it doing super proper then you should go to a tatooist, otherwise I think Claires is as good as the other places that do it with a gun.

[theSuburbanDryad]

Go to a tattoo or piercing parlour and get it done properly with a needle, IMO.

[IllegallyBrunette]

I don't know anyone who have ever had any problems after having their ears pierced at Claires.

I don't know if they still do, but they used to do both ears at the same time.

[LynetteScavo]

I didn't know you could do it with a needle rather than a gun. Is that a better way then?

[mindalina]

I'm inclined to agree with SD, get them done properly wih needles. I had a second set of ear piercings done twice at Claire's which never healed - I think the piercing guns are not conducive to easy healing ime.

[thesockmonsterofdoom]

it is better to get pierced with a needle, less chance of bad reactions, less pain and just generally less vicious iyswim.
I have just been reading another thread about having a small child earsmpierced, you have done well o make her wait till 11, my niece had her done at 8 and looked after them perfectly well so she should be OK.
My 5yo dd really wants hers doing but I want her to wait a few years yet, anything to be like hr older cousin.

[mindalina]

They use hollow needles, so remove a tiny sliver of flesh for the earring to sit in, rather than forcing the point of the stud through the ear, iyswim? In my own personal experience/opinion - my ear piercings done with guns never healed and I ended up taking them all out, my nose piercing (also done with a gun) was v hit and miss but did heal in the end. My lip and ear piercings that were done with needles all healed beautifully and have given me no problems.

[theSuburbanDryad]

Much less risk of infection with a needle IME.

Personally, I'd never get a childs' ears pierced anywhere they pierce tiny babies, but perhaps I am odd.

[KatyMac]

Gulp

I think I may change my mind

[theSuburbanDryad]

If you've said yes then it's not very fair to change your mind, I don't think. 11 is fine to get ears pierced (although I might try and wait till the holidays so she doesn't have to cover them for PE) but I wouldn't get it done at claires.

[LynetteScavo]

Hollow needles sound gruesom!

[mindalina]

DD might change her mind if you put it to her that she has to go to a piercing parlour and have needles put in her!

[mindalina]

It's actually quite fascinating to peer down the needle afterwards and see this tiny weeny bit of you... Or maybe that's just me

[theSuburbanDryad]

You're putting metal through your body Lynette. How un-gruesome d'you think it's going to be?

[CrushWithEyeliner]

I wouldn't do it from a moral standpoint - they "do" babies there. I would go to somewhere like a store - Harrods or Selfredges where they are reputable.

[Sidge]

I would prefer to take my DD to a tattoo/piercing place than to Claire's and have some clueless Saturday girl do it.

At least at a regsitered piercing place you know they know what they're doing.

[Pannacotta]

I would definately NOT go to Claires, have seen them do piercings in the shop in full view of customers and passers by, can't be right IMO.
Proper pearcing place/beauty therapist etc better.

[TequilaMockinBird]

DD had her ears pierced at Claires 4 years ago (aged 7) and has never had any problems.

[LynetteScavo]

I'm intruged by the needle piercing - does it hurt or bleed?

I hade my ears pierced with a gun when I was 16, and it didn't hurt - but then I was sooooooooo desperate to have them done, I wouldn't have cared.

[DoNotAsfinishedXmasshopping]

Mt DTDs had them done at Claires in the summer.

DTD1 had a very very minor infection - but that was at the end of the 6 weeks (and after we had neglected to clean it for a couple of days at teh end of our holiday) - so that was our fault not theirs.

They had them done about 3m ago and I think that as they are still healing. I am having a minor problem with one of DTD2s at the moment. About 3 weeks ago it became difficult to twist - and I struggled to get it out. Anyways...I kind of pulled a whole tube of skin with teh earing - which had obviously healed onto the stud (it was absolutely fine for the first 2m or so - we had even changed the earings afew times)...which was kind of inside out IYSWIM...all I could do was cut of hte tube of skin - so now I suspect we are in the 6wk healing process again. (if anyone wants to advise on this please feel free - it seems to keep trying to heal to teh stud - particularly on the back of the ear - but to teh stud not teh butterfly - I am taking out the earring regularly and cleaning it with the sterilising solution to try and prevent it adhearing to the stud).

Again I don't think that was Claire's fault - probably more of a gun v needle problem that Claires v another outlet IYSWIM.

[bronze]

Needle every time. Even my best mate doing it was preferable to the gun I had the first time.

[bottersnike]

I took dh to get his ear pierced a couple of weeks' ago (birthday present!), and he refused to go to Claire's, mainly because it just felt weird, so we went to a tattoist. Really pleased we did; they were fantastic, and he's had no problems.

[mindalina]

Lynette it does hurt, but imo is a much more bearable pain than being pierced with a gun because the needle is sharp so slides easily into the flesh rather than a blunt and thick stud being forced, iyswim? I bet I've put you right off now I also found cause it was a bit slower it was easier to bear - not the short sharp shock type of pain from gun piercing.

I'm not sure about bleeding - a few of my piercings have bled but only when they've been done after I've had a drink - apparently alcohol makes you more likely to bleed? Who knew. Ear piercings on a 11 year old, I would think, are unlikely to bleed.

[luckylady74]

Wouldn't you rather go to a place where they don't hold down babies in the window?