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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Gulp

I think I may change my mind

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.

Hollow needles sound gruesom!

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!

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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