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Original poster

Ear lobe piercing for 10yr old DD swimmer

30 replies

Reginaphalangeeeee · 11/07/2025 12:59

Please advise…
Do I really need her to stay out of the water for 4-6 weeks?
She is 10 and desperate to get ears pierced which I agreed for her 10th birthday.
She is a competitive swimmer so swims at least 4 times a week which is unlikely to change any time soon.

I rang a well rated tattoo and piercing place. They said 6 weeks no swimming?
Eek. What to do?
Maybe easier over summer holidays as I can get her to clean them more often?

Any advise?

OP posts:
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Original poster
Reginaphalangeeeee · 19/08/2025 08:36

Update: 4 weeks in. No problems.
Continue with x2 daily saline wash (especially after a swim).

OP posts:
indoorplantqueen · 28/07/2025 15:35

my dd14 just had a second piercing a few weeks ago, also swims competitively. Piercer said 24 hours. Lots of the other kids have piercings.

Original poster
Reginaphalangeeeee · 28/07/2025 08:28

Ok a week in now and she managed 5 days out of the water.
On her return we tried waterproof plasters… and tape.
Neither held!
She has been in the pool Friday, sat and Sunday now.
I have thoroughly cleaned with saline immediately after her swims before the pool water dried on her.

So far… so good!
It's 5 weeks now til out holiday abroad and hopping less vigilant cleaning will be needed then.

I will update if she gets an infection for help for others considering what to do with competitive swimmers.

OP posts:
Original poster
Reginaphalangeeeee · 22/07/2025 20:27

Thanks everyone. We have braved it and got it done!
Went to a reputable tattoo/piercing place. Not sure what I expected but the heavy metal music maybe didn't pit my DD at ease 😆.
The heavily pierced girl was great with her though.

Having had both daughters ears pierced I would conclude that the gun approach appears less painful.
Now it's done though, flat backs are best and screws on jewel is on front.
Cleaning with Neils piercing spray.
One is a bit bruised but not too swollen.
She has stayed out of the water since piercing but think 5 days may be her max 😬
Hoping it's dried up a bit by then and will carefully clean after swimming each time.

They recommend returning to replace to shorter bar in 6 week 🤷‍♀️

OP posts:
Yuja · 12/07/2025 21:59

Oh agree needles, titanium and a flat back and leave them in for 8-10 weeks not 6

Yuja · 12/07/2025 21:59

My competitive swimmer had hers done at 10 - we only managed to stay out the water 4 days 😅 all was fine

JazzyBBBG · 12/07/2025 21:57

I'm a swim mum and added complications of a bleeding disorder as well. We didn't swim for about 2 weeks then cleaned carefully after. Was fine.

coeliacsucks · 12/07/2025 21:53

I went swimming the day after I had my nose done and it was fine x actually swimming everyday for the couple of weeks after

Monvelo · 12/07/2025 21:48

Posted on wrong thread sorry

itisnotknitting · 11/07/2025 19:52

Reginaphalangeeeee · 11/07/2025 15:39

Thank you so much for all of your advice.

Isn't just me that think 6 weeks is a bit excessive.

Interesting that post piercing care advise changed so much from since I was a child. I did saline wash and twiddle but was swimming as much as ever.

I understand increased infection risk and good piercing places will want you to minimise risk and their reputation hense the recommendation. But if you wash straight after surely it is ok.?
I have decided Peirce with needle place rather than gun, apparently less trauma and less risk of infection. Also flat backs apparently better too and titanium, these are all things that are progress. Also have post piercing spray etc.

Oh I don't know. Feel terrible to explain to her reasons for not getting done (she is desperate and may even give up swimming for it) or to get it done & feel bad if she gets an infection that really bothers her.

Yes to needles, titanium and flat backs.

As you say, the advice has changed loads. I was told to use surgical spirit and twiddle. Now the advice is sterile saline and LITHA (leave it the hell alone!). Guns were the norm when I was a child but they are now frowned upon due to use of blunt force trauma and increased infection risk because they can't be sterilised between uses.

You are right that a piercer will err on the side of caution. I had a daith piercing recently and was told it was best not to swim until it's healed... but that could take 6-9 months minimum. I'm not staying out of the water for that long. My piercer said what I said upthread - that if I did decide to swim to use Neilmed and dry thoroughly.

It will more than likely be fine if she swims but I would at least wait until any swelling and redness has resolved and her ears are no longer sore.

Lovelynames123 · 11/07/2025 16:55

One of mine is getting them done tomorrow, holiday in 3 weeks so she'll be in the pool then and hopefully mostly healed!

YankSplaining · 11/07/2025 16:25

Reginaphalangeeeee · 11/07/2025 15:39

Thank you so much for all of your advice.

Isn't just me that think 6 weeks is a bit excessive.

Interesting that post piercing care advise changed so much from since I was a child. I did saline wash and twiddle but was swimming as much as ever.

I understand increased infection risk and good piercing places will want you to minimise risk and their reputation hense the recommendation. But if you wash straight after surely it is ok.?
I have decided Peirce with needle place rather than gun, apparently less trauma and less risk of infection. Also flat backs apparently better too and titanium, these are all things that are progress. Also have post piercing spray etc.

Oh I don't know. Feel terrible to explain to her reasons for not getting done (she is desperate and may even give up swimming for it) or to get it done & feel bad if she gets an infection that really bothers her.

Yeah, flat backs are supposed to be better, they say now. The place my daughter went to - in the US, so YMMV - wouldn’t do a needle piercing for kids under twelve, and used something called a “hand-pressured device” which they insisted was not the same as a piercing gun. I don’t know how much of a difference there is, but mine were pierced by a nurse with a piercing gun, so I figured a nurse with a hand-pressured device was probably okay for my daughter.

Original poster
Reginaphalangeeeee · 11/07/2025 15:39

Thank you so much for all of your advice.

Isn't just me that think 6 weeks is a bit excessive.

Interesting that post piercing care advise changed so much from since I was a child. I did saline wash and twiddle but was swimming as much as ever.

I understand increased infection risk and good piercing places will want you to minimise risk and their reputation hense the recommendation. But if you wash straight after surely it is ok.?
I have decided Peirce with needle place rather than gun, apparently less trauma and less risk of infection. Also flat backs apparently better too and titanium, these are all things that are progress. Also have post piercing spray etc.

Oh I don't know. Feel terrible to explain to her reasons for not getting done (she is desperate and may even give up swimming for it) or to get it done & feel bad if she gets an infection that really bothers her.

OP posts:
ChristmaslightsuptilJanuary · 11/07/2025 14:16

I had mine done at Claire’s a few weeks ago and they said stay out of the pool for 24hrs. I won’t in the same afternoon and was fine (not that I’d recommend you do that, especially with a child)

Migrainesandme · 11/07/2025 13:43

I had my ears done at 3 days old second ones done at 10 years old i went in the shower that night and swimming the next day.
I think things have changed over the years but i was told that some kids use plasters to cover the ears now.

I now have 7 in each ear.

MauriceTheMussel · 11/07/2025 13:29

MaryBeardsShoes · 11/07/2025 13:23

There’s a big difference between warm salt water and sea water and it’s alarming you don’t understand that!

Show quote history

Obviously I can comprehend that.

i had a piercing that was giving my flare ups. Went on holiday, swam in the sea. No issues after that. That’s my anecdote.

You can get an infection off just about anything when you think about it - dog licking your ears, something in your hair, whatever. Clean after swimming. Life has risks. You can’t live in a hermetically sealed hamster ball.

Finteq · 11/07/2025 13:25

I would have thought sea water was.worse, as you don't know how clean it is. Where's at least a swimming pool has chlorine.

Also I think there is ways of taping the piercing with waterproof tape?

But best to ask the piercing place for advice.

MaryBeardsShoes · 11/07/2025 13:23

MauriceTheMussel · 11/07/2025 13:14

The sea is better! When I had a conch piercing, the advice was the bathe in warm salt water.

I had my lobes done about 30 years ago, with a gun, in the 90s when there was zero aftercare advice however!

There’s a big difference between warm salt water and sea water and it’s alarming you don’t understand that!

MaryBeardsShoes · 11/07/2025 13:22

I had my lobes pierced last summer and my piercer (piercist?) said I just needed to wait for 48 hrs, and make sure to clean them with the solution before and after.

However I found it quite uncomfortable to swim for some months after, as the piercing was a bit tender.

itisnotknitting · 11/07/2025 13:21

I'd also be concerned about a swimming hat (assuming she wears one) putting pressure on the piercing and causing irritation so be careful of that too.

itisnotknitting · 11/07/2025 13:18

MauriceTheMussel · 11/07/2025 13:14

The sea is better! When I had a conch piercing, the advice was the bathe in warm salt water.

I had my lobes done about 30 years ago, with a gun, in the 90s when there was zero aftercare advice however!

Piercings should be cleaned with sterile saline. Not sea water. 🤦🏼‍♀️ Swimming anywhere with an unhealed piercing is risky.

YankSplaining · 11/07/2025 13:17

My ten-year-old just got her ears pierced in March, and was told that after the first couple weeks, swimming in a pool was okay because the chlorine would kill germs.

itisnotknitting · 11/07/2025 13:16

Swimming with an unhealed wound (which is what a piercing is) risks infection so ideally she should wait as advised. I'm sure you will find plenty of people who say they swam right away and were fine. They were just lucky. Your daughter might be lucky too but there's no way to know. Only you can decide whether you are comfortable with the risk.

If she does swim I would take saline solution (something like Neilmed) to spray on her ears when she comes out of the water and make sure they are fully dried.

Hankunamatata · 11/07/2025 13:15

I would have thought if you clean peircimgt before and straight after it would be fine but im not an expert