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Original poster

Pierced ears- when and where?

27 replies

SkiFiend · 03/09/2018 18:52

DD2 has started asking to have her ears pierced. She's 10, 11 in December.

I just wondered what age other people had pierced ears. I had thought not until 12-13 but wanted to see whether I was in sync with others. She is responsible and would be fine doing the cleaning etc.

Where would you recommend? She's talking about Claire's but that gives me the absolute willies as the assistants in our local one can barely work the till, never mind a piercing gun. Pharmacist? Specialist piercing place?

OP posts:
exLtEveDallas · 03/09/2018 18:54

End of year 6 (giving 6 weeks to heal) at a piercing/tattoo parlour that will use a hollow needle NOT a gun.

statetrooperstacey · 03/09/2018 18:57

Your local beauty therapy place should do it. I think 10 is fine, quite late if anything. Many people will come and tell you to go to a piercing studio and make sure they uses a needle. I would not advise this. I think a gun is best. See if you can get 2 people to do it at the same time. It's very common just ask. Claire's should be ok. Or beauty therapy place or a jewellers.Don't overthink it!

SilverHairedCat · 03/09/2018 19:02

Do NOT get it done with a gun - it's blunt trauma, much more painful. Gun piercing pierces the ear with the earring which is not that sharp. Piercing with a needle is far superior, can have the same jewellery fitted, and will be done by someone with month of not years of training and experience.

Claires should not be allowed to do it, nor beauty parlours IMO.

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PerspicaciaTick · 03/09/2018 19:04

My first set of ear piercings was done with a gun. The second set were done by a proper piercing person with a needle. The second set were less painful and healed faster.

SilverHairedCat · 03/09/2018 19:07

@PerspicaciaTick same. And the bloody gun got stuck on my ear, which the lass at H Samuel had never seen before and had to leave hanging from my ear while she ran downstairs to get a colleague to come and sort out. The clip the earrings are in was caught up somehow.

Why people insist on putting anyone, let alone young children, into the hands of the likes of Claires I do not know.

skippy67 · 03/09/2018 19:08

I've had all of my 6 ear piercings done with a gun, as has my dd. No problems whatsoever. Dd got her first ones done aged 11.

skippy67 · 03/09/2018 19:08

Forgot to say, she got them done at a local pharmacy.

Viebienremplie · 03/09/2018 19:14

My 10 yo wants them done, I'm holding out as she's just not mature enough to take responsibility for keeping them clean. I think she'll be ready about age 12.

I would not touch Claire's with a barge pole for piercing and will be going to an experienced piercer without a gun when we do it.

MarthaArthur · 03/09/2018 19:16

Gun is absolutely fine on the earlobes. Its designed for them. A needle is for everywhere else. Check around as many piercing parlours wont do under 16s now.

BigBlueBubble · 03/09/2018 19:17

Get pierced at a proper piercing place where they can ensure the holes are straight and symmmetrical. Not somewhere like Claire’s where the staff can barely work the till never mind pierce ears properly.

I had my ears pierced by the hairdresser aged 10. I recall the first earring hurt so much that I refused to have the second one done. A reputable piercer would have let me take my time and come back later, or another day, when I felt ready. Or even change my mind and have the first earring removed. However the hairdresser was hardly a professional. She and her colleague held me down screaming and struggling while they pierced the other ear. I have no idea how they managed to even get the gun on my ear when I was clawing them and trying to escape. To this day my second hole is lopsided and difficult to get an earring through.

PerspicaciaTick · 03/09/2018 19:19

Also the aftercare instructions for my needle-made piercings was a doddle, leave them be, don't touch, don't twiddle or twist, let the shower head run on them every day to keep them clear of gunk while they heal.

dustarr73 · 03/09/2018 19:20

Gun is absolutely fine on the earlobes.
It really not.The gun cant get cleaned properly.Blunt trauma and letting people who have an hours training is really not adviseable.

Go to a piercer who will have years of training,is clean and can give proper advice.

Mildpanic · 03/09/2018 19:21

My dd had hers done last week at Claire’s. She is not quite 10 but it was part of a lovely girlie day out. The staff were good. Both done at same time. She is managing with the cleaning herself although I am overseeing it to quite an involved level.
I have wondered if I am going to be judged as a parent however I think I am capable of judging what is safe and appropriate for my dd.
I don’t think there is an exact age, I think it is dependant in the child.

thismeansnothing · 03/09/2018 19:23

Don't get it done at Claire's. They use piercing guns and it costs an absolute fortune . Go to a proper piercers/tattoists where they use a proper needle. £10-15 job done!

OddestSock · 03/09/2018 19:23

My daughter had hers done at the start of the summer (she’s 8) at a piercing place. It was the only place we could find that pierced with a needle. They were fantastic with her & after seeing that (I’ve had mine done with a piercing gun many years ago), I’d only go somewhere they use a needle now.

AvocadosBeforeMortgages · 03/09/2018 19:24

Not a gun - it's blunt force trauma, you get a very fine spray of blood going back over the gun, and it's not possible to autoclave (sterilise) the gun properly.

Go to a proper tattoo / piercing studio. I've never known them to be anything other than utterly professional and with a clear obsession with hygiene - hospitals are dirtier. Often a city will have one with an excellent reputation e.g. Cold Steel in Camden, Holier than Thou in Manchester, Pierced Up in Bristol.

This isn't a bad overview of what to look for www.holier-than-thou.co.uk/services/piercing/piercing-faqs/

bellinisurge · 03/09/2018 19:25

Proper jewellers. Not Claire's.

Amaaboutthis · 03/09/2018 19:26

My DD was 8 and had it done at Claire’s, it was absolutely fine.

massistar · 03/09/2018 19:29

DD got hers done for her 9th birthday. She had them done at Blue Banana. They were done by a piercing artist but she did use a gun. DD barely blinked at the 'blunt force trauma'.

Quartz2208 · 03/09/2018 19:34

DD had hers done at a reputable piercing parlour at 8. I had very strict conditions - one of which that she kept the titanium metal pair in for the time being and together we had a strict cleaning routine at the beginning.

A lot of her classmates had then done and went to cheaper earrings early on (from Claires) and a lot had ear infections

Original poster
SkiFiend · 03/09/2018 19:36

Thank you, everybody.

OP posts:
TittyGolightly · 03/09/2018 19:38

DD had hers done at a reputable piercing parlour at 8. I had very strict conditions - one of which that she kept the titanium metal pair in for the time being and together we had a strict cleaning routine at the beginning.

This is what DD will have if she still wants hers pierced -with surgical grade titanium - but not before she’s 10.

A lot of her classmates had then done and went to cheaper earrings early on (from Claires) and a lot had ear infections

Ear infections? Mine left me with a life long severe nickel allergy. Lots of research done into it and available online. I wouldn’t risk DD getting the same.

Potato2242 · 03/09/2018 19:41

Needle. Not gun. Just because some people haven't had problems doesn't mean it's worse. Guns are horrific to the body

Kewqueue · 03/09/2018 19:44

I had my done with a gun as a child - they never really healed and I "discovered" I had a nickel allergy - could it actually have been caused by the piercing? I let them close up in the end and haven't worn earrings for 20 years - is there any point in trying again with a needle piercing? (Sorry to piggy back on your question OP!)

TittyGolightly · 03/09/2018 19:48

could it actually have been caused by the piercing?

Yes.

is there any point in trying again with a needle piercing?

You could. You’d need non-nickel jeweller though: platinum, high grade sterling silver, surgical grade titanium

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