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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Is Claire's no good for ear piercing. I've heard both meh stories and horror stories. Also your general advice.

147 replies

lavenderdoilly · 13/06/2016 11:12

Dd is 9. I was 14 about 30 years ago when I had mine done. I've heard neutral and negative stories about Claire's so your comments on going there for her to have it done would be most welcome. Your gener tips and advice also welcome.
I can't remember how long mine took to heal although I do remember "turning" them and using surgical spirit. I spoke to one of her pals who said she used saltwater. Ouch generally. Dd is a bit squeamish. Also, how about sport while they are healing ? Take em out (more ow) or tape em up. Is this doable for swimming?

OP posts:
notamummy10 · 14/06/2016 14:23

Dumbledore depends on the area and the local authority, some piercing studios are restricted to using the gun (very reluctantly I may add).

BeautyGoesToBenidorm · 14/06/2016 14:37

some piercing studios are restricted to using the gun (very reluctantly I may add)

In my professional opinion, if this restriction is in place then they just shouldn't offer ear piercing, quite frankly. I've always flat out refused to use a gun - there's a choice here, nobody's being forced to do it.

If they're the kind of shop that makes their artists use guns on customers, it's not the kind of shop I'd be happy to recommend to someone.

AugustRose · 14/06/2016 18:03

I've just looked on one of our local tattooist's site and it says:

"Under 16s must have a parent with them for consent. We do not advocate the use of piercing guns, all piercings are carried out using single use canula or dermal punches."

Not sure what a dermal punch is, perhaps someone can enlighten me please.

BeautyGoesToBenidorm · 14/06/2016 18:12

A dermal punch is also known as a biopsy punch. It's used to remove cylindrical shaped areas of skin, a little like an apple corer. These would NOT be used for a standard earlobe piercing - these would be done with a cannula.

BeautyGoesToBenidorm · 14/06/2016 18:13

Cylindrical shaped... I could've just said 'tube' Grin Excuse my bollocks talk!

BalloonSlayer · 14/06/2016 18:15

DD had hers done at Claire's.

The guy doing it (had lots of piercings himself) took AGES lining up where they would go, to get them exactly right, to the extent that I was getting bored and DD, whom I had warned (excessively, if I'm honest!) that it would really hurt was starting to get nervous. Then he finally did it, it didn't hurt at all! Grin DD has had no problems whatsoever with the holes (I also warned her about all the potential problems: infections, holes closing up, blah blah and she's had none of them.)

I was very impressed - 100% satisfied customer.

ilovewelshrarebit123 · 14/06/2016 18:20

My DD (9) had hers done at Claire's, it was clean, quick, professional and there were two girls so over in seconds.

She didn't flinch, I paid for the rapid liquid aftercare (which smells like bleach). Never had a problem and this was last year.

AugustRose · 14/06/2016 18:22

Beauty ha ha but I know what you mean now Smile Hopefully DD2 will wait a while anyway, but the price was good for basic ear piercing £10 or 2 for £15.

BeautyGoesToBenidorm · 14/06/2016 18:25

I paid for the rapid liquid aftercare

I'm sorry you were led to believe this was worth paying extra for. No aftercare solution can accelerate healing time - that's down to the body and the body alone. It doesn't matter if it was cleaned with saline or with unicorn tears, the length of the healing period doesn't change according to what you put on the piercing.

TheSnowFairy · 14/06/2016 19:27

Me and DS1, DS2 and DD were in a shopping centre recently and we heard the awful screaming.

It was a young girl sitting in the window at Claire's, who'd had one ear pierced and was screaming because the assistant was trying to get her to have the second one done.

It was horrific for the poor child, you could hear her from miles away Shock

Janeyjanejane · 14/06/2016 19:32

Had mine done there. It was clean, the assistant followed good hygiene routine, explained how to look after ears afterwards. Problem free.

AllPowerfulLizardPerson · 14/06/2016 19:51

"She didn't flinch, I paid for the rapid liquid aftercare (which smells like bleach)."

That's because it is bleach!

"... the new stuff is hypochlorite (presume sodium hypochlorite) ie essentially the same stuff as Milton Fluid."

kali110 · 14/06/2016 20:49

Needle is better.
Had my first ear piercings with a gun years ago at claires.
It was fine, though took longer to heal compared to when i had them done twice later with a needle.
Never have cartilage piercings done without a needle as it can damage it. ( i no longer have cartilage piercings yet i get pain there frequently).
The only upside to using a gun on the nose i found is that it hurt less than the needle Grin
However My nose stud never healed the second time i got it pierced with a gun, so i ended up getting it redone with a needle anyway.

If you have it done with a gun you're stuck with the choice of metal you can have. ( i have to have titanium when i have new piercings as anything else irritates them).

ilovewelshrarebit123 · 14/06/2016 21:44

I wasn't 'led' to believe anything, I bought it because I wanted to.

She has had no problems with her piercing, she had them done in July last year and didn't take them out until her ballet exam in April this year.

It's simple if you don't trust Claire's don't go! No need to get shirty with people Sad

XLFactor · 14/06/2016 22:25

It was horrific for the poor child, you could hear her from miles away

You can save all this torture by doing it when they're little. Pharmacist's will pierce ears from 4 months (right after jabs). My dd cried for about 90 seconds time it took to get my boob out and that was it!

No drama, no infection, too young to scratch or muck it about.

Dumbledoresgirl · 14/06/2016 22:38

Too young to be able to say whether she wants her body pierced either.

milkyface · 14/06/2016 22:45

I had my ears pierced at Claire's!

Was fine. Marked out piercing - one girl on each ear, over in seconds.

Unnecessarily expensive nowadays I believe and you have a limited choice of jewellery, plus they pierce with guns which I didn't have a prob with but some do as you can see!

I would prob go to an independent place BUT I think for a youngish kid it can be quite intimidating as they're often quite adult environments.

If quite nervous I'd prob go with Claire's, but if not I'd def go independent.

milkyface · 14/06/2016 22:46

Just to add I didn't find it painful at all. I was about 8/9 I think!

MadisonAvenue · 15/06/2016 02:02

I first had my ears pierced back in the 1970s and I'm not sure if there were piercing studios back then, or if there were then it wasn't widely known that they were around and having said that we're not particularly well off for them in this area even now, so it was the norm to have ears pierced by a gun and usually at a hair salon or jeweller's. Either that or the ice cube and needle in your bedroom method.
I even remember when I was training in a hair salon and one of the other juniors practised ear piercing on me, giving me a few extra holes in each ear. It just didn't seem that big a deal.

ApocalypseNowt · 15/06/2016 07:41

Can't say where i used to work to know this but the list of customers of Claires where there were problems is extensive and makes for pretty grisly reading....

AgingJuvenileBinkyHuckaback · 15/06/2016 07:43

What kind of problems Apocalypse? Not doubting - just curious as to what were the most common problems and what were the more extreme ones.

ApocalypseNowt · 15/06/2016 11:46

Lobe trauma, scarring and absolutely loads of ones involving infections of various types and severity. I guess this is due to poor/minimal staff training and the fact they use a gun. Some of the worse ones ended up with quite extensive damage/scarring to the ear requiring medical attention to sort them out.

Should say i have no first hand experience - nothing on me is pierced!

myownprivateidaho · 15/06/2016 11:52

My piercer at Claire's aimed the gun wrong so the earring went in the front and out of the bottom of my ear! Had to let the holes heal up completely as it looked awful. I was only a teenager and didn't say a word of complaint!

BeautyGoesToBenidorm · 15/06/2016 14:41

ilovewelshrarebit - apologies if you thought I was being shirty, I genuinely wasn't, although reading my post back I can understand how it came across like that, sorry! Flowers

I must say though, for me it isn't a matter of 'if you don't trust Claire's, don't go', because I spend a disproportionate amount of time at work correcting the messes places like Claire's have made of people's ears. I'm currently serving as an independent witness, in a case that has been taken to court by a young woman who was nothing short of mutilated by a poorly trained piercer. I've had to write detailed reports about what went wrong and what the consequences are - in this woman's case, damage so significant she now requires reconstructive surgery using cartilage removed from her rib. This kind of immense fuck up just SHOULDN'T be happening.

Apocalypse, I have absolutely no doubt that you've seen some grisly stuff.

NiceViper · 15/06/2016 20:23

If you live in an area where the local authority restricts the use of needles, cannot travel elsewhere and so have to settle for a gun, it's still better to go to a proper piercing parlour and be done someone who pierces all day and who really understands what they are doing.

And look for a cartridge-based system (as nothing shared touches the skin) delivered by hand pressure, not spring-loaded gun.

I'm not suggesting in the least that this is preferable to needle (how I had mine done). Just thoughts on the safest way for a gun piercing if you're somewhere where that is your only choice.