To think piercing a child's ears with a gun should be banned?

[lovesthosebeeps]

Okay, people must insist it's done because xyz

Mine was done with a needle as a tiny baby. However, it appears most tattoo places that do piercings won't touch a baby/small child.

But I've always known guns are worse. A tattoo/piercing artist I know personally just posted this image on FB

She says the gun isn't a clean go, and can cause damage to surrounding tissue etc.

AIBU to wonder why this is still allowed, with a gun, because it can cause so many issues later on?

Obviously it would be best if people didn't bother getting small children done at all but at least abolish bloody guns?!

One thing about ear piercing is that there's very little risk if the person later decided they didn't want the piercings. The holes are barely visible and even in a worst case scenario, if there was scarring, say, ears are easy to cover with hair.

I agree. DD had hers done at 10, after we'd had a proper talk about care.

But 10 is a very arbitrary age, isn’t it? It’s not the legal age of majority and it’s not an age generally considered to be valid for Gillick Competence. What it is, is an individual parent’s assessment of whether their child has adequate maturity and understanding of what’s involved with a piercing and how to take care of it. For some parents, that could be as old as 16; or as young as 4.

Hence why there’s no legal lower age for a piercing, and why the law is content for parents to make their own decisions.

I don’t think we should ban ear piercing guns to appease tattoo artists (and increase their revenue at others’ expense).

The degree of injury from ear guns is nothing like serious enough to take away the consumer choice (and lower prices) that having them provides.

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss if you banned it there would be loads more young teenagers like me piercing their own ears or piercing their 9+ year old siblings ears. This would cause more problems for the NHS as unlike Claires, jewellers and tattoo parlours a lot of teens wouldn't bother to sterilise their needles and earrings.

I used to think guns were bad due to sterilisation issues and tissue damage. I've had a lot of piercings in my life with both a needle and a gun, and I've never had any issues with either. I've had my gunned ears done for about 20 years, and there's no damaged skin as far as I can see. Same for everyone else I know who had a gun piercing 🤷‍♀️

My DD age 6 has just has hers done with
needles at a tattoo studio. She barely flinched when it happened. Initially, she was more than willing to wait until she was 12 but when I was recently getting a new piercing, I was informed of the local law on them

"As long as the person who is getting pierced is aware of what is happening and consents to getting it done (along with appropriate parental consent) there is no lower age limit on ear piercing."

So for 2 weeks we watched videos of people getting their ears pierced. We went for a wee visit to the shop to have a look at the equipment that will be used and watched the piercer work on another client (with permission.)

The main reason we chose needle over guns though is the type of jewellery available. "Gun" jewellery is often not long enough to allow for swelling, which in turn can cause the ear to "eat" the butterfly back. We also chose Implant Grade Titanium, which has an extremely low allergy risk, unlike Stainless Steel, Gold Plated Rhodium and 18ct Gold.

Disagree. When I was a kid we all had our ears pierced with a gun with no issues. I’ve got 3 piercings in each ear. My kids had theirs done at Claires with a gun, no issues at all.

I can't get worked up about when or if other people choose to get their kids ears pierced. My dd is 5 and has started asking, I would like to wait until next summer holidays and see if she is still keen. If not we can hold off till she wants them.

YABU. The gun is much better. Quicker, cleaner, easier, more direct for piercing ears. Why on earth anyone would choose a needle for it just baffles me

Quicker? Cleaner? More direct?

Lol!

I had mine done age 7 with a gun
It hurt.

I had a 2nd piercing done with a gun age 14.. it hurt

I have had 2 further piercings done as an adult. With needles. Hurt but not as I recall the gun hurting.

The piercings done with the gun I still get regular infections in (I am 50) the 2nd I've let heal up. You can still feel a small bump where it was.

The needle piercings ive never had any infections in what so ever

When my dd wanted their done (age 12 and 14) we went to a piercing studio. Dd1 said it hurt a lot dd2 said it didn't really hurt.

I think the pain is objective to each persons pain threshold.

Personally I would never again pierce with a gun
I've learned the damage and experienced it myself. I agree piercings on young babies however at age 7 I knew I wanted them done and I have never regretted them pierced but I do hate how easily they get infected.

Also the tattoo studio was more private than the places I had a gun done. Tattooist had private rooms the guns were just done on a chair in their shop

I am another who hates to see babies with it done.
Would like to see it left to at least 12 or older.
Seems wrong to inflict pain on babies who do not choose this, all for no good reason.
Dd had hers done when she was about 10 ( a relative took her as a birthday present) . They got infected despite the bathing and turning and they were uneven. We had to let them close and later as an adult had them redone at a reputable place and had no bother. I think her first were done with a needle .

Everyone I know has had their ears done with a gun and never had issues (me included). But I would probably go to a place which uses needles if I ever had anymore done - had my lobes down twice at around aged 7 and 10.

I think piercings should be banned in babies and small children until they can make their own decision (say 5+)

My daughter is 6 and just had hers done a month or so ago - most of her friends had it done ages ado. I tried to find somewhere that do it with a needle but couldn't find any for her age. She had it done with a gun but a proper piercing shop that did them from age 5 . Avoided Claire's at all costs. Healing just fine!

Dd had hers done yesterday (she’s 11) at the local tattoo shop. Implant grade titanium and flat backed (no butterfly) stems with internal threaded fronts were my reasoning. And the studs are slightly longer to allow for any swelling which reduces the chance of the ear swallowing the back of the piercing. A strong focus on hygiene and aftercare made me very happy with my choice, he also took the time to have a proper chat with dd about what he would do and talked to her all the way through the procedure. She’s chuffed to bits with them.