To not let my daughter get her ears pierced at Claires?

[Hdaniels11]

My Dd has just turned 9 and has been begging me to let her have her ears pierced so i agreed but i told her that we will have to go to a "proper" piercing place and not Claire's. I didn't really know much about Claire's until i started looking into it and apparently it's got a really bad reputation for piercings and i have read multiple things online about how piercing guns are bad?Im not sure how true that is tho. My Dd specifically wants them done at Claire's because she loves the shop and that's where all her friends got them done but i don't want to risk her going there and getting a nasty infected piercing. I do feel mean saying she can't go there but i don't know what else to do.
Should i give her a choice between getting them done at a reputable place or no piercing at all?

@OhmygodDont It doesn't matter that it's a fact that guns are not as hygienic and have the potential to cause more damage - it'll be put down to snobbery.
I actually bought some sterling silver studs from Claire's recently - would I get my piercings done there? Hell no! I don't have daughters, but hypothetically wouldn't mind taking them in if they wanted to browse, I just don't want to relive my own mother's horror of my child coming to me with an ear spewing out pus and blood wondering what the heck I should do!

DD2 is trained in piercing. Earrings are not sharp and not designed to be pushed through skin. They might taper but the end of them is blunt. She can tell a gun piercing just by feeling the cartilage around the hole. No gun will ever be completely sterile. You wouldn't be happy if a phlebotomist didn't change their gloves between patients. The risk of passing on an infection is minimal but you wouldn't take the chance. Same for piercing. Fresh gloves and fresh needle opened in front of the client, rather than a quickly wiped down gun.

I've got multiple ear piercings, the first 2 sets I had done with guns and were ok, but pretty sore healing. The last ones were with a needle and much much less sore. There could be an element of me being older and taking better care of them, but it felt a lot less traumatic for my ears (although i was far more worried about having it done in a more intimidating shop with a scary needle).

My friend had hers done with a gun around the same time as I did and the idiots who did it did something wrong so the posts were scraped before they went in and she got an unpleasant infection in both ears.

Quiet calm room with someone who knew exactly what they were doing, less pain in the piercing and the healing vs sitting on a stool in the window of a chaotic noisy shop full of 12 year olds and sparkly stuff while the girl was giggling while setting the gun up. I know where I would go if I wanted more.

I would compromise- take her to a professional piercer for the piercings but get her to pick out some cute earrings from Claire’s for when they have healed (presumably that’s part of the reason she wants to have them done at Claire’s)

Also, don’t bother with buying specialised cleaning solutions that are more than one step, any saline/ salt water solution will work. (Claire’s will almost definitely push you to buy theirs.)

🤣🤣 🤣🤣

Definitely no to piercing guns. Go somewhere with a needle. Everyone I know knows Claire’s is grim for piercings.

Thanks for the advice! I've compromised with her and said she can pick out a pair of earrings in Claire's and get them pierced at a different place.

The point on the posts is nowhere NEAR as sharp as a piercing needle, nothing like it. And not all the studs made and sold for piercing guns have a point at all some are indeed absolutely blunt.

Just no comparison at all.

Ear piercing guns work by forcing the stud through the ear, crushing the tissue around the hole.

Needles work due to the incredible sharpness of the needle sliding through the ear making a hole the right size for the stud post.

Nope avoid Claires, overpriced, unhygienic and the people doing the piercing have done nothing more than a day course on how to use the piercing gun. Piercing guns really can't be properly sanitised due to all the wee fiddly parts, secondly they cause so much unnecessary trauma to the site, a one time use only needle is not only way more hygienic but much less painful and promotes better healing time. Tattoo parlours usually have in house piercers with all the proper kit

I don't know about the relative merits of piercing places and techniques, and I know you've agreed to let your DD have hers done, OP - but the answer to my DDs when they were 9 was "no". There are plenty of good fakes, if they want to play at having pierced ears.

I didn’t know you got blunt earrings for guns, that doesn’t sound a good idea. The ones I had were sharp and really not a great deal different to a needle and then pushing a post through. I’m not disagreeing the needle may be slightly better and I’d rather have someone who is a trained piercer doing them. Most places won’t use guns for anything but lobes.
would be interesting to see evidence for infections. There would be a risk of a needle stick injury with a needle. I’ve had infections from both methods

I’ve had a wonky piercing for many years. It’s a constant pain. Get them done properly, she’ll thank you for it later !

Only Issue with that is piercer may want certain quality of earrings or metal. I wouldn’t want her to get hopes up and be upset. I’d just say we’ll get them pierced at x. Most piercers will have a choice of suitable earrings.

The guns use single sterile cartridges so are perfectly sanitary.
Piercing guns are acceptable if they are piercing lines not cartilage . With a gun you can do both ears at the same time - I have had both kinds of piercing and there is no way after the first one went in either of my it kids would sit for the second with a needle piercing . Claire’s is fine .

Lobes not lines!!

At our local tattoo shop you get both done at the same time with needles. They get two tattooists/piercers in at the same time having measured marked and double checked.

This!! Piercers often use the jewellery they have on offer in their place as they know where it came from and the quality of it. Maybe you could offer to take her to pick a pair of earrings once the original piercing has healed, honestly though the ones on offer wherever you take her will be just as pretty and the quality will be much better/safer

OhmygodDont I know what you mean.
It's not snobbery.
It's common sense that the people who choose to do their research, have looked into piercings for more than the 5 seconds it takes to conclude I had mine done with a gun and there's no problem and/or but if you don't let a primary school age child have the final say on where they get body modifications done then you'll be the uncool parent in the eyes of a 9 year old will probably conclude that the best place for piercings isn't in the middle of a shop with someone who's done a short training course on using a piercing gun.

There's a lot more information now than there used to be. It's bad enough not to look at the risks of shop gun piercings before sitting your child in a chair. It's even worse to know the risks and decide to ignore them because your primary school aged child wants to say they've had it done in Claire's

(I've had all my piercings done with guns as a child and adult, but know better now)

I had mine pierced in Claire's when I was about 9. I've never had any problems with them at all.

They've never been infected or painful

We got DDs done a few years ago at a piercing studio. The women was great and made sure that DD wanted them done and explained what would happen. They healed really quickly and only cost £20 which I thought was really reasonable.

With a gun you can do both ears at the same time - I have had both kinds of piercing and there is no way after the first one went in either of my it kids would sit for the second with a needle piercing . Claire’s is fine .
If a child isn't capable of giving informed consent to having both ears pierced and you don't believe they would consent to the second after the first was done, I'd question whether they were able to give informed consent 🤷‍♀️.

Totally agree. It's much better to have them done with completely sterile equipment by expert piercers. And in privacy! They can make sure the piercings are situated in the best possible place for the shape on the lobes and even up uneven lobes with clever placement so that earrings look matched but dangly earrings don't hang lopsided one lower than the other.

We did precisely this for one of our children (the rest didn't want ears pierced) and that child later went back to the same place for 2nd piercings in each lobe, of their own volition (when old enough to make that choice).

Use the search option, there was a post last week about Clare's

Stay away!

I know noome in real life who have used Claires.

Piercing studios are not always more expensive I've just checked prices for my local one and claires. Local piercing studio is £20-30 depending on what earrings you chose. Claire earrings from what I can see starts at £21. I live in SE too so not somewhere cheap.

I did not give my girls the choice whe.l. they wanted it done we went to a piercing studio. I asked around everything I saw someone with a lot of piercings I asked "mind if I ask if you got your piercings locally as my dd wants her ears done?" I asked 5 people 4 of then said the same place the 5th recommended a place in London. I've since learned the place we were sent to isnconsidered one of the best. Tatoo places in the area. It was clean tidy and they were friendly and taught the girls how to look after their ears and why this was important.

That's not the hygiene problem with guns.

"Guns can be contaminated with bloodborne pathogens dozens of times in one day, ear piercing guns are often not sanitized in a medically recognized way. Plastic ear piercing guns cannot be autoclave sterilized and may not be sufficiently cleaned between use on multiple clients."