Ear piercing

[Shoes232]

My 6 year old has wanted her ears pierced for over a year now. I have always said when she’s 10 but I’m actually not sure now she has asked so sensibly and so often. What age have your children been for ear piercing and where is the best place take them if I waver from 10 ?

Ask on your local fb page for recommendations of a piercist who uses needles. Ideally they will use internally threaded jewellery and it MUST be implant grade titanium or their shit. Expect to pay around £65 for this. They should also recommend aftercare such as neilmed piercing solution, no touching, a downsize in around 6 weeks and tell you that it won’t be healed for 12+ weeks.

do not, for the love of god, go to Claire’s. And please please research gun piercing if you’re inclined to go down that route (firmly do NOT recommend).

Oh also my eldest was 8 and had her second lobes done at 11. My youngest is 9 and hasn’t had hers done yet as she isn’t ready and that’s fine.

Does your daughter's school have a policy on ear piercing? And does she realise it will sting a bit when it's done?

Think @AnotherPoxyName got everything in their message, here to second their advice. I’m a piercer, you want a piercing shop or piercer who uses the best jewellery and needles for this. You can search for UKAPP members online, they’re best of the best piercers-wise in the UK- or alternatively internally threaded implant-grade titanium and a piercer with an excellent portfolio. You may have to look around a little to find a piercer willing to do her ears age 6. Don’t do as my mom did, my ears were done age 6 at Claire’s and they’re so wonky now! Piercing guns are so unsafe and unhygienic, it’s awful they’re still legal!

Check the school’s policy as well. Some schools require them to be removed during the school day not just covered with a plaster. When I had mine done recently (by a piercer with a needle) I would not have been able to take them out after 7 weeks and leave them out for 8 hours without the holes closing over. So even getting them done after school on the last day of the school term before the long summer break may not give her a long enough healing time if her school has the same policy.

Check the schools' policy as many will make you take them out for PE (which you can't do if they're freshly pierced). Your DD will also be expected to be able to take them out/put them back in herself which can be fiddly.

Don't take her to Claire's or anywhere that uses a gun - it needs to be a needle and they need to use proper hypoallergenic jewellery. I'd expect to pay around £30 and that normally includes jewellery and saline solution for cleaning. It should also cover any check-ups and often the first jewellery change too if needed.

But a lot of proper piercing places won't pierce under 12's, so you may need to look around to find somewhere that does and be willing to travel for it too.

The (excellent) piercing studio I use has recently started doing kids lobe piercings. They won't do kids under 8, and I asked why last time I went in. The piercer said that it's because by 8, most kids are able to understand basic aftercare instructions and have the manual dexterity to remove and replace their own earrings, which seems pretty sensible.

My dd's were 4 and 5. I told them it would hurt!! They turned them and helped clean them with surgical spirit. Never had any issues. They 17 and 18 now.

Ask local tattoo places and look for reccomendations online. Ideally get it done the first day of summer hols so they have 6 weeks to heal. That said, most good places will have been fully booked for months ahead of the summer hols. You’ll be better off waiting until next year (and booking well in advance) unless the school allows studs and tape for PE.

My Dd was 12. Old enough to look after her own ears, clean them properly etc (I obviously kept an eye, but it was her responsibility). She was warned from the start that if she couldn’t maintain them, they would come out.

we did it start of Christmas hols. Summer we were travelling and in and out of pools etc - decided risk of infection was higher than doing It at Christmas. Maybe we were too risk adverse, but it worked for us.

5 years later and no issues.

Echo others - avoid Claire’s, and use a good tatooist/piercing place. You can smell the cleaner when you walked in ours😂😂

Thanks everyone. I have checked school policy and they allow small studs, even for PE, which is fine. I absolutely will not compromise on safety so won’t go to Claire’s and I had heard things about Claire’s long before posing here so it’s just confirmed it.

No piercer prices lobe piercings at £65. It's far cheaper than that. Usually £25 for both together with surgical steel or titanium bars & after care appointment a week later.

@BubblegumLolly i must be lying then that my three local piercers charge that then eh 🙄 if they’re sticking surgical steel in your body then no wonder it’s so cheap. The jewellery costs them pennies! You absolutely do NOT want surgical steel used.

the place I go does 6 and up but then I’ve seen 8 and up and even older. Definitely ask around at local piercing shops. I have a DD but so far no requests for it so leaving it until it comes up!!

The piercer I use has been around for over 30 years and are the most trusted in my area and are the only one I go to. I've seen many others that charge a similar price for lobes, and it increases depending on the piercing. Obviously they have a wide range of bars available. Yours are seriously overcharging.

I would even consider it till at least 11

You can't give informed consent at 6.

I think I'd have to agree with this!

Some piercing places won't do young children because of their insurance. I'd also add that despite the oft repeated claims, piercing guns aren't inherently unsafe. Although they can be, if used by inexperienced sales assistants. They are a closed system using single use earrings so as long as the ear is cleaned prior to use and allowed to dry, the procedure shouldn't introduce infection.

PP are correct to identify cheap metals as an issue. But as regards infection, appropriate cleaning and otherwise leaving the site alone (which may be difficult for some young children) is the best thing to do.

Dts had theirs done at 10, just before the Christmas lockdown, didn't know when we'd get a chance again and no swimming to be worried about. Got their second at the end of year 7. No problems at all with either, went to a piercer. I've had a couple done in Louvissa, with a gun, also no problem but I wouldn't want them to do my kids.

There are other issues with using guns besides infection.

https://safepiercing.org/piercing-guns/

Dd got hers done for her 9th birthday. We went to a local piercer since I have around 30 piercings myself I had an idea of what’s good or not.
We paid a bit more for titanium and I think it was about £35-40. They won’t pierce under 8s

This. Pretty sure at 6 I wanted to be a penguin. Definitely not mature enough to consent to a metal rod through my ear.
Notwithstanding it looks chavvy on little kids.

@BubblegumLolly being in the game 30 years doesn’t mean they’re the best in the business. There are also piercers here locally who are charging £25 a pop who are plenty experienced but they’re also using poor quality jewellery and I don’t trust them in terms of anatomy checking. They’ll literally chuck anything in anybody. They have queues out the door because of their price but their aftercare is seriously lacking and plenty of people remove their jewellery due to healing issues.

I am happy to pay what I pay to somebody who I trust, particularly with my children. I have had over 20 piercings and I know what I’m looking for :)

This.

It's the impulsiveness as well - even at 8, my DD would not be able to resist touching them.

I hope you won't mine me asking another question on your thread.

I got my ears pierced as a child with a gun. They're wonky plus often get infected/weep with puss particularly one ear. Can I do anything with them. I went years without wearing earrings and they haven't closed up. I now only wear titanium earrings but still have to stop wearing them because of one ear. Is it worth me visiting a piercing shop and get a second hole and abandon the first ones?