Ear piercing?!

[fancyfrank1]

My little girl has just asked for her ears pierced as a present from Father Christmas I explained that she can have that but it will be after Christmas now and she's happy with that! Does anyone know how much roughly Claire's charge? Christmas has hit the finances hard 🤣 x

If I clean something thoroughly, I just say it’s been cleaned properly though,, not 10 times. It just didn’t seem to help the argument for Claire’s!

It may have been cleaned but it wasn't sterilised. The only way to effectively sterilise instruments is with an autoclave in which a piercing gun would melt.

Good piercings train for 1 - 3 years, not a couple of weeks. There's no way to understand varying anatomy by practicing on a couple of colleagues. I've been piercing 8 years and still see anatomy that's unique.

OP guns are bad (as I'm sure you've guessed), the jewellery is garbage and poorly designed, staff aren't following aseptic procedures. Please seek out your closest UKAPP member piercer (an independent h&s organisation).

Wow I had no idea Claire's was so bad! We will be avoiding il get googling somewhere else thanks for the advice everyone xx

Just got my dd done at Claire's and prices start at £29 and go up depending on the earrings. You get the cleaning solution with that and she's had no problems.

[quote LivingOnTheVeg]@Twizbe yours must have been ran far better than our local store then![/quote]
🙄

How old is she? Newly pierced ears are a PITA for school PE or swimming.

I took my DD to Claire's for them doing recently, they didn't use the old style gun like we had when we were kids. She's had absolutely no problems they healed beautifully. It was expensive though, £70!!

I've just had my lobes pierced this past weekend. I had it done at our local piercing and tattoo studio, with a needle. It was 40 quid including the titanium studs. They're not butterfly ones, they're flat on the back and the ball screws on the front. They're much longer than the earrings from a gun so no pinching from the ear swelling.

I had them done because my original holes that were done with a gun had healed up.

It was so much less painful that the gun. I cannot stress enough how different it was.

It was a bit like being pinched, not hard, but just enough to be uncomfortable.

They also took 45 minutes to do it, talking to me, checking I was OK and not overly anxious, telling me what each stage was, but most importantly they spent ages drawing the dots on to decide where the piercing was going to be to make sure it was perfect.

I'm really really happy with what they've done.

For everyone saying they had no issues with Claires, of course not everyone has issues but please, the equipment isn't and can't be sterilised! Imagine if the person getting pierced before your child had a blood borne pathogen.

Think of it like this, you can go for a ride in your car without a seat belt and you may be fine, but you put your seat belt anyway.

Your child is having a wound inflicted on them and a foreign body inserted in them. Go to someone with sufficient training, good piercers don't just pierce, they're educated in first aid, infection control, blood borne pathogens, aseptic procedures plus more. The people at Claire are not and the jewellery is beyond garbage especially for the price.

Please head over to the UKAPP website for more info and to view approved piercers.

Body pierced clearly knows their stuff.
I had my ears pierced with a gun. Years ago. Pain. Failed in one ear. I have a hole that doesn’t go right through and they had to redo it. Bleeding. Then poor healing. Infection?
I’ve had to pretty much give up on ever wearing earrings.
I would never pierce the ears of a young child. Ever.
I would avoid piercing guns like the plague.

Had my 15 yo dd's ears done in a local pharmacy with a gun , despite being fastidious with aftercare , both ears were sore and wept for weeks , she let them heal up . She's had them done 3 weeks ago at a tattooists with a needle , absolute dream , no issues , would heartily recommend the saline spray for aftercare too .

I'm not sure why Claire's is so hated on Mumsnet, I had both my dd's ears done at Claire's and they were very professional, clean and quick. My dd's are 9 & 6. Both girls ears healed perfectly and it was £45?per child.

@Ellieboolou33

I'm not sure why Claire's is so hated on Mumsnet, I had both my dd's ears done at Claire's and they were very professional, clean and quick. My dd's are 9 & 6. Both girls ears healed perfectly and it was £45?per child.

Because guns are really bad for piercings, the jewellery is of poor quality and not suitable for fresh piercings, the aftercare advice is poor and the training is shit.

Try local tattoo/piercers if you can. most blue banana stores offer piercings - it would be done with a needle, proper aftercare provided, a good choice of jewellery as well.

Took my daughter to a tattoo place where they numbed her ear and did it with a needle, they were so good with her (she's a teen), great advice re aftercare - completely different to what we were told as kids. Wouldn't go anywhere else now!

My DD actually chose to have hers done with a gun. It was her personal preference.

@GoodnightGrandma

My DD actually chose to have hers done with a gun. It was her personal preference.

How old was she and what did she understand about blunt force trauma?

My teenage gun piercing left me with keloid scars and a nickel allergy so severe my white gold engagement ring saw me hospitalised.

My DD actually chose to have hers done with a gun. It was her personal preference.

Teenages also choose to have unprotected sex sometimes as personal preference. I assume we should still teach them about the risks of catching diseases etc? Or do we assume their decisions are always the correct ones?

@TeaStory that maybe your opinion but both my girls and me were very pleased with the service, my eldest has asd and the staff were amazing with her. Their ears healed well too. Everyone has different experiences and mine was a positive one.

Im confused @ellieboolou33 you said ypu didnt know why claires was hated, @teastory gave you a list of reasons why, then you told her that was her opinion as if she was personally disagreeing with you. She was telling you why when you said you didnt know (it might also be her opinion but thats not the point)

Check local jewellery stores too. I had mine done in Monica Vinander on Sloane Sq recently. Appointment was £20 and cheapest studs were about £60 I think. It was a lovely experience too - all pink and in a lovely store, not that that's my thing but your daughter might enjoy it. They also gave me a little goodie bag with sweets and water and after cared advice. Astrid and Miu also do piercings in their stores. All properly done by experienced piercers with needles.

My DD (now 19) had her lobes done at Claires ,when she was end of Yr6 .
It was one of those "things" they all wanted done in the summer holidays , Primary didn't allow earrings .

TBH , I think a tattoo parlour ( is that the correct name ) ? would've completely creeped her out !
She had carilidge and belly button piercings (needle and titanium ) when she was older , she isn't good with needles but said it was much easier than the gun

I had my daith pierced a couple of weeks ago , the actual procedure was minimal/almost nil pain, just felt like a prod and some pressure (and the daith is fibrous)

I wince when I see a tiny child in Claires bawling their head off while the smug parents smile on and video it

There's a disclaimer that they won;t pierce a distressed child , makes me wonder how bad they'd have to be ?
Parents saying "Oh just do it , they've been nagging for weeks and it needs to be done now for the 6 week healing "

I personally wouldn't go to claires. I've got a few ear piercings and anytime they've used a gun it's become infected. I'm not saying everyone is the same your dd might be OK but I wouldn't risk it to be honest. Im not 100% sure but I think claires just use studs? sorry if I'm wrong about that but a reputable piercer will use a long enough bar to allow for swelling and once it's healed your dd can then put in jewellery of her choice. Go to a reputable piercer who can give your dd a good piercing experience. I leave mine for the first day then clean it morning and night with prontolind spray (salt water reacts with my skin for some reason)

For cost, quality and ease of healing I've always gone to a proper piercers. For around £30 you get:

• professionally trained piercer. This is their only job.
• properly sterilised, single use tools
• clean, calm environment (not the front of a shop)
• appropriate jewellery. Flat backed labret which are long enough to accommodate swelling, don't irritate the back of the head, don't trap dirt and hair, don't get embedded etc etc. Always surgical steel (no allergy) and often titanium. Properly hypoallergenic. Avoid "locking" butterfly backs at all costs!
• proper aftercare advice and checks. Mine will also happily change labrets to shorter posts once swelling has gone down and will change the screw on fronts after the initial healing period to minimise disruption to the fistula.

Ask around for recommendations. If you're in west london/surrey PM me.