Professional and safe ear piercing for little girl.

[user1494283706]

My daughter is four years and four months old. She wishes to have her ear pierced. We live in SE11 London and I am looking for a safe and recommended place to have the procedure done.
I am aware needle piercing causes less damage to the earlobe than using a gun. Has any of your children have needle ear piercing done? Or is gun piercing now safe?
Can you help?
Thank you.

I had my ears pierced when I was 3 after crazing my mum for months about it. I'm almost 30 now and still love my pierced lobes. I do hold an ear piercing certificate and I tend to never pierce anyones ears under 5 yo although everyone is an individual and treat them as such.

I 4 year old can't know what it wants with such a permanent procedure.

My first day at school I saw a little girl with pierced ears and wanted it done.

I asked every day, my mum gave in when I was 14.

i work with a little girl who is missing out on a whole term of swimming lessons because she has her ears pierced and can't take them out without vomiting.
The pool insist on no earrings.

I said about tattoos because that is another permanent disfigurement to the body that you should be old enough to understand the implications of before you have it done.

@ppeatfruit The reason why the ear skin grew over the studs is that the aftercare precaution was not followed, The stud and ear log should be cleaned regularly with an antiseptic soap and then an antiseptic cream or lotion such as Acriflex or Savlon should be applied. The studs should be rotated and pull forward and backwards during cleaning. Every piercing stud has a two closure setting to do so. Infection is also due to the choice of material. Titanium studs for piercing carry the less risk.

Well it happened to me and I was keeping it meticulously clean. I was allergic to the gold. I mentioned infection Why are you telling me what I just said ? She is too young. Are you sure it's just your dd who wants it done?

They have to remove them at school for PE so it's much too much of a bother for the teacher too. Tell her she can have it done when she's 11 for her birthday.

I wouldn't let my DD have hers done with a gun. Heard too many horror stories.

I've only ever heard that on here along with

you can't sterilize the gun - piecings done by tattooists are done with a sterile needle but unsterilised gloves. With a gun the actual stud does the piercing and is sterile.

It's blunt force trauma - no it isn't, by definition it is a piercing.

It's what they use for cows - again no it isn't

I go to my 7 year old done with a needle at a body piercing study in Hoxton. She said it didn't hurt and we have had no complications. I am so glad we went the needle piercing route as many of her friends went to Claire's and have had infections and problems.

The piercing parlour in Top Shop Oxford Circus (bottom floor) is Metal Morphosis (which used to be in Selfridges.

It is a good parlour. However, the conditions of special licence there mean they do not pierce under 16s other than earlobe by gun. They do it using a cartridge system under hand pressure (not spring loaded gun). They also recommend cleaning with saline, not antiseptic and no twiddling, fiddling or daily turning.

@ppeatfruit you said it yourself that you were allergic to gold.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I do appreciate. To be honest, I don't know why I created this post since I used to work in a Tattoo and body piercing studio in Mornington Crescent in 2000
I did carry ear piercing, ear hole enlargements, nipple piercings and navel piercings on adults. I stopped when my boss asked me to trained to do private parts piercings.
I suppose my post highly my uncertainty at having my child's ears pierced since I could do it myself. I, therefore, will wait and explain to her why.
Here is a link for anyone interested:
www.medicalearpiercing.com/faqs/#toggle-id-3

My daughters had their ears pierced at Claire's - both were 4 years old, one in Europe and one in High Wycombe, very happy, the three week express healing solution is worth the extra £.
You only have to be over 6 months.

" the three week express healing solution is worth the extra £."

That's the stuff that's described as hypochlorite, isn't it? That is the same stuff as Milton.

Don't do it op!

I had mine done at that age - what a mess.

I was a confident young girl until the gun needle got bent in my ear there was blood everywhere and put me off until I was an adult!

I am now petrified of needles I would suggest waiting til secondary school age.

Decent jewellers?

Also, you may have had the earring caught in clothes, etc. Or pulled which happens more to children....

To be honest, I don't know why I created this post since I used to work in a Tattoo and body piercing studio in Mornington Crescent in 2000
I did carry ear piercing, ear hole enlargements, nipple piercings and navel piercings on adults. I stopped when my boss asked me to trained to do private parts piercings.

If you were a piercer I'm surprised you told your clients to rotate piercings and put random creams on them, as all modern aftercare advice says to leave them alone and only use saline!

@JeffVadersMum Why are you quoting?
Haven't you heard of Male & Female Genital Piercings before?

@alpacasandwich Aftercare changes over years.
In 2000, antiseptic soap to clean the piercing area was the norm. Then, Acriflex was used around the piercing area, not inside the hole! Do you realise Saline water is just a retailed version of boiled water with added salt!
If you do not move and tidy the inside of your pierced hole and flush it with antiseptic soapy water or Saline, it will fill with any kind of residues, especially navel piercing.
Have you smelt an uncleaned piercing hole? You obviously haven't! If not flushed it will cause an abscess or a hard mass!

i'm quoting because you are asking for advice about piercing and then suddenly drip feed that you used to be a piecer... (all of it was meant to be bold, not just the end)

and you were happy to pierce nipples, but not intimate...

Yes I know what saline means

@JeffVadersMum I am not asking advice about piercing. I am asking for recommendations about a professional and safe place where to take my daughter to have her ears pierced. That is not the same thing!
I left the tattoo and piercing world 17 years ago!

@alpacasandwich You should google How to Clean Your Ears After Piercing or your pierced ears.

Dermatologist recommendation in caring for pierced ears:

Although ear piercings are more common and can be less risky than other body piercings, they can still cause complications if not handled safely.
For anyone thinking about getting their ears pierced, dermatologists urge people to follow these steps to avoid infection:

Always wash your hands before touching newly pierced ears.

Leave the earrings in your ears for six weeks or more – even at night. Removing the starter earrings too early may cause the piercings to close.

Regularly wash your ears with soap and water. Carefully do this at least once a day to avoid infection.

Twist the earrings a few times daily. This will help keep the pierced holes open.

Put rubbing alcohol on your ears. Using a cotton ball or pad dipped in rubbing alcohol, gently clean the skin around the piercings twice a day to keep away germs and prevent scabbing. You may also apply a thin coat of petroleum jelly around the opening.

After piercing your ears, keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t get sore, red or puffy and that the holes don’t ooze yellowish liquid. If any of this occurs and doesn’t go away quickly, see a board-certified dermatologist, as you may have an infection.

I've been told off rather firmly by my piercer for my twiddling & rotating habit, actually. Her advice was to Leave It The Fuck Alone unless it goes crusty, in which case bathe gently with saline solution - no need to buy it, just boiled water & salt.

I have a similar dilemma, though, in that 9yo dd wants hers done, & I'm not at all keen to have them stapled in the window of Claire's. Currently emailing round piercers with a good reputation - we've moved to far away to go to my previous lady, unfortunately.

Oh & I was also told not to let cotton wool balls anywhere near a piercing. Loose fibres. Bud better, or a tissue.

You've been a bit disingenuous here haven't you. You've posted asking for advice on a subject you're clearly an expert on because you wanted a bun fight