Child wants ears pierced

[Minniemoo6]

So my 6 year old has been asking to have her ears pierced as most girls in her class have now had them pierced. It seems to be a knock on effect in her class. I've explained to her that they pinch, sore afterwards etc. I have a few ear piercings myself and the studio I go to have raised their age limit due to parents not being able to sit with their child and comfort them because of covid, they still have all covid measures in place. Majority of other places I've looked at are mostly guns and some just state a certain equipment (cabt remember the name) but doesn't state if that's a gun or needle. I've not told her she can have them yet as I'm still doing research. Anyone had piercings with guns and been ok? How did your child act? Did you use numbing cream on them? Thankyou.

We got DDs ears pierced at a tattoo and piercing studio last year. The lady was brilliant with her and made sure she understood everything and it was what she wanted. Her ears healed perfectly with no issues and no hard sell of cleaning products! It was only about £15. She got small bar style earrings with a ball on each end and she actually finds them comfier to sleep in than traditional butterfly back studs.

We moved during covid so new to the school, she found out at school after having her ears pierced that the majority of the girls had all had them done in the same place and recommended it so definitely worth asking other parents!

Where my DDs went to school no one had ears pierced. Must be a local cultural thing.,

Our rule was ears could only be pierced when child was old enough to look after them herself. I.e at secondary school.

Peer pressure always happens. Only agree if you think it's a good idea, not because "all my friends have it".

Exact same thing happened to me when I was 9. I ended up having them removed under general anaesthestic. How did they get your DD’s out @uhtredsonofuhtred1 ?

OP honestly? I think 6 is too young. It’ll be you doing the cleaning and aftercare, she’ll fiddle with them and even with a needle piercing there is no guarantee they will heal nice and quickly.

The A&E doctors managed to get them out with long thin tweezers. She did start to cry and they bled a little bit but he said the next option was anaesthetic and cut her ear to get them out so she was really brave and we were lucky

My 6 year old also wants them done but I've said she can wait until she's 10. Mainly because she will be able to deal with it better if there are any infections and will be able to clean it herself.

I had mine done at 6 with a gun. I felt very grown up.

I think it’s fine.
We’ve all had ours done with a gun and never had any problems.

Please don't get them done with a gun, it's nowhere near as good as a needle. My gun piercings are wonky through the ear, and to cap it all off I have thick lobes and the earrings they punch into aren't long enough to sit comfortably even without the swelling.

Claires staff get about an afternoon of PowerPoint presentations and are considered trained. Hair dressers aren't much different. It should be illegal.

A decent, reputable piercing studio is far and away the best way to go. She'll be seeing a properly trained and experienced professional. Needles tend to give a much cleaner piercing and IME they heal better as well.

I'm not aware of Covid rules still preventing accompanying children - give them a call and ask. Or just wait until she's a bit older. Or go furthering afield to find somewhere decent.

Dd had hers done by the gun in Claire's (taken by her dad) both sides got stuck and they ended up horribly infected and cost a fortune. Had to remove them and needed 2x courses of antibiotics. Second time around, a fraction of the price at a professional piercers with a needle and we've had no bother at all. You might have to ask around to find one that will do it as young as 6 but they do exist.

Thanks everyone I think if she gets them pierced I'm edging more towards the needle. I'll do some research first and ask some parents. I want her experience to be a good one. My piercer used to pierce from 5 and I emailed them to ask and they said their guidelines are still in place and the parent cabt hold child's hand or sit near the piercer etc so they decided to raise the age as majority of children that age will be comfortable sitting with the piercer with parent in view but not near them. It's nice to heat others experiences to so I can weigh up pros and cons and have a conversation with her before making a decision.

I do think it's wrong that the legal minimum age is 4 months. Saw a baby not much older than that being gun-pierced at Claires and it wasn't pleasant.

Yes mine did have to go alone to get her ears done due to covid rules but she wasn't bothered so not a problem. To add it's a bar with a screw back they used which is far better than the butterflies fired on at force with the gun which can A, be too tight when they swell and B, be an absolute nightmare and painful to remove the first time. Also the surgical steel used by piercers has way lower allergy risk than the gold or silver studs used by the likes of Claire's

I had mine wait until she was eleven or twelve, but I still took charge of the cleaning and after care.

@Minniemoo6
What good experience can this really be? It’s too early. The poster who had to bother A&E should be ashamed. Totally wrong to even think piercing is ok at a young age. At 13 plus it’s different. No one did this where we live and parents would have resisted anyway. It just wasn’t seen as appropriate.

Guns can't be sterilised properly whereas needles go through an autoclave.

Guns are blunt force trauma and cause tissue damage whereas needles are sharp so glide through the ears easily.
Piercers have years of training whereas girls in Claire's don't. A piercer will be more likely to get it even and will also give better advice on after care.

OP glad you’re getting a needle piercing. My dd (now 15) had hers done with a needle at a reputable piercing studio and even then she had problems in spite of regular cleaning. Think she was unlucky, some people’s ears just don’t react well to piercing.

I hope all goes well.

Needles do not go through an autoclave. A new, packaged needle is used for EVERY piercing. A needle is NEVER reused.

Metal clamps or other assistive tools go in an autoclave.

My daughter was 9 when she had hers done. Ended up with a nasty allergic reaction. I was older when I had mine done . I also had allergies and needed to only wear gold ( this was donkeys years ago) I also couldn't wear butterfly backs as they'd try to work inside my, rather fat, earlobe

@Minniemoo6 if you Google "gun or needle piercing", the overwhelming consensus in articles, blogs etc is in favour of needles every single time, including reviews of sterilisation, healing and placement.

This is an interesting 10 second video showing the difference in the piercing types - it's through rubber or similar, but you can clearly see how an earlobe is going to be much more badly injured with a gun than a needle:

When I was a girl everyone had piercings done with a needle and then sleepers put in. I was one of the first to get a gun (at least I assume that is what is was, like a large stapler with the stud as the staple ?) used. I didn’t have any issues, but sleepers must be better surely, no risk of them disappearing into the lobe.

I'll help using dd as an example

Bad experience- going in to Claire's getting both guns stuck on her ears. Painful at time, didn't heal, allergic to silver studs, needed anti biotics to clear infection

Good experience- went to professional piercers, pierced with needle little to no pain, came out smiling, no allergy to surgical steel jewellery used, no infection probably due to being done in a sterile environment with sterile implements rather than a gritty shop with uncleanable guns

I had issues with a gun 40 years ago but when I didn

** I did my second hole myself with an ice cube, a bottle of surgical spirit and a pair of earrings I was fine 🤣 I'd probably go with the needle option.