Ear Piercing for Girls

[Sliver]

Well, daughter turns seven this month. She'd like to get her ears pierced and my wife and I don't have a problem with that. I'm hesitant to take her to a crappy place in the mall where some 16-year-old chick who doesn't know the first thing about sanitary practices would be poking holes in her. Would an actual piercing/tattoo shop be a safer bet? Any recommendations?

And for the sake of conversation, when did you guys let your daughters get their ears pierced? Any thoughts on it one way or another?

[ernie]

My daughter turns seven this year as well and she's inquired a couple of times that she might like her ears pierced. When is the right time?....throughout my family it's been whenever the kid isn't scared to do it knowing they will put a hole in the ears. But it's an individual parenting choice of course. Given the age you likely know you will have to shoulder much of the responsibility that the area remains clean while it heals.

I wouldn't worry too much about a place in the mall or somewhere else. It's a simple process and they all pretty much follow the same practices from what I've always seen. As long as they don't look surprised you are requesting an appointment for ear piercing you are likely fine (i.e. they do it all the time).

[DuffMan]

Yeah, a piercing/tattoo shop is the way to go. Maybe your wife could do her nipples while you are there, lol

My kid was about 7 and got it done at Claires in a mall, probably a more relaxing atmosphere that a tatoo shop

[CaptainCrunch]

What ever happened to self respecting kids piercing their own ears. and nipples.

going to a tattoo shop seems so culturally backwards.

[Nyah]

I had my ears pearced when I was 5 months old. Then I went again when I was 15 to a Claires or something like that. They're actually pretty good - you pick the stud that's going in and they load it into a 'gun' without touching it, line it up with a dot they put on the earlobe, and pull the trigger. It happens so fast that there's really no pain. A tattoo parlour would pearce her ears with a needle (I think) - far more traumatizing if you ask me.

Edit: Also, some hair salons do pearcings. You could probably even find reviews online.

[REDVAN]

Body piercings are not a useful or required part of society, and only cause infection, disease, etc to spread so I think they should be outlawed.

It does not matter to me that 97% of the population can bathe and clean themselves enough to avoid any issues, I am specifically talking about the 3% that are the scum of society- those people mean we need a blanket policy for everyone- ban all piercings!

Also I am afraid of them so people should cover them up when in public so that myself, nor my dog, have to see such ugly body mutilation.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by REDVAN

Body piercings are not a useful or required part of society, and only cause infection, disease, etc to spread so I think they should be outlawed.

It does not matter to me that 97% of the population can bathe and clean themselves enough to avoid any issues, I am specifically talking about the 3% that are the scum of society- those people mean we need a blanket policy for everyone- ban all piercings!

Also I am afraid of them so people should cover them up when in public so that myself, nor my dog, have to see such ugly body mutilation.

Unfunny, as always!

[Titan]

Merle Norman at Southcentre.

A bit higher calibre than Claires. Both my kids had theirs done there. Youngest was seven and that seemed fine. Older one was a bit older but not much.

(and Redvan's post was actually kind of funny)

[undercoverbrother]

Daughter was 6, and it was a big pain in the ass. She hardly wears earing now @ 9. I reckon her ears will close up soon.

Make sure you keep it clean to avoid infection.

[REDVAN]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Unfunny, as always!

[Hessen]

My daughter had hers done at Claires when she was 4. Just be sure to clean the area properly for the first few weeks to avoid infection.

[First Lady]

I remember being at a hair salon once when there was a young girl (about 5'ish) getting this done. The gun jammed on the first ear. The girl, the mother and the tech all seemed to panic at once. Blood-curdling screams and chaos as they tried to pry the gun open and keep her still to get it off.

She never did get the second ear done.

Fun times.

[FLAME ENVY]

My daughter had her ears done at Merle Norman Market Mall just before she turned 6 last August. They do both ears at once and she barely winced but had a big smile on her face when she looked in the mirror to see pierced ears.

[blankall]

You're considering tacking your 7 year old daughter to a tattoo parlour?

There are 2 possible outcomes:

1) She's terrified of the place and the peolpe in it. She develops a fear of tattoos and piercings and people with them.

2) She thinks it's the coolest place ever. You spend the next 11 years unsuccessfully trying to stop her from getting all sorts of ill advised body modifications done. She gets them done anyways the moment she turns 18.

Take your daughter to the mall like everybody else.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by blankall

You're considering tacking your 7 year old daughter to a tattoo parlour?

There are 2 possible outcomes:

1) She's terrified of the place and the peolpe in it. She develops a fear of tattoos and piercings and people with them.

2) She thinks it's the coolest place ever. You spend the next 11 years unsuccessfully trying to stop her from getting all sorts of ill advised body modifications done. She gets them done anyways the moment she turns 18.

Take your daughter to the mall like everybody else.

Being fascinated with the tattoo parlour might be better overall than having her fascinated with the mall. Probably costs less overall. Maybe it's best to take her to a tattoo parlour.

[core_upt]

Tattoo.piercing place will allow her to put a ring in right away as opposed to having to start with a stud.

[bcsoda]

I know lots of people get ear piercings at the mall so there's probably nothing major wrong with it, but I have heard that it's better to get it done at a tattoo parlor. A needle may be more intimidating to a child than the gun they use at the ear piercing places, but it's supposed to be better. At the ear piercing places they just use earrings that have pointier backs than your average set of earrings, but they're still pretty damn blunt by comparison. The needle is supposed to be much smoother since it's obviously much sharper. Plus they'll have way more piercing experience than whoever they hired that year at Claire's.

[Erick Estrada]

I don't think there's anything wrong with the mall. In my heavy metal days I had a few done with the needle/ice cube while drunk and the mall sober and the mall ones were always simple and perfect.

[bcsoda]

Related article: http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/0...tattoo-parlor/

Reputable [tattoo parlors] use disposable needles and sterilize all their equipment in an autoclave. In contrast, mall piercers and many jewelry stores use piercing guns that have been associated with complications and can’t be completely sterilized.

At tattoo parlors, piercers use hypodermic needles to core out a sliver of skin, making room for an earring — a relatively painless procedure. In contrast, at the mall, the piercer uses a gun that painfully jams a blunt-tipped earring stud into the ear lobe; the process does not remove skin, but effectively pushes it aside.

[Rathji]

Mrs Rathji took our daughter, right before she turned 5, to Merle Norman.