Seven weeks ago LilMiss had her ears pierced. About two weeks ago the left ear showed signs of infection- redness, swollen around the piercing. She was very thorough about cleaning her ears, the infection seemed to go away.
A week ago she wanted to try on some new earrings. At that point it had been six week, the little instruction books said keep the starter studs in for 6-8 weeks, so no problem. The right ear was no problem. The left ear? Not so good. When she put the stud back in she had some problems- it wouldn’t go all the way through. She poked it through, everything seemed okay again.
We did, however, realize that neither ear was pierced straight. The right piercing angles up about 45 degrees, the left up and in about 45 degrees.
Then came this past Friday. She again wanted to wear new earrings. One day shy of 7 weeks, I figured it would be no problem. She couldn’t get the left earring out. There was crusted blood holding the earring in. We swabbed it with alcohol, it came out. I then realized when she put her earring back in last week, she didn’t put it through the original hole. It was now pierced once in the front, twice in the back. After much crying, yelling, whining, it was decided to let the piercings close and she would go back at a later date and get them repierced.
My questions are- how long should she wait before she gets them repierced? Because she hadn’t any problems with the right ear, is seven weeks enough where it won’t close up? Would they repierce in the same place (but with even exits)? AND, recommend a place to go. We went to a Claire’s store, but there was only one overworked teen working and the store was busy. I would rather she go to a tattoo parlor/piercing parlor, but two that I’ve called say she’s too young to even enter the doors (she’s 11).
Most tattoo/piercing parlors will let you take your child in to have anything done that you deem appropriate. I guess it would depend on the laws of your state, though. Most places here will let a 10 year old get a tattoo if their parent is there to sign consent forms and waivers of liability.
That aside, I highly recommend doing it yourself. Seven of my nine ear piercings were done by ‘professionals’, and the last two I did myself, as well as my boyfriend’s, with a simple personal piercer purchased at Sally Beauty Supply. I got the first ones at age 8 in a Merle Norman store, and had years of infection and metal allergy problems afterward. The ones I did myself healed much faster and I haven’t ever had a problem with them. It’s actually easier, in my experience, to do it yourself, because you mark the spot you want the hole, and you’re more patient about getting it straight. The ones I had done in stores are all uneven and my earrings are squished together. The girls who did them were in a hurry and careless.
Don’t buy the ear cleaning crap. It’s just saline. The best thing I have found to keep them clean is letting some warm water run over the piercing in the shower. Neosporin helps, too, keeping the posts lubricated and fighting off any infections. It’s very important that the studs be turned a few times daily, even if your piercings are long since healed.
I have also found that the 6-8 weeks thing is crap, too. Switching to plain hoops to minimise the area of skin in contact with the earring while healing does wonders. I have usually been able to do that within 3 days of doing my own piercings. You can find small sterling silver of gold hoops at Sally, too. They have seamless ones that don’t have clasps to trap germs in.
I agree regarding the piercing. I don’t think it’s the tattoo studio’s option to take a parental permission. I could be wrong on this.
A professional piercing salon will use a needle, by hand. As you go further up the margin of the ear and encounter more cartilage, the needle causes less trauma than a blunt “piercer.” The professional piercer will also have sterilized the single-use needle in an autoclave, and will have received instruction in blood-borne pathogens. A mechanical piercing device will be difficult to clean and sterilize.
The metal allergies were probably a result of the quality of jewelry you were wearing and not directly related to who did the piercing. Likewise, the infection relates to (your) aftercare and not to the quality of the piercing. That said, a quick Google shows that Merle Norman advertises as a franchised Cosmetics Studio. This is not a place I’d go for a piercing
I have a good relationship with the folks who pierced my ears and nipples. They have no reason to rush me through the process, and because of their extensive experience they have a knack for piercing in an aesthetically pleasing way.
Actually, recommended aftercare is to soak in hot/warm saline 1-2x a day for the healing period or washing with antiseptic soap followed by a thorough rinse. Neosporin, which has a petroleum base, is a bad idea. The wound needs to breathe. It isn’t a wound that needs to be dressed. It is is a good idea to clean the healed piercing periodically, and turning the post would accomplish that.
This URL http://www.infinitebody.com/ is to the studio I go to. They have extensive information about the piercing process, aftercare, healing times, etc.
I agree with Time Like Tears about the cleaning. The stuff they sell you is not really necessary. Keep it clean, and don’t wash them with anything perfumed or that has harsh chemicals. Some sea salt and warm water is a great way to clean piercings, and helps with the pain. It also helps them heal more quickly. I had a lot of trouble with my belly button ring, and sea salt cleared up the “weeping” very quickly. A good professional piercer will give you after-care instructions, and many will allow you to come back for free if something goes wrong with the piercing, assuming it was not related to poor care.
A professional piercer does not use “studs”. They will use surgical steel hoops instead. They are much easier to clean because there is nothing covering the new holes, so they dry out and it’s harder for stuff to get trapped behing them. When I had my ears done with studs, pieces of hair used to get wrapped around them. Needles are safer and don’t tear the flesh so much. They are also far less painful. Basically, I agree with what most people people in this thread.
Make sure you can “prove” you are related to your daughter when you take her to get it done. It’s a huge liability for a piercing shop to do somebody underage, so anywhere worth going to will take precautions, and will refuse you service if you can’t prove your relation to your daughter. My sister got a tattoo at 17, and the parlor put my dad through hoops to make sure they really were tattooing his daughter.
Pleeeease do not go back to Claire’s. I tried getting third holes done there twice, several years ago, and they just got infected and I had to give up. About six weeks ago I got a third one on my right ear at an excellent shop – I did a project on piercing for a sexuality class in college, and after what I learned doing it, I swore I wouldn’t go anywhere but a good reputable place for any further piercings, even earlobes – and it’s healed beautifully. I think I was concerned about it getting infected for about two hours once or twice. The particular shop has a policy where they will pierce ears at 12 with permission, navels at 16, and nothing else until 18. Unfortunately, it’s in New Orleans, and I’m pretty sure you can’t go that far just to get her ears pierced. I’m getting the other side done the next time I’m down there.
At least in Kansas, no one under a certain age (um, 18, I think) is allowed into a tattoo shop without a parent.
Don’t use neosporin or anything like that on a piercing. Ever. Read the label “not for puncture wounds”. Also, if they pull out a piercing gun, thank them for their time and leave.
Give some reputable piercers a call. Even if they can’t help with the piercing, they can help with aftercare and tell you how long you should wait before getting re-pierced, and many will know of a reputable place that can serve minors if they cannot.
The derm office I work in does ear piercing. Up until recently, it hadn’t been done in quite a while, but we just did one teenaged girl a couple weeks ago. I didn’t assist with it, but it was done with a needle. I don’t know how much it costs, but whether if she’s a new patient, that will increase the costs. It is not, of course, covered by insurance.
Oh, and one other thing. If your daughter has brothers that she still wrestles with, is involved in sports, or anything of that nature, don’t let her wear earrings while she is engaged in those activities. When I was 12, I was wrestling with my brother (a year older) and one of the backs of my earrings went inside the lobe. My mom cut it out and I screamed and screamed. Very painful. 20 years later I worked in an urgent care, where I learned that this is fairly common, and you’re supposed to have surgery to remove them.
My mother also, one time, started to go after my head with a lit match to remove a tick. I stopped her. It’s a wonder I lived to adulthood.
Thank you for your responses!
She used the solution given to her by the store- it had something more than saline in it as it bleached the hell out of my new towels. She also used plain old rubbing alcohol.
Me piercing her ears just is not going to happen. Just dealing with taking out the earring (with the crusted blood) caused a screaming match. She does have a few friends that pierced their own ears, but I put the kabosh on that idea also. They were done bad once, and (truth to tell) she’s a wuss when it comes to pain.
How long SHOULD she wait before getting them pierced again? and will her piercings close so she will be able to get them pierced in the same place (but correctly)?
I had no problems getting that last hole done, even though it was the third try. I did get it placed better, but since the needle was bigger (I have 18-gauge rings in all my ear holes, they’re quite small but bigger than studs) it might have hit some scar tissue from previous attempts. The actual piercing was “OUCH!” and over with, so even if it did, it wasn’t a problem. Her current holes should close up no problem, but I’d wait probably a couple of months at the least before trying again. I’d call around piercing shops and ask them what they think about that. Ears close up easily, but you want to be sure there isn’t anything nasty lurking in there before trying again.
A major advantage to getting rings in healing piercings is that they give the ear room to swell if it’s going to, without doing horrible things like swallowing earring backs. Mine did a bit, but it went back down nicely. Some swelling is perfectly normal, I’m told. You do have to be a bit more careful about things catching on the rings, but hair can get caught around studs as well. Ouch.
Mine were done with a darning needle, and a potato, at home. I swabbed down my earring posts with betadine about twice a week. They have grown over now, but then, it’s been twenty years since I last wore earrings.
She’s probably going to have a lump in both ears (scar tissue) for quite some time, which will make piercing with a gun tricky - the stud hits the scar tissue and veers to the left or right - you’ll wind up with crooked holes again.
I would go to a professional piercer to have them redone. Further, I would ask that person how long to wait before trying again - they will know better than any of us boobs. (None of us can actually look at or feel your daughter’s ears to see what sort of state they’re in). I would phone in advance to find a shop that will do it.
Duh moment- the ex told me to call our tattoo artist. Why didn’t I think of that? I just called local places. He does piercings also! He’s not exactly local anymore, but that’s okay.
I explained the situation, he said he would check into it. Received a call back- he called the county to verify whether she could be in the establishment and whether they could pierce her. Yes to both questions. Yeah! He said to bring her in and he’ll look at her ears, but she should be okay to repierce in two weeks. They do it with needles and hoops.
Who knows, maybe mom will even get her ears pierced again!
All right! I really think it’ll go a lot better for her this time. Just make sure she stays on top of the aftercare, that’s pretty critical with piercings.
Now I really really want to get my other ear done. Oh well, I’ll just have to wait!
If you’re going to take her to a dermatologist for the re-piercing, I’d suggest finding one that uses Blomdahl earrings. They’re made out of titanium or hardened surgical plastic. Titanium is far less likely to cause metal allergies - something about how it bonds to the miniscule amount of nickle in preventing it from leaching - and the plastic won’t at all. Best part? Unlike platinum, which is also supposed to be safe for people with metal allergies, these are $15-$40.
I got my ears pierced in 2nd and 8th grade. When I hit my mid-twenties I had to stop wearing earrings. Everything I tried caused infection, bleeding, itching, swelling, etc, sometimes within 30-90 minutes of putting them in. I ended up not wearing earrings for about 8 years. Not a huge deal on the contiuum of huge deals, but irritating for me.
I just recently found out about Blomdahl and got a pair of the plastic ones. They’re a lot cuter than they sound. I managed to get them through my holes last night. I’ve had them in for almost 24 hours now, and there’s no redness or radiating heat and most of the time I don’t even know I have them in. It’s a miracle.
I got my ears pierced when I was 8. I had it done at the pediatrician. No probem, no infection, straight through. A doctor would probably be the safest option. I gather that you trust your tatoo person, but wouldn’t you want someone who is either a medical professional or someone who specialized in ear piercings?
My first set I got done when I was about three or so. Those I had a lot of problems with, my mom didn’t turn them so we had to use pliers to get them out when it got time to change the earrings. I remember screaming when they used the gun and screaming when my dad pried them out weeks later.
I got me second set done at Claires about a year ago. They used what looked like a stapler or hole puncher. They just put the earring in the little stapler-like thing and punched away. Mine were done very well, though they were set a bit high.
I wouldn’t go near a piercing gun – they’re almost impossible to properly sterilize, I’m told. Earlobes are pretty forgiving, but still, I’d rather have somebody who’s trained in piercing doing it than some teenager working at the mall. Obviously it ends up working okay for most people, but it didn’t for me.
A problem with going to a dermatologist is that not all of them are up to date on piercing. I had a friend who went to a medical clinic to get her belly-button pierced. The nurse came in with a piercing gun, she went out the door. I have no idea how many people had body parts pierced at that with that thing. I’m just glad my friend had heard that guns were not a good way to get pierced and was strong-willed enough to walk out.