# Ear piercing question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 6, 2005, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-piercing-question/293249 "2005-03-06T22:09:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-piercing-question/293249/21 "2005-03-08T02:46:35Z")
> [@Zahava424](#): > > 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? Our tattoo artist _is_ also a piercer. Primarily everything other than ears, but I would trust him much more than I would trust a Claire’s or Piercing Pagoda. I know everything is sterile there, otherwise I would not have had artwork done there. I told LilMiss about Kevin doing the piercing. Now she thinks she wants to wait until summer. ~shrug~ Oh, and I guess I’m not _allowed_ to get my ears pierced. :dubious: I’m not cool enough. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-piercing-question/293249/22 "2005-03-08T15:42:05Z")
> [@Zahava424](#): > > 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? The piercer, no questions. I’ve had plenty of piercings done, and only by people I knew to be skilled and careful. A piercer just plain knows more about piercings than a doctor, if they are adequately trained. Performing a piercing properly is not a simple task, and it’s not something covered in medical school. > [@MissTake](#): > > 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! Excellent! Last time I got a piercing, my piercer told me some stories about kids he’d seen who had gotten piercings at the mall or similar places, and after hearing some of them, I really think those places oughta get shut down. ---
**Author:** ![Prancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8dc957/32.png) [@Prancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prancer)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-piercing-question/293249/23 "2005-03-08T16:17:52Z")
The mall piercing places should, at least, be subject to the same sterilzation requirements that all tatoo/body piercing stores are. I’m learning a lot in this thread. I especially didn’t know that sterlizing a piercing gun doesn’t happen. Yuck. Will piercing artists work with whatever (in reason) studs you bring in? I’ve always wanted another hole in the cartiledge at the top of one of my ears. If these plastic earrings work out, maybe that’s a possibility. FYI, two days and no problems. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-piercing-question/293249/24 "2005-03-08T17:11:48Z")
No professional piercers will put studs in new holes, **Prancer**. I’d be surprised if they’d put anything but a ring in a cartilage piercing – maybe a barbell, but it would have to be kinda long to accomodate any swelling, and bumping it would be awful. They should be able to come up with metal you’re not allergic to, and once it’s healed you could wear anything you wanted, really. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-piercing-question/293249/25 "2005-03-08T17:22:41Z")
> [@Prancer](#): > > The mall piercing places should, at least, be subject to the same sterilzation requirements that all tatoo/body piercing stores are. > > I’m learning a lot in this thread. I especially didn’t know that sterlizing a piercing gun doesn’t happen. Yuck. It’s impossible to adequately sterilize a gun. The standard for sterility is autoclaving (though it must be noted that a few pathogens can survive it, including prions.) Most piercing guns are partially made of plastic and thus they simply can’t survive what’s considered adequate heat for sterilization. Cleaning with disinfectant chemicals is not as effective, and a small shower of microscopic blood particles, complete with bloodborne pathogens, bathes the gun every time it’s used. There’s just not much oversight of these sorts of places. I guess it’s a case where you have to beware. ---
**Author:** ![Iceland\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@Iceland\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iceland_Blue)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-piercing-question/293249/26 "2005-03-08T17:27:53Z")
I had mine done at the GP’s surgery.Just made an appointment,they used a sterile needle punch and it went through no problem.And if there’s any problems,there’s someone who knows what they’re doing.And when she’s got her earrings in,if she doesn’t swap them regularly,make sure she either just takes them out and puts them back in again or even just turns them every now and then.I didn’t realize after I had them done and when the skin grew back across,it actually grew over the earring.Had to go to casualty to cut it open to retrieve the damn thing 😃 ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-piercing-question/293249/27 "2005-03-09T09:49:48Z")
> [@whiterabbit](#): > > No professional piercers will put studs in new holes, **Prancer**. I’d be surprised if they’d put anything but a ring in a cartilage piercing – maybe a barbell, but it would have to be kinda long to accomodate any swelling, and bumping it would be awful. They should be able to come up with metal you’re not allergic to, and once it’s healed you could wear anything you wanted, really. I recently had my right lobe pierced with two 6-gauge eyelets at the piercing studio I go to. One bled, I took out the eyelet, let the hole close up, and had it repierced. Because the eyelet is on the large-ish size, the piercer actually pierced with a biopsy punch at a size slightly smaller than 6 gauge. Both 6 gauge piercings are now doing fine. Because of the bleeding on the original piercing, I was told to avoid the warm saline soaks for 4 or 5 days on the re-pierce: the soaking kept the bleeding from fully stopping on the original piercing. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-piercing-question/293249/28 "2005-03-09T14:35:19Z")
Well, for something like 6-gauge I’m sure the rules are different – I was thinking of my little rings, not something like that. As for the soaks, sure, that makes sense. They did the most for me once my last one got to the itchy stage. I knew the itchiness was a good sign, but it was annoying. The salt soaks helped with that, for a little bit at least. I wish I had the nerve, and the time and the money, to get a whole row of rings up one ear. That would be cool. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-piercing-question/293249/29 "2005-03-10T01:37:19Z")
> [@whiterabbit](#): > > Well, for something like 6-gauge I’m sure the rules are different – I was thinking of my little rings, not something like that. As for the soaks, sure, that makes sense. They did the most for me once my last one got to the itchy stage. I knew the itchiness was a good sign, but it was annoying. The salt soaks helped with that, for a little bit at least. > > I wish I had the nerve, and the time and the money, to get a whole row of rings up one ear. That would be cool. I discovered that two piercings in one sitting was a bit much for me, stresswise. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-piercing-question/293249/30 "2005-03-10T02:01:02Z")
> [@whiterabbit](#): > > No professional piercers will put studs in new holes, **Prancer**. Really? All I’ve heard is you’re supposed to put studs in first. ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-piercing-question/293249/31 "2005-03-10T02:09:11Z")
When I had my ears pierced by a professional piercer at a studio a couple of years ago (my holes from when I was a kid closed up), I had the little titanium rings put in. Lots easier to clean, rotate, and a helluva lot more comfortable than the studs I had when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-piercing-question/293249/32 "2005-03-10T03:41:18Z")
> [@flamingbananas](#): > > Really? All I’ve heard is you’re supposed to put studs in first. I’m talking about if you go to a piercing shop. I’m not sure I’ve even seen any studs for sale at those places. If you get 'em done at the mall, you get studs. Rings are a lot easier to manage, really, having done both. ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-piercing-question/293249/33 "2005-03-10T12:40:15Z")
> [@whiterabbit](#): > > I’m talking about if you go to a piercing shop. I’m not sure I’ve even seen any studs for sale at those places. If you get 'em done at the mall, you get studs. Rings are a lot easier to manage, really, having done both. Ahhh I see. I’ll have to try this next time I get my ears pierced. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ear-piercing-question/293249.md?page=1)