I went in with my Mom on a pair of diamond and platinum earrings for her birthday, but she would only agree to it if I got my ears pierced, “so I’ll have someone to leave them to” (my sister is also unpierced). So now, at the advanced age of 44, I am going to get my ears pierced!
I am NOT going to the Village to have it done by some drugged-out hippie, thank you. I thought, hmmm, maybe I should throw a slumber party and have a bunch to 12-year-old girls over to do it? But that’s what got Paula Poundstone into trouble . . . So some of the Beauty & Fashion Girls here at my magazine recommended a place called Claire’s, where they get all their piercings done. I’ll go next week, getting a friend to provide immoral support.
Anyone here have advice on pre- and post-piercing care? Any stories with which to regale and horrify me?
Earlobes? Piece o’ cake. Just follow their directions on keeping them clean, etc.
At one of my many earlobe piercings, though, a whole lot of blood splurted out and stained my dress–so don’t wear anything non-washable.
BTW, one of my grandmothers was named Mildred. She wasn’t pierced. My other grandmother is named Florence, but she is pierced, and she refuses to use wire hangers. Coincidence…or conspiracy? You be the judge.
Have some rubbing alcohol on hand. Make sure to use it regularly for at least a week. It is much more plesant than squeezing pus out if your ear gets infected.
If you really want to impress me you’ll buy a bottle of tequila and a cheap earring. A few shots of the tequila and you can then just push the earring through (if you are drunk enough, it will even seem like a good idea).
Have some rubbing alcohol on hand. Make sure to use it regularly for at least a week. It is much more pleasant than squeezing pus out if your ear gets infected.
If you really want to impress me you’ll buy a bottle of tequila and a cheap earring. A few shots of the tequila and you can then just push the earring through (if you are drunk enough, it will even seem like a good idea).
My only words of advice, as ridiculous as it sounds, is “DON’T FLINCH!” when they use the gun thing to pierce your ears.
Just be ready for a <SNAP!> when they do it, and it will be over. It doesn’t hurt, as long as what happened to me doesn’t happen to you…(At Claire’s , no less!)
(begin creepy horror music)
I went to get my ears pierced when I was 14. My older sister took me to Claire’s, because they gave you free earrings when you got your ears pierced.
The girl that did the piercing told me she had been doing this forever, and all that good stuff. Showed me how to take care of my ears, what not to do, etc…
The first hole went ok. Snap, and it was over. The second hole, not so ok.
The girl that did it only pressed the trigger half way. When she did it, it scared me, and I flinched. So, the earring only went through half of my ear lobe. She then YANKED on the gun, took out the earring, and started over with a new earring. She aimed again for the same area, and finally got it pierced. Unfortunately, she caught a little bit of skin in the backing. I thought it was supposed to sting like that, but later, when “turning” the earrings, I screamed like a banshee when that skin came out. Damn that hurt.
So, now I have a half a hole, that goes off to one side, which is inevitably where the earring tries to go when I put one in. (Both holes have the same entry point, the half just veers off to the side.)
In the past 13 years, I have successfully gotten my ears pierced 3 times on the left, but I only got the second hole put in on the right side. I couldn’t get the nerve to get the third hole done, because the second hole gave me such horrible flashbacks.
(end creepy horror music.)
Just make sure to ask the person doing it how long they have been doing this, and tell them to tell you when they are actually going to do it. That way you won’t flinch, and end up with a goofy piercing like I have.
Good Luck!!!
Most experienced piercers and piercees will tell you the same thing. When I had my two 12 gauges pierced they gave me a small baggy of natural sea salt that I mixed with water and rinsed the ear and earring. Salt water is a nautral astringent and alcohol has been known to cause and/or exacerbate infections.
I have been to the piercing shops in the Village as well as a couple on Broadway in Seattle. I find that even though they are usually staffed by some unusual looking characters, they are much more strict about hygiene than hair salons and spas. I have been scolded after just touching my ear. They quickly gave me an alcohol wipe to wash my hands and sprayed down the countertops with Windex ordering me to NEVER touch my ears in their shop again.
Oh, dear. How sick-making [sitting down with some smelling salts]. Skerri, which Claire’s WAS this, and what was Miss Shakey-Hands’ name?
Adam, darling, if only I COULD drink, but I am deathly allergic to the stuff. Maybe a bit of laudanum might help? I guess the thought of diamonds and platinum will see me through. “Just close your eyes, dear, and pretend you’re a Gabor!”
I’ll forego my usual witticism about having enough holes in my head. I neither have nor desire piercings. Both times my daughter got her ears done, I chose to absent myself, leaving Dad to be the responsible parent. Wuss that I am, I was standing in Sears in a woozy haze, trying not to think of my baby (OK, so she was a teen already) getting metal posts poked thru her lobes on the other end of the mall. To this day, I’ve never looked at them that closely - fortunately, my husband is not queasy, so when she suffered a minor infection, he was able to help her clean it.
It’s not that bad Eve. It’s over very quickly, and while it might sting for a little bit, it won’t hurt that much. Be sure to keep it clean and you’ll be fine.
That said…
When i went to have my nosed pierced for the third time (long story), I went to a guy I didn’t know. He pierced it, but left the butterfly back in, so we had to take it out. I had to root it out of my nose (nice visual) and then he pierced my nose again though the same hole, 3 minutes after he did the last one. Hurt like hell.
Wow. I thought I was the only one. While I was married, it drove my (now ex) nuts that I didn’t have pierced ears (I’m needle phobic). Still don’t know why it was something he should have cared about, but. I made a deal w/him - I’d get my ears pierced and he wouldnt’ get a tattoo. So I got my ears pierced. Hurt for a sec (did one of those mall things IIRC), throb for a while that evening, but that was it, didn’t even bother w/OTC tylenol.
{10 seconds after our divorce he got the tattoo - now 15 years later, given that he’s gained and lost the same 30 pounds over and over, you can’t even tell what it was. I definately got the better of the deal there),
On the plus side - now that I have peirced ears, I’ve noticed all the really cool earrings you can get, from gold et al to whimsical (I have some man eating shark ones I’m particularly fond of)>
I was 25 when I got my ears pierced. I had it done at the JC Penney hair salon, back when they did that type of stuff (I don’t believe they do it anymore).
The stylist marked two little dots on my ears where he was going to do the piercing and then asked me to check them in the mirror before we went ahead. He used a piercing gun and I got my choice of about 6 different designs of earrings, which was nice because I needed to leave them in for 6 to 8 weeks while the insides of the ears healed. It only took a second and didn’t hurt at all, though about 20 min. later they throbbed a little. Not bad at all.
They also gave me a bottle of solution that I needed to clean my ears with twice a day, and I was told to turn the earrings just before cleaning my ears. After cleaning them, I was told to rub a little bit of antibiotic ointment into them as well.
I tried taking the earrings out at 6 weeks, but had to put them back in for the remaining 2 because they weren’t healed up enough yet.
If you go to a good place and follow the directions they give you, it should work out great.
Dang. I knew I forgot something in that first post!
The Claire’s that I went to was in Charleston, SC. And I believe it’s called something else now. I guess it got bought out. This was 13 years ago, so I guess Miss Shakey-Hands is probably long gone. Let’s just hope she doesn’t own any Lawn Darts!! :eek:
Oh, and one more word of advice: Do not use peroxide to clean your earrings/piercings. When you get your ears pierced, basically, they are open wounds until they heal. (Around 6 weeks.) Peroxide will eat away at the skin where it is open. (Ask any professional piercer. They will tell you the same.) And use the salt water solution as opposed to the alcohol. It works MUCH better.
As long as Claire’s hasn’t changed in the past 6 years, they give you a free bottle of their holy ear cleaning liquid.
And my method for handling the pain of piercing is to close your eyes as tight as you can, because then you’re already in the flinching position. This method has worked for me through navel and tongue piercings as well as 3 ear piercing sessions.
And hey, while you’re at Claire’s, get yourself one of those cute little upper ear cartilage piercings! Remember, diamonds and platinum look good everywhere.
Claire’s usually has something for you to squeeze while you’re being pierced. And if there’s more than one piercer on hand, you can get both ears done at the same time.
Not that I think Eve is likely to follow this suggestion, but for anyone else who might be readng…
If you are going to pierce your cartilage, I strongly suggest going to an actual piercer. The piercing guns that places like Claire’s use basically jam the earring post through your flesh, pushing it out of the way. That’s fine, generally, with the ear lobe, but doing that through the cartilage is risky, in terms of healing and scarring. A piercer will use a fine, hollow needle to punch out a small circle of flesh, which is a better choice if you are going through the thicker, tougher part of the upper ear.
Oh, Eve! I am so proud. [ul] [] As previously stated, do NOT use alcohol or peroxide to clean the piercing. Alcohol dries the skin to the point of cracking it, and peroxide can both deteriorate the outer covering of the earring, and can do tissue damage. Stick to either the bottle of goo that they’ll give you, sea salt or bactine.[] Leave the damn things in. Until you know how long it takes your body to heal itself, it’s not worth taking them out a week or so early. If they say 6 weeks, I leave 'em in for 8. If they say 8 weeks, I leave the thing in for 11. It’s just not worth the pain of trying to shove an earring through a half-way healed hole. TRUST me. [] If it does get infected, (I had one earring that the piercer caught a piece of skin on the backing, causing all kids of infection) know when to call it a day and take the thing out. It’s not worth the searing pain and possible tissue damage. [] On a related note, don’t get your ears pierced in Germany. [] As previously stated, ask the chick with the GUN in her hand how long and how MANY piercings she’s done. She’s approching your head with a gun, for God’s sake. And if your gut is telling you that she doesn’t know what she’s doing, go somewhere else. [] Get a simple stud. Sure, the sparkly big fake looking rhinestones look good, but when you’re sleeping on them, you want the smallest piece of metal jamming into your head as possible. Get someone to bring a digital camera and take pictures. Then post them. I wanna see the Lady Eve get tribal. [/ul] Good luck, and keep us…posted. (worst…pun…EVER!!!)
What you need is a big, muscular, hairy-legged, African-American member of the Cornell Women’s Crew to pierce your ear for you, late at night, after you’re both been smoking huge amounts of Jamaican marijuana, awkwardly shoving an unsterilized needle through your lobe. Bonus points if she’s the heterosexual partner of the guy you’ve been having a homosexual affair with (switch genders to suit personal experience).
Then you grab the gold stud you borrowed from a friend and ram it home, and take off for Paris for five months, during which time you never visit a drug store for anything as obvious as antibiotic ointments, but occasionally instead order a *fine[/i[ at a low cafe and dab some of it gingerly on your throbbing ear. Then trot off to the Gustave Moreau museum to stare at decadent 19th century Salon paintings.
Eve - when I got my ears peirced(for the second time - I’d had it done ten years before, but the holes had long closed). I went to Claire’s. The girl asked my sister to sign the parental permission slip, which made me laugh, as I was thirty at the time, and they thought my sister was my mother. Anyway, two days after the piercing, I just had to take one of the earrings out. I needed to feel my earlobe without the eariring. That night, at home, I took it out. Of course, I couldn’t get it back in. I went to work the next day, but couldn’t get anyone to help me get it back in. I could get it partway through, but not find the back hole. Finally, I was going into a meeting with the company CFO, and I would be damned if I would go looking like a pirate, with just one earring. So I figured I’d just push it through. I found the hole and pushed it through. It HURT! I went into the meeting, and realized my ear was bleeding like a stuck pig. When I got out of the meeting I looked in the mirror and found I’d manually repierced the hole that had been closed for ten years! Where’s the tequila when you need it? My hint - don’t take the earrings out until your 6 weeks are up.
