why do you need another hole in your head?!

In My Humble Opinion
1

In my family, ear piercing was a rite of passage. Hence, the thread title, which was one of my father’s most often repeated laments. I am one of six daughters, and every single one of us had to wait until we were ten before being ear punched. As such, it was a huge deal. The piercing was performed on our birthdays, after a trip to Claires where we each got to choose a handful of earrings to keep in the jewelry box that had been our primary gift. At age 15, we went through this again (though in a less formal manner) when we were permitted to get the fabeled double-piercing. I can still remember how excited I was, especially the first time, and how apprehensive. I was so afraid I would cry from the pain and embarrass myself in front of my older sister, who had endured her piercing the year before stoically. Today, I have a total of 9 holes in my ears–the originals and the doubles on the lobe of each ear, as well as three cartilage piercings on the left and two more on the right. I wear my diamond studs from my wedding day in the first holes, and small colored stone studs in each of the others. I never change them and rarely even take them out.

So–how about you guys? Was ear piercing a big deal for you? How old were you when you first got punched? Did your siblings undergo the same ritual? Does anyone have any piercing horror stories?(as in “I was so scared I ran out of the store”, NOT “so it got all infected, and then my cat came along and licked off the pus”) Are there any dopers out there with no ear piercings, or holy-shit mutiples? What about your choice of earrings? Does anyone out there actually match your ear jewelry to your outfit each day? (what a chore!) Anyone with piercings in alternate locations? If so, do you feel differently about those than you do your ears? (For the record, I had my lip pierced back in college. I loved it, my employer didn’t. No more lip ring for me :frowning: )

So, what’s the scoop?

2

Oh, darn.

I thought this was going to be a thread about the glories of self-trepanning.

Nem’mine, carry on.

Tygr, who has exactly the same number of holes in his head as the day he was born.

3

I got my ears pierced on my 5th birthday. I didn’t even cry. :slight_smile: I might have gotten second (or more) holes in each ear, but I soon found out that I was allergic to most metal earrings, and didn’t bother getting any more holes. I still wear earrings maybe once or twice a year to keep the holes open. I used to match my earrings to my outfit every day when I was in elementary and maybe middle school, but I gradually gave up matching earrings and even wearing them because it just seemed like too much work.

4

At the age of 15, I begged my father to let me have pierced ears. He, trying to talk me out of it, described how awful and painful it would be, in retch-inducing terms; he was trying to make me ill. He managed to make himself a little green, too. As revenge, I pierced my own ears, and I dared him to watch me.

Turns out it didn’t hurt that bad. But my Dad was grossed out for days on end. [sub]I was a horrible child.[/sub]

Now I have three holes in my left ear, two in my right. I did them all myself. I always wear mismatched and/or odd numbers of earrings.

5

beegirl–one of my younger sisters had super-sensitive ears too. She always had to buy pure gold, but she only wears silver jewelry now, so last I heard they had closed up. Before she did they got pretty nasty so that is probably for the best. :slight_smile:

seawitch–I’ve ALWAYS had to have odd-even numbers in my ears. For some reason I just hate the symmetry of perfectly matched numbers and types on each side. Plus, our way, if one falls out no one will even notice!

bella

6

My mom had wanted to have my ears pierced when I was a baby because “that’s how they do it back in the old country”. My pediatrician (who was from “the old country”, ironically) refused…I got my first piercing at a local doctor’s office when I was 9. The holes cracked and bled like nobody’s business, but eventually healed. I remember thinking how cool I must’ve looked wearing dangles with my prim Catholic school uniform…I look at my school pictures now, shake my head – “What the heck was I thinking with all the rhinestones?”

I got my second piercings when I was in grad school because…well, I thought they looked great on other people? I honestly don’t remember why. The main advantage was that, while student teaching, the kids thought I was “neat” because of them! :slight_smile:

As for other piercings, I have none. If I had a flat tummy, though, I’d be tempted to have my belly button pierced, but I’d worry that the hoop would catch on something…

7

Man, I had mine done when I was very very little, like 2 or so. I don’t remember crying, but then, I don’t remember what I wore yesterday. I imagine I did, just because I was 2 and 2 year olds cry over everything.
I never wear earrings. Ever. Even for formal dances, I will leave my lobes naked. They bother me so much! Occasionally I’ll pop them back in to prevent the holes from closing up, but other than that, nothing.

8

Growing up, the rule was absolutely no holes anywhere until you are 18. It used to be until we moved out of home and supported ourselves, but I wore them down, arguing that if I could smoke, drink alcohol and vote, wasn’t I mature enough to decide if I wanted to pierce my own ears ???

So, 18 it was. Until I went to spend half a year in Japan as an exchange student. Just before my 16th birthday, I figured that as I had no parental discipline (my host family looked after me, not disciplined me) I would go ahead and get my ears pierced. This was a double whammy since Japanese students can’t attend school with pierced ears, but they made allowances for us silly foreigners !

To cut a long story short, I had four earrings in each ear. My relationship wasn’t all that good with my parents (I had gone to Japan to get away from them) and I had the following thought about what my parents might say…

1 earring in each ear : “you silly fool”
2 earrings in each ear : “you are grounded for a week, with no pocket money and take them out this instant”
3 earrings in each ear : “you are the anti-christ and I am shocked beyond belief that you are a daughter of mine”
4 earrings in each ear : “take them out or pack your bags and get out of my house”

Since I needed a place to stay I took out two earrings, leaving me with 3 in each ear. I have since gone down to two in one ear and one in the other, and am thinking of just abandoning the whole thing, seeing as though I only wanted them because I wasn’t allowed to have them. Considering the fact that I haven’t lived at home in quite a while, and am happily married, maybe I should just get up now and take them out…

BTW My mum and I get on really well now… I was an obnoxious teen and she had her own problems, so it’s all water under the bridge now. And when I got off the plane (aged 16, haven’t seen parents in over 6 months) the first thing that was said was " gee… you’ve put on a lot of weight." When the whole earring thing was noticed, all that was said was “well, did you enjoy mutilating your ears ?”

9

Kiz–you got your ear’s pierced by a doctor?? Where are you from, if you don’t mind me asking? The only ear-piercing operations I have observed are those little kiosks in the mall, or else at jewelry stores or tattoo parlors. What kind of doctor was it? Just your pediatrician? And they still got infected? Wow. My $5.95 cheap metal “buy the studs get the piercing free” experience seems a little janky now.

ladyfoxfyre–if you NEVER wear earrings, and can’t be bothered, why do you keep your holes open? Wouldn’t it just be easier to let them close up and be done with it? Are you envisioning some point in the future where a handsome stranger hands you a little velvet box with a pair of matching rocks nesting inside? Or are you just weird like that? :wink:

goo–The parental reaction to my holes was downright hostile when I first came home from college with them. Three years later, on the other hand, my little sis shows up with her tongue done and she got pretty much the reaction you did. “Why would you do that to yourself, honey? Oh, and pass the gravy…” Go figure.

bella

10

of having a bone put thru my nose…

But it would be hell during hayfever-season, I guess.

11

I pierced it myself when I was 15. It was a pretty funny day. When I decided to do it I couldn’t remember which ear a straight guy was supposed to pierce, so I watched MTV for about a half-hour to try and get a grasp on it. It wasn’t as clear cut as I thought, but I eventually was 95% sure I was supposed to pierce my left. I then got a blowgun dart (app. 5" long pointy object with plastic ball on the end) and an ice cube. I held the ice cube to my ear until I felt it was numb enough, then tried to push the dart through. I couldn’t because my fingers were wet from the ice and kept slipping on the needle part of the dart. I stretched my fingers to reach the ball on the end of the dart to get a grip, and pushed. It went straight through my earlobe and into the side of my neck. There I was with blood dripping down my neck and a blowgun dart in my ear. I then found an old hatpin in my Dad’s closet and clipped it short with wire-cutters, stuck it through the hole, and bent the end with pliers so it wouldn’t fall out.

When my parents got home they took me to the mall to get it done right. I was then one of the less than a dozen white guys with pierced ears in my high school of 1500 - it may seem strange to kids these days, but in 1987 it was unusual for a man to have a pierced ear, and even more so for a teenager.

12

I didn’t get my ears pierced until I was 25. I had never really thought about it or wanted to until then. No one in my family had them, so I guess it just wasn’t on my radar for a long time. It took seeing a really cool pair of earrings in a jewelry store window to make me go and get it done. Clip earrings are pretty hard to find and they are really uncomfortable.

Where I grew up, lots of girls had their ears pierced very young - as babies, even, so many of them never really got the chance to decide for themselves what they wanted. The big deal at the time I was growing up was guys with earrings. There was much gnashing of teeth amongst parents and school administrators on that one. We had one guy in my junior high school of about 900 kids back in 1976 who wore a single earring to school, and he was considered pretty radical. I look back on it now and think about how funny that was - that so many adults could get their knickers in a knot about a guy wanting to wear some earlobe jewelry.

13

I had thought of piercing an ear for a while, and then when I came out I definitely wanted them. My plan all along was to pierce my left ear once and my right ear twice. When I told my parents I wanted to pierce my ears, they freaked out. My dad had a long talk with me about “the way people could react to you as a homosexual” (yes, that’s what he said) and my mom just made me promise to do my left ear instead. So I had my left ear pierced. Later on, after I landed the summer job I worked at the summer before I started university, I got my right ear pierced twice as I’d always meant to.

Now I usually wear either three small silver hoops, or two silver hoops and a pendant in the lower pierce of the right ear, or a hoop in the left and in the right, a pendant and an ear-cuff with chain and stud, which I think looks magnificent.

14

I had my ears peirced when I was 38. My father always said, “next, you’ll want a bone through your nose like a Ubangi.”

I was sitting in church one day, admiring the earrings on the woman in front of me (wasn’t listening to the sermon. So sue me). And I got to thinking, “I wish I could wear earrings like that.”

And suddenly it occured to me that I was almost middle-aged, and could do any damn thing I pleased. I’m a slow learner. The next trip to the hair salon I got one hole in each ear.

15

First piercing, age 14. No pain at all, just pressure and a warm feeling in my earlobes.
Second piercing, age 15. Pinched a little, but didn’t really hurt.
Cartilage piercing, age 16. This one felt like a shot, and left my ear sore for a few days afterwards.

All of my ear piercings were done at one of those mall stores. Never got infected, still have 'em all. I usually stick to a ball stud with the cartilage piercing, because it’s less likely to get caught on things.

Lip piercing, age 14, a DIY thing with a safety pin. Don’t try this at home. It hurt, and it bled. A whole lot. This one I let close up.

Technically one was supposed to either be 18, or have a parent along to sign the consent forms, but said mall store was pretty slack about checking, and we teens had our methods. A guy friend of mine decided he wanted his ear pierced, like all the Cool Guys had. This was the mid-eighties, when Cool Guys had to be sure they had the correct ear pierced, or have their sexual preference ruthlessly mocked at school the next day. So, I take my friend to the mall, and the closer we got to the earring store, the spacier he got.

Me: (Right outside the store) “Are you sure you want this done?”
Him: (Squeaky voice) “Uh-huh”

We enter the store.

Clerk: “May I help you?”
Him: <blank stare>
Me: “He wants his ear pierced.”
Clerk: “You want your ear pierced?”
Him: (Squeaky voice) “Uh-huh”
Clerk: “Ok, are you 18?”
Him: <blank stare>
Me: “I’m 18. I’m his sister. Our mom said it was ok.” <innocent smile>

(We were both 16, and his parents birthed kittens when they found out later)

Clerk: “Ok, sign here.”

I sign there. The clerk leads us over to the piercing chair, which at this store, was placed near the window so passers-by could watch.

Clerk: <gesturing to the starter earring selection> “Ok, what kind of stud do you want?”
Him: <blank stare>

The clerk turns to me. I think of the time when we were 9, and my friend untied the top of my bathing suit when I was on the diving board. I look longingly at the little gold daisies.

Me: “He’ll take the stainless steel stud.”
Clerk: “Does he want both ears done?”

I think of the time in second grade when my friend told the entire class that I liked a certain boy. (Not that I didn’t, but boys were icky, y’know?)

Me: “Just one.”
Clerk: “Which one?”

I think of the time my friend dumped an entire 48 oz Dr. Pepper all over the front seat of my car. The time he sat three rows behind me and my date at the movies and tossed popcorn in our hair. The time he OD’ed on sugar and threw me into the swimming pool fully dressed. The time…

Me: “The left ear.”

(This was the correct one.) The clerk makes a little dot on his earlobe, and shows it to me for placement approval. Meanwhile, outside the window, a small crowd is gathering, including a few Cool Guys. As guys with pierced ears weren’t common yet, it was a bit of a spectacle. Especially when the piercee is doing a spot-on impression of catalepsy. The clerk goes into her memorized speech about how he’ll feel a little pinch, and then clicks the piercing gun next to his head to let him know what it will sound like. My friend emits a high-pitched shriek that could shatter glass. The crowd outside pee their collective pants.

Me: “It’s not done yet.”
Him: <blank stare>
Clerk: “Is he SURE he wants his ear pierced?”
Me: <grim stare> “He’s. Sure.”
Clerk: “Ok. <click> Done”
Him: <blank stare>

I remove his wallet, pay the clerk, and lead Zombie-Boy off the chair, out of the store, through the mall past the Cool Guys, (who seem to be having trouble breathing), and out to my car. I load him in, shut the door, and we make our exit. Halfway to his house, he regains consciousness, pulls down the visor, and admires his new earring in the mirror.

Him: “That was no big deal. Didn’t even hurt.”
Me: “Shut. Up.”

16

My ears where pierced when I was but a newborn baby, in the pediatrician’s office. No problem, I don’t remember anything, but my mom says that I cried. Funny thing is, now I rarely wear earrings, yet still have the holes. After 13 years of wearing them all the time, and about 4 of wearing them less frequently, and about 1 of not wearing them at all…it seems they are a permanent fixture.

17

I got my ears pierced the first time when I was 7. My mom was in the middle of getting a perm and I told her hairdresser that I wanted them done. The hairdresser stoped what she was doing with mom and proceeded to pierce me right there.

The 2nd holes in my ears I did myself when I was 14 - one of them ripped out though and grew over, so now I only have 1 ear done twice.

When I was about 22 I Tried to pierce my belly-button myself. Apparently the skin on my thumb is much thinner than the skin on my tummy, because the {i]wrong end* of the needle popped through my thumb. Ouch!

Finally, when I was 27 I got my belly-button done for real and I love it.

And I do change my ear-rings and belly-button ring daily to match my outfits.

Al.

18

alice and I have had similar experiences, apparently. I was wondering if anyone had gotten the hairdresser piercing but me. Mom took me and I was all pretty-pleased, to be sure.

Second holes done…I dunno…11 or so? Dad took me because he knew it would piss off mom. Or was it the other way around? It was the divorce year and it was a ploy, I remember that. Anyway, another hairdresser.

I don’t even remember when I got my third holes done. I’m completely blank on it. Ladies and gentleman, Memories have left the building.

Two cartilage piercings done at 15 at Claire’s. Those were the days. I walked in, they asked, “Are you 18?” I said, “Yeah.” <punch, punch> Done. They’re both on the left side, one right where the cartilage starts, the other directly under the upper curve. Pretty standard.

I’ve since let my second and third set of holes and bottom cartilage piercing close up. Just too much trouble. I switch out the primary hole earrings constantly, and the upper cartilage one I change out with varying sizes of silver hoops. The more rock-and-roll I feel, the bigger the hoop is.

Also tried to pierce my own belly button in college. I think I was…20? I know I was drunk like a motherfucker. Same as alice again. Who knew a belly button could deflect bullets? That skin is TOUGH!

This is getting long. To wrap up, I’ve played around with various facial piercings, but currently only have a tongue stud (10 gauge, I think) that I got when I was 24 in a tattoo/piercing parlour. I forget I have the damn thing, since I’ve had it for over four years now. I call it my last grasp at doing stupid shit. I’m too old now. :smiley: Anyway, what with being employed in a real job and all, it’s the one piercing I can have that I can’t cover up with clothes, but that most people don’t notice unless I want them to.

I’d do my nipples if I liked my boobs. Which I don’t.

No private part piercings. Sharp objects and the bits do not go together.

[sub]This quite possibly could be my most boring post ever.[/sub]

19

I got my ears pierced at age 10. I don’t remember it really hurting; I was okay. My ears did get infected a lot; they were allergic to most metals. I basically quit wearing earrings around age 14; I have one pair of hypoallergenic (silver colored) hoops that I wear from time to time.

My mom always told me I couldn’t get my ears double pierced and then one day she and my sister went out and got their ears double pierced. Needless to say, I was miffed.

I’ve wanted an eyebrow ring for a few years now and she won’t let me get one, but I have this feeling that one day she and my sister will go out one day and return with bellybutton rings (like my sister wants).

No, I’m not bitter. Not at all. :slight_smile:

20

I have four. Two in each ear. Every one has been symbolic of something in my life. Every time I’ve experienced a heartache of a bad breakup, I’ve channeled it into a piercing. When Stacey and I split up, I got my left ear done once. When she died, the second in my left. When Rebecca and I split up, one in the right. When Shauna ran off with another guy, the second in my right. Here’s hoping I never need another one.