ear (cartilage) piercing

[sara3]

my 14 yr old daughter wants the top of her ear pierced. the strange man in the tattoo/piercing place scared her (and me too!), and didn't have a piercing gun so wanted to use body piercing stuff.

Claire's (the tacky accessory shop) said she has to be 16.

I have a piercing gun (long story, but I've never used it!) and daughter has the old earrings from her last (regular) ear piercing.

my question is.. just how difficult can it be?!! what can go wrong? have you a better plan of action?

thank you :o)

[mycats]

you DONT use a piercing gun to pierce cartilage. It has to be a needle. How did the guy scare you? it doesnt hurt getting pierced there by the way, I have the top of one ear done and the top of my scaffold goes through the top of the other one.
(dont go to Claire either, they are a cheap novelty accessory shop, not piercers!)

[sara3]

yeah, I don't really think I'd do it myself!

I had my helix pierced with a gun, I don't see what the problem is.

the piercing guy was just a bit odd. and it was �35, which I thought was pricey. plus she needs a stud earring for school and he only had large rings that needed pliers to remove. sounds like hard work to me.

[mycats]

you could try another piercer?
�35 is a bit dear but not excessively.
The captive ring only has to stay in while its healing, then she could get a stud if she wants, its not really hard to put in or take out.
If you are in england - havent the school holidays just started there? this would be a good time to do it, then get the stud in for school?

[sara3]

they're being a bit funny about her age, too. I don't want to encourage her to lie but I had my ears pierced loads of times when I was her age (old rebel!).

she is on school hols, that's why we've been trying to get it done quickly.

thanks for your advice :o)

[Eve]

I had mine done with a little stud and my ear closed over it overnight and the doctor had to cut it out with a scalpel :(

So be careful with little studs.

[Greedyfly]

DO NOT EVER LET ANYONE USE A GUN unless its a standard ear piercing. AND NEVER LET CLAIRES PIERCE you I cant see why anyone would go there. �35 is steep, my conch only cost me �25 about 6 months ago. The piercer you saw does sound odd, I would find someone else. And as said before the piercing doesnt really hurt, I believe needle piercing is much safer and less painfull than gun piercing. And any reputable piercer wouldnt use a gun over a needle - they can cause to much damage. I would inform your daughter that the area she wants piercing can be a pain to heal mine took years to stop being painful and sensitive, TBH I would never have that piercing done again - too much effort with the healing porcess. I have had 10 so far and that by far was the most trouble for me in the end. In terms of age most reputable piercers will only pierce standard ear below age of 16 out of choice. Hope that helps.

[Greedyfly]

In response to Jennas post - just make sure they use a sleeper stud - they are huge but you can change it after a couple of weeks.

[sara3]

thanks Jenna (ewww!) and thanks Greedyfly.. useful info. we've sat on the net looking at horror pics and i think she has been suitably put off.

it's difficult as I had my cartilage pierced (with a gun) and it was fine, but did take a while to heal.

thanks again to all who replied :o)

[perigra]

do it yourself with a darning needle or similar. keep it clean!

[chazza]

Hi
When I was young (and very stupid!) I got my ear pierced at the top, got it done in a jewellers with a gun and it was fine at the time and still is! It was a bit of a craze at the time and my friends and I all had it done with a gun and they were all fine, you need to make sure you look after it well, bathe it daily, turn the earring to stop the skin growing over it etc.

I also pierced mine myself at one point, with a needle and it was fine too but I would never advise anyone to copy this just in case!

[Doolallygirl]

I've had 8 piercings done, four in the lobe and four at various parts of the rest of my ears. I had the top cartilage piercing done with a gun when I was 16 - the pain is indescribable! lol you can hear the cartilage literally shattering!! This is why piercists use needles, that actually pierces a hole through the cartilage. If you shatter the cartilage with a gun, you increase the healing time. My piercing with the gun took months and months to heal, my piercings with the needles all took about three months to heal completely. They also only cost �20 a go from a shop called BellyBar.

Piercing with a needle is quicker, painless (you only hear the pop, you can't feel it!) and heals quicker.

[topogigo]

How about not letting a fourteen year old have a piercing?
Or hadn't you considered that, all the other girls got one?
Far too young.

[sara3]

constructive, as always.

she is 14 and I have brought my kids up to have a bit of self-expression. obviously I talked her out of the tattoo she wanted on her forehead, but consider a stud in her ear to be acceptable.