Polling for advice on piercings

[davsand]

Material Girl is getting her ears pierced.

One of our friends says piercing guns are unsafe for the tissues involved, potentially unsterile, and can possibly gonna lead to keloid scars. He says go to a piercing studio and stay away from the places in the mall.

I got my ears done the first time back in 1973 and it was done by a nurse in a Doc's office. I have a second piercing done about 15 years ago when the guns were pretty new. I don't recall that I had any issues with either time, so I am at a loss.

What say you all? Anybody got experience or advice on this?


Laura

[Shell Beau]

1. Every one I know had their's done at the mall or did it themselves.

:shrug: I was unaware of the unsanitary part.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

7. Horribly unsanitary.

You can do it yourself if you buy the right needles, but most people don't do that.

[madeline_con]

2. I'm thinking the mall kiosk, complete with autoclave and

hot running water for employee handwashing, is a safe bet. :sarcasm:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

4. Autoclave?

Those guns can't be autoclaved.

Mall kiosks are the worst ever.

[madeline_con]

9. That was sarcasm.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

3. Never ever get it done by a gun

They cause blunt trauma and can not be fully sanitized. Yes, each earring cartridge is sterilized, but the gun is plastic and can not be sterilized. There is blowback of bodily fluids onto the gun itself.

Go to a legitimate body piercing placing. They will do it with a needle. The needle is hollow, and actually cuts a hole. An experienced piercer is just as fast as the gun.

Also, that ear piercing solution is total crap, and will probably cause more irritation. Use a mild sea salt solution (mix up some sea salt in warm water to about the salinity of tears or you can buy it pre-mixed at most studios) or use diluted dial or provone soap.

I've had a bunch of piercings done, and am friends with quite a few piercers/tattoo artists.

At a good piercing place, they will be willing to show you the autoclave, and everything will come fresh out of sterile packages.

Oh, and one more thing, to become a legitimate piercer/tattooist, you'll spend a year or so apprenticing, take blood pathogen courses, learn CPR, etc. At the mall, it's a teenager with a 20 minute training video.

[Shell Beau]

5. I never knew that about the bodily fluids getting on the gun.

That is gross. I have 3 holes in each ear and were all done by the gun. Yuck! I had no clue.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

8. Yeah, it's pretty gross

And, back before I knew this stuff (ie my 18th bday), I actually went to a mall kiosk to get a cartilage piercing. The gun couldn't make it through the cartilage, just causing a painful half-hole in my ear.

[bicentennial_baby]

6. +1

[davsand]

12. Haruka, You echo Grant's comments almost exactly!

I swear it is like you two are channeling each other!

Grant has had a fair amount of ink done, and he has been in and out of the studios locally. He's even offered to go with us on the big day to provide moral support for Material Girl (this just cracks me up--you gotta know!) and to provide introductions to the piercing artist he suggests.

I was leaning that direction anyway because I want this to be a special event for her, but the whole sterility thing really made this a lot more of a serious discussion. I am amazed that this kind of information is not more widely available. I shudder to think how many people get pierced with one of those guns without ever realizing the risks involved.

:scared:


Laura

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

14. I've had over twenty piercings done and have seven tattoos

I actually only have one piercing currently (had to take them all out for a job that didn't work out anyway).

[ghostsofgiants]

20. +1

As always, Haruka knows her shit when it comes to piercings.

[Left Is Write]

10. I don't think guns were new 15 years ago. I had my first piercings done over 30 years ago.

With a piercing gun.

My second piercings were done with a gun, 14 and 12 years ago respectively. I have since heard, however, that it's best to go to a studio.

[davsand]

15. Well, let me think on that. I was living over on Harvard Street at the time...

I was bar tending, I decided to get that last piercing done, and I had it done on my way to work--so that was maybe 1984? (My first set got done in 1972--so you can tell I am pretty old!)

A little longer than 15 years ago, I guess... (Gawd, I really am old!)

:blush:


Laura

[Critters2]

11. How was the dinner? What'd I miss? nt

[davsand]

16. Pretty good food this year and a quick program.

They recognized the citizens from 5th and Hill for the organizing work they have done to try and get the coal gasification (hugely toxic) sight cleaned up, and the Golden Bedpan Award went to Ameren and the IL EPA jointly.

Children's Dental Access Project won (you do know that Greenwalt is the ED for that program now--right?) and they also recognized the Douglas County Dental program along with Douglas County Public Health Department.

I'm sorry you were not able to be there. I missed seeing you.


Laura

[Critters2]

18. Ah, the good ol' Golden Bedpan. LOL!

I didn't know Greenwalt was ED of the Children's Dental Program. That seems like a good match.

I did speak with the woman who's got my old job, when they were making calls for the dinner a few weeks ago.

Btw, Greenwalt's father is a county board member here--not my district, though. He was one of the first non-church people I met here, at a DFA meeting like a week after I moved here. Very cool guy.

Thanks for the report. Wish I could've been there. Next year in Champaign!

[no name no slogan]

13. Get drunk, get ice cube, get training earrring

Numb earlobe with ice cube.

Take stud and push as hard as possible through earlobe. Attack clasp to back of earring. Have another drink or two (optional).

PROTIP: rinse your hands in some sort of liquid before starting procedure. If vodka is not available, hot water and soap will work.


---------

This is how I did my first piercing. My next one was done much the same way. My third one was done at a mall kiosk. The only one that I had problems with was the one at the mall kiosk.

[ThomCat]

17. One of ears is full of scar tissue from a piercing gun.

:(

I'd go have a professional do it. It's worth it.

[ghostsofgiants]

19. Piercing guns are horribly unsanitary and don't heall as quickly or cleanly as needle piercings.

Piercing guns are bad, bad, bad.

[XemaSab]

21. The first time I had my ears done with a gun

10 years later I went to a piercing studio, and the dude there said the chick with the gun made the holes VERY uneven. One hole is much higher than the other, and one hole is NOT straight through the lobe. x(

[redqueen]

30. Same here.

Got it done at the mall, and one is not straight through the lobe.

[Critters2]

22. Oh, right, about the piercing thing...

I got my ears pierced in 8th grade, at a boutique in downtown Kewanee (how sterile could that've been? :) ). Basically, like the places in the mall, except we didn't have a mall. I thought it was a gun, but maybe not. All I really remember is that the second piercing really hurt, for some reason. I know for a fact that if the first one had hurt that bad, I wouldn't have gotten the second one done. I think the second one was nearer the cartilage or something.

I think the mall places are okay, if you keep the piercing clean for several weeks afterwards, using alcohol. Or is it peroxide? Anyway, follow the directions they give you, and get to a doc if there's any sign of infection. There are some places that people get pierced that I would think would be nearly impossible to keep clean enough to heal. But ear piercings should be okay, if you take simple precautions.

So, tell the Material Girl that Aunt Critters thinks she should get her ears pierced, if she wants. :hi:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

25. Mall places are bad, alcohol and peroxide are bad

The first simple precaution is never use any of them.

[Quantess]

23. Mixed opinion. I got 3 ear piercings at 3 different mall locations.

My first time, back in the early 1980s, I got a terrible bacterial infection that spread to my cheek. Yuck! How gross for a pre-teen. I took out the earrings and didn't try again for a couple of years.

The 2nd time, also in a mall, maybe 1986. Very successful.
The 3rd time, also at a mall, in the early 1990s. Very successful.

I pierced my own navel with safety pin, mid 1990s. Difficult. Minor success, but my body literally pushed out the piercing within a month. So, that was ultimately unsuccessful.

My friend took her daughter to a tattooist/piercer to get her ears pierced, and I tagged along. The girl was freaking out, but she probably would have been just as scared at the mall. My friend told me that other ladies had chastised her for taking her daughter to an infamous tattoo-piercing salon in the city (OH NOES!) instead of the bland, comfortable, suburban mall. My friend was smart to argue that the tattoo-piercing shop had strict regulations to follow.

[Witchy_Dem]

24. I always did my own. I have had a bunch.

Nose and ears with several holes in my ears. The top of the ear hurt worse than my nosering. Never had a problem though I think all but two have closed up.

I ain't no sissy.

[old mark]

26. Had my left ear done in a mall with a gun around 1971, never had much trouble with it.

I stopped wearing anything in it because some people where I worked would rip the earrings out of people's ears and I felt this was not good.
It finally seems to have grown shot on the inside end of the hole, and I'm thiking about having it re-pierced in a mall using a gun.Hell, I got around 35 years use out of the first one, probably won't be here another 35 years to see the next one grow shut anyway....


mark

[jmm]

27. Another vote for let a pro do it.

I've had my nose pierced four times. I the first by a guy at the mall who admitted immediately after he did it that he had received no training and it was his first time. It had a weird angle to it and would frequently get irritated. The second time was with a sleeper. In addition to the irritation it got infected and I had an allergic reaction. The third time was another mall trip and another round of infection and allergies. Then I gave up on the idea for about ten years until I went to a pro and I haven't had a single problem with it or my labret piercing from the same day. I didn't have any major problems with ears which were done by guns but knowing what I know now if I had to do those over again they would be done with guns.

Whatever you do don't trust Claire's. I know too many people including myself that have had bad experiences there. My ears were once turned swollen, red, and green, from so-called hypoallergenic earrings they sell. I literally had to stand at the register and showing my ears off to customers before they'd give me a refund.

[HopeHoops]

28. Well, the mall is fine for ears...

But I've never seen them do the "naughty bits" at one of those kiosks!

[davsand]

29. Being 12 years old Material Girl is not getting any of the "naughty bits" pierced.

She can make that decision when she's old enough to sign the forms and paying for it herself. My philosophy is, if you ever wear underwear of any kind to cover it, that is probably a piercing decision best left for a bit later in life.



Laura

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

31. It's not even fine for that, actually

[LaurenG]

32. I took my son to a mall, but in the "olden days" I pierced mine myself

with a thick sewing needle and an ice cube (for numbing). Neither of us had any problems, though I should have had some.