Is it better to get your ear pierced with a needle or a gun?

[zomgwtf]

This seems far more complicated than it needs to be. Will your aunt just vouch for you then? Because minors can get their ears pierced at someplace like Claire's as long as a growed-up signs for them.

Yeah I think she can just say she is my mother or something to that effect. I'm more than old enough to get my ear pierced (they say the age is 16)... lol I am 21.

 

[DaveC426913]

Yeah I think she can just say she is my mother or something to that effect.

'samatter? Your actual mother won't vouch for you getting a hole put in your head?

 

[Moonbear]

This seems bizarre that you're having such difficulty just getting an ear pierced.

As for the gun things...they don't punch a "dull" earring through your ear. At least, way back when I had mine done, you got a pair of earrings with a point on the back...the ones you bought for piercing were different than regular earrings because they did need to be pointy and sterile. I had mine done in a jewelry store.

I've let the holes close since then, but I think the gun thing is probably the best...that way the hole is punched and earrings inserted all in one fell swoop. It sounds potentially more painful to poke the hole and then push an earring into it. No reason to think a needle would wind up straighter than a gun either.

Though, I'm pretty sure they won't let you get certain body parts pierced in the middle of the mall...those are going to require a specialty shop no matter how you want the piercing done.

 

[GeorginaS]

Right, the gun inserted earring has a sharp point and the post is thicker than regular earring posts are, so it creates a slightly larger hole than you'd need for an earring to go in comfortably. And yes, the hole-with-earring inserted all in one go is way better than poke-hole-try-to-insert-earring method, I think.

I do understand that they have regulations and need ID. If you look young, I can see them being leery, but if OHIP has picture ID, I don't know why she wouldn't take it. When you live in a big urban centre, it's not unusual not to have a driver's license. When I lived in downtown Ottawa, I let my license expire because I didn't ever drive. I could walk just about anywhere I wanted to go or take a bus or ride my bike. Ottawa is super pedestrian friendly when you live downtown, but I can easily see a lot of people not having a license on hand. I doubt I'd have one if I lived in TO either.

Funny that yours closed, Calluna. I didn't wear earrings for years because rather suddenly, all of the earrings I had made my ears hurt like mad and they got infected constantly. (Which I thought was really weird given that I had mine pierced when I was, I think, 13 or so. They should have been properly healed inside by now, one would think.) So I stopped wearing them and the holes didn't close over. Very recently, on a whim, I purchased a pair of nickel-free costume jewelry earrings. Lo and behold. They don't hurt my ears. I can wear earrings again! As long as they are nickel free. I have some lovely emerald earrings in gold settings that I need to get put into new settings now, because I'd like to be able to wear them again. Do you suppose anyone makes nickel-free gold?

I'm curious to know how this all finally turned out, zomgwtf.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I've let the holes close since then, but I think the gun thing is probably the best...that way the hole is punched and earrings inserted all in one fell swoop. It sounds potentially more painful to poke the hole and then push an earring into it.

I believe that they normally use a hollow needle and put the jewelry into the hollow point before removing the needle leaving the jewelry behind in the piercing.

 

[zomgwtf]

I'm curious to know how this all finally turned out, zomgwtf.

I ended up going to a salon, my aunt knew this place so that's where she drove me. I don't think I look young at all hahaha definitely not 16. It ended up being a lot cheaper than what it would have cost for me to get it done at the Claires I had gone to originally.

All I had to pay for at the salon was the earring which was only 12$ (it's palladium which is kinda like platinum). At Claires I would have had to pay for the earring plus a 'starter kit' so altogether it was going to cost around 30$. Although I still have the earrings I bought from walmart, they are white gold with cubic zirconia. After about 4 weeks I'm going to take this one out and put one of those in instead. This one is only a ball stud, but you have to keep it into reduce risk of infection and to allow it to heal properly.

As for your question about gold earrings without nickel. After getting this palladium earring I looked more into it as I had never heard about it before, it turns out that they use it for white gold... I'm not sure if there's any nickel involved. If you just got the palladium though it looks pretty much exactly like white gold, maybe a little bit whiter but that's it. A lot cheaper. If you want yellow gold then I'm not sure :tongue:

 

[zomgwtf]

I believe that they normally use a hollow needle and put the jewelry into the hollow point before removing the needle leaving the jewelry behind in the piercing.

Yeah that's pretty much what they do. They say it's better because it causes less trauma to the tissue since it's slicing the tissue instead of forcing an object through it.

You can test this out yourself actually, if you take piercing earrings (the sharp ones) and try to push it through say a rubber glove it takes A LOT of pressure before it pops through. If you take a piercing needle it takes minimal effort and it slices right through the glove. It also makes a slit instead of pushing a hole. All of this reduces the risk of infection and irritation to the tissue which speed up healing time.

Not worth it in my opinion for an ear lobe piercing. In fact I was just going to do it myself with a sewing needle but my aunt said she wouldn't do it (I found it was awkward to bring my arms up in the mirror with it going in ok since I can't see the back of my earlobe lol) My friends would have done it but my aunt suggested I went to the salon, which I ended up doing. For other piercings though I think using the needles is the best way to go. For instance using a gun on your cartiledge will shatter your cartiledge in your ear.

This one actually still kind of hurts after 3 days still. The first day it didn't hurt at all but every now and then it gets this stinging tingly sensation. (Like right now)

 

[Kajahtava]

Earrings and piercings freak me out, for some reason I have a huge phobia of needles and stuff going into others while I'm fine with them going into myself.

 

[mcknia07]

I've still been wanting to get my belly button pierced... after all these years(4), I have still never done it. Any thoughts on that one?

 

[union68]

I think I was 15 or 16 when I got my ear pierced. I put lower gauge stuff (it's backwards, right? Lower gauge = thicker?) into my ears too soon after the piercing and the puss and stuff couldn't seep out. Oops. Removed the jewelry and everything healed right up. I got it done with a piercing needle. The piercing itself wasn't bad at all. They stick the ring in the opposite end and pull the needle right through along with the ring.

I turned 18 and got into tattoos. I have quite a few of them now.

 

[DaveC426913]

I've still been wanting to get my belly button pierced... after all these years(4), I have still never done it. Any thoughts on that one?

Yes. I will put it in for you. When is a good time to come by?

 

[GeorginaS]

Yes. I will put it in for you. When is a good time to come by?

Wow are you ever a helpful sort.

 

[DaveC426913]

Wow are you ever a helpful sort.

I swear she doesn't mean a thing to me. Your clean-shaven legs are my one and all.

 

[Evo]

I had my ears pierced by my doctor, which basically put a string through them, then the gold earrings were inserted. Guess what? I'm allergic to gold, but only when it's in direct contact with my blood. My earlobes almost fell off. This was back before the days when they switched to surgical steel due to allergies. My mother had to have my aunt go to Cairo, Egypt from Paris, France and buy me pure silver earings. Not a big deal, they often went to Egypt, it's like a hop, skip and a jump from Paris. That fixed the problem.

 

[MotoH]

Allergic to gold? Sucks hard!

I'm allergic to kryptonite so I kinda know how it feels. . .

 

[zomgwtf]

Allergic to gold? Sucks hard!

I'm allergic to kryptonite so I kinda know how it feels. . .

Wow, you stole it right outta my, er... finger tips.

 

[Moonbear]

Funny that yours closed, Calluna. I didn't wear earrings for years because rather suddenly, all of the earrings I had made my ears hurt like mad and they got infected constantly. (Which I thought was really weird given that I had mine pierced when I was, I think, 13 or so. They should have been properly healed inside by now, one would think.) So I stopped wearing them and the holes didn't close over.

That's pretty much what happened to me too. Years of wearing earrings with no problems, then they just started getting infected every time I wore earrings, even when they were surgical stainless or gold posts. Technically, the hole in only one ear closed, the other I think (last time I tried...a long time ago) might still be open. There's still a little dimple there, but it doesn't go all the way through. I figured the last time it got infected and I pulled the earrings out, it scarred across the inside. I just decided that was too much effort to deal with the infections, so never bothered getting them re-pierced, especially since I don't really know what was causing the infections and if they were starting from an allergy to something in the earrings.

 

[GeorginaS]

That's pretty much what happened to me too. Years of wearing earrings with no problems, then they just started getting infected every time I wore earrings, even when they were surgical stainless or gold posts. Technically, the hole in only one ear closed, the other I think (last time I tried...a long time ago) might still be open. There's still a little dimple there, but it doesn't go all the way through. I figured the last time it got infected and I pulled the earrings out, it scarred across the inside. I just decided that was too much effort to deal with the infections, so never bothered getting them re-pierced, especially since I don't really know what was causing the infections and if they were starting from an allergy to something in the earrings.

Yep, surgical stainless and gold, no go. Nickel-free, I'm in business. There was a bit of resistance in the hole in one ear initially, but using a shepherd's hook, that's a fairly fine post, poked through no problem with a bit of pressure. And I'm not kidding, I have no issues whatsoever. It's only been about three months since I've discovered this.

I wonder what the nickel content is in gold, because the metal by itself has to be mixed with stuff because otherwise it's too soft to use for much.

But out of curiosity, why not hunt down some nickel-free and see what they do. They're just costume stuff and not expensive.

 

[lisab]

I knew a woman some years ago who had pierced ears, but had a strange phobia about poking earrings through the holes. Her husband had to do it for her...and eventually she couldn't stand that anymore, so she let them close.

I'd never heard of that one before .