When and where did you get your ears pierced?

[NonieMarie]

It took a year of begging but finally when I was in 5th grade my 8th grade girlfriend did it. First the ice, that was the worst, then a bar of soap behind the ear and a crunching sound as the upholstery needle went through. My second was done when I was in my early 20's with a gun....ouch that time it hurt.
I had my daughter's done when she was a couple months old.

 

[packrat]

I did my brother's ear in the kitchen when he was a Freshman, I was a Sophomore. Ice cube/potato. Then I did a couple people in the girls locker room at school and the principal said no more.

 

[ericad]

Got my first ones at 4 or 5, at a piercing shop with my mom using the gun (circa 1980/1981). Got 2nd and 3rd holes done when I was 12 or so. Also at the mall piercing shop with the gun. Got a cartilage piercing at age 14-ish, but it never healed right (tried twice) and had to let it close up both times.

DD begged to have hers done for her 6th bday so I took her to the mall because I wanted them both done simultaneously. They used the gun (piercing pagoda). I would have preferred a piercing/tattoo place, but they do them one at a time and I didn't want that.

Funny story - leading up to the big day, I told DD that they use a piercing "gun" but never described it. Up until they actually pierced her, she was expecting them to literally fire earrings at her from a distance using an actual gun! Hahahaha, the good part was that when they punctured her ears, she didn't even realize they had already done it. She thought that was still some part of the prep work because she was waiting for them to step back a few paces, guns blazing.

Healing her ears was a battle, until I discovered a product called H2Ocean. AWESOME stuff - throw out any disinfectant you get from the piercing place and use H2Ocean instead! It's the bomb.

Last year, for DD's 8th bday, our jeweler made her a pair of screw-back baby yellow gold buttercup studs using some sweet 10-12 pointer OEC's from a parcel we had in the store. ADORABLE!

 

[monarch64]

I begged and begged to have mine done as soon as I started school and other little girls were getting theirs done. My mother managed to put me off until 2nd grade, so I was 6. She took me to a kiosk in the mall called The Earring Tree and I had them done with a gun. The piercings themselves were fine and healed pretty quickly. Months later, though, I had developed swollen lymph nodes all over my neck and skull. I had a barrage of tests run, and at one point Hodgkins Disease was mentioned. Turned out I just have a terrible nickle allergy. It was awfully scary stuff for a kid, though.

 

[diamondringlover]

I think I was 13 and I got them done a Lazarus, which is now Macy's..that has been almost 40 years ago

 

[erinl]

42. Not yet done!

You and I are twins. I am also 42 and not pierced!

 

[Sakuracherry]

I'm overwhelmed by everyone's response Thank you all for sharing. Your posts made me want to get my ears pierced, but I'm very scared

 

[erinl]

I have heard the guns create scar tissue and you should have them done with a needle. Anyone else heard that?

 

[chrono]

Erin,
Mine were done with a "gun" and I don't have any lumpy scar tissue. My impressions is that any wound that doesn't heal well from infection will develop keloids, regardless of the method used.

 

[ericad]

I don't have scar tissue either, and if I were getting it done again I'd just go someplace that uses the gun. Especially for kids, you get the benefit of them piercing both ears simultaneously, and using the actual earring to pierce with (versus using a needle, then messing with getting the earring into the hole) - seems less traumatic and painful. Pros and cons either way.

I do know that a friend of ours took their daughter in to a piercer to get it done, and she cried and cried all the way through each ear, didn't want to have the second one done, etc. While my daughter turned a little red, shed one tear, but never cried or really felt much pain at all. But the other little girl had a much easier time with healing than DD did, though we solved this problem once we switched to a proper piercing disinfectant, since the stuff they gave us was total crap. Not sure how much of this was due to the style of piercing versus the solution we were using, but seems to be the latter.

 

[manderz]

Erin,
Mine were done with a "gun" and I don't have any lumpy scar tissue. My impressions is that any wound that doesn't heal well from infection will develop keloids, regardless of the method used.

Just a bit of extra info on scarring

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keloid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertrophic_scars

http://dermnetnz.org/dermal-infiltrative/keloids.html

When you get a piercing, a small tube of skin called a fistula forms around the jewelry, which you generally are able to feel inside your ear, but your piercing should look just like your ear, but with a bit of a hole in it. Keloids and hypertrophic scarring come when the body develops too much scar tissue at the site.

 

[manderz]

I have heard the guns create scar tissue and you should have them done with a needle. Anyone else heard that?

Hi, Erin!

It's not a bad idea to have piercings done with a needle rather than a gun. The needle is so sharp and slanted that it just slices quickly and cleanly through your skin, leaving a piercing that heals quickly and easily. Gun piercings are also quick, but the gun forces an earring through your ear, so you have a different kind of wound to heal. Imagine cutting yourself with a sharp knife vs. a butter knife. You may not even realize you cut yourself with that sharp knife, but you sure are going to feel getting cut with a butter knife. Another issue with the gun is that the gun itself isn't able to be sterilized. The insert that holds your earrings and the earrings themselves are, though. Scar tissue is possible with either method, and the care you give a piercing is just as important as the method used to give it to you.

Sorry for rambling, just have had a bit of experience on the topic

 

[manderz]

To answer the original question, I had mine done the first time at age 5 (1989), in the mall kiosk with a gun. I begged and begged, and my parents finally caved while I had the chicken pox. It was pretty much torture to wait til I wasn't contagious anymore

 

[texaskj]

[quote="packrat
Now I have three in the left and still one in the right. Haven't worn earrings in years so I'm pretty sure they've at least partially grown shut. [/quote]

packrat, you're only the second person I've ever heard of who had that configuration. It's what I've got. I had a co-worker who also had three and one.

I got my first set when I turned 13 at a Claire's-type store in a mall in 1976. The third hole from a jewelry store right after I started college and number four from Claire's at the mall when I turned 30.

 

[Stephny691]

I begged for years mum let me have them done when I was 11ish? Second holes done when I was 16. Third holes and tragus when I was 17. Top of ear when I was 19. Had an tongue webbing piercing when I was 16-17. Belly button piercing around the same age. And had my nose pierced when I was 23?

Okay that sounds like a lot when I put it in a list. Now though I only have: 3 holes in left ear, 2 holes in right (although I only wear earrings in first holes), tragus and top of my ear. Everything healed up or got taken out. Belly button and nose never healed properly. Belly button left a proper scar too, but that's cause I took the bar out while it was still infected (which you should never do FYI!!!)

 

[Sparklelu]

Got my first ones at 4 or 5, at a piercing shop with my mom using the gun (circa 1980/1981). Got 2nd and 3rd holes done when I was 12 or so. Also at the mall piercing shop with the gun. Got a cartilage piercing at age 14-ish, but it never healed right (tried twice) and had to let it close up both times.

DD begged to have hers done for her 6th bday so I took her to the mall because I wanted them both done simultaneously. They used the gun (piercing pagoda). I would have preferred a piercing/tattoo place, but they do them one at a time and I didn't want that.

Funny story - leading up to the big day, I told DD that they use a piercing "gun" but never described it. Up until they actually pierced her, she was expecting them to literally fire earrings at her from a distance using an actual gun! Hahahaha, the good part was that when they punctured her ears, she didn't even realize they had already done it. She thought that was still some part of the prep work because she was waiting for them to step back a few paces, guns blazing.

Healing her ears was a battle, until I discovered a product called H2Ocean. AWESOME stuff - throw out any disinfectant you get from the piercing place and use H2Ocean instead! It's the bomb.

Last year, for DD's 8th bday, our jeweler made her a pair of screw-back baby yellow gold buttercup studs using some sweet 10-12 pointer OEC's from a parcel we had in the store. ADORABLE!

I'm sorry I spit my tea out on this!! I love how kids are so literal!! That's what I miss most about teaching the littler ones!!!
Can just imagine her surprise when it was all over and not firing squad!!!

 

[Laila619]

I got them done when I was in first grade, but I wasn't ready for the responsibility and I let them close up. Then I got them done again when I was maybe in 4th or 5th grade at Claire's and I've had them ever since. I got a second set of holes when I was in college, but I didn't like those, so again I let them close.

 

[LLJsmom]

twice as a teenager, but grew back.

Just 2 months ago, again. Healing ok. one ear better than another. Worth it I think. I am gonna love having bling on my ears. Looking forward to a studs in 18k yellow gold bezel!!

 

[SomethingSinful]

18. I went to a tattoo and piercing parlor for a couple of reasons. I wanted symmetrical piercings and more importantly I need to use titanium jewelry whenever I get a new piercing to heal the best.