My twin daughters are coming up for 10 and have been asking me for a couple of years now if they can have their ears pierced.  I have always maintained the "not til you reach double figures" and "when you are old enough to look after them properly" attitude.

Before I make any kind of decision I would obviously like to find a few places that do ear piercings so that I can have a look and speak with them etc before I even contemplate mentioning it to the girls.  I have heard that needles are better than the gun approach as its better for the ears, less prone to infections etc etc.  This obviously rules out the usual stands within certain shops and the best places are tattoo shops apparently.

Does anyone have any recommendations of places in and around the Peterborough/Stamford area and also the pros and cons of each method?
Thanks
Kerri x

I didn't know that is't best to get ears pierced with a needle! I've had my ears pierced 4 times in each ear as a teenager, each time with a gun (the top 2 holes have healed over now as I don't use them).
I found this link wich explains why it's better getting your ears pierced with a needle.

My 10 year old son wants his ear pierced, I've put him off untill next summer so far, but I found this interesting and glad you brought up the subject, after reading this (and a few other links) if he does get it done it will be with a needle.

A gun basically uses the earing to pierce the skin which can tear it and generally doesnt sound very nice. A needle is far more calm and controlled and probably less scary for a 10 year old.
Cant help you out with where to go though, sorry.

Have you thought about googling tattoo shops in the area and going to visit them to see what you think, that is if no one is able to recommend one in your area.

I know that with a lot of tattoo shops that they won't allow any piercings to anyone under the age of 16 and that is with parental consent. So another thing to look at also.

hi kerrib.....
my friend who is calling to visit me this evening is a body piercer and I will get her to come on here and explain about why most reputable places will not pierce under 16 yr olds...there are very good health reasons for this.
I will get her to explain about the difference between a gun piercing and a needle piercing.

She owns her own studio and her and her b/f both work there...they are very highly respected in the piercing industry for their knowledge and hygiene standards.

Please dont do anything untill you read what she has to say before you make your mind up based on very the very good sound advice she will be able to give you

There are so many people  these  days who have absolutely no training behind them other than watching a 30 min video let loose with piercing equipment ...most even havent done a hygeine course.

she wont be long before shes here hopefully
cheers
Philly

Please dont do anything untill you read what she has to say before you make your mind up based on very the very good sound advice she will be able to give you

Dont worry I wont be doing anything for a long long while yet, like I said I am just looking at all the options before I even consider it.  I have always maintained that they have to wait (the longer the better IMHO) but I would just like to find out the ins and outs etc before I decide. 

There are so many people  these  days who have absolutely no training behind them other than watching a 30 min video let loose with piercing equipment ...most even havent done a hygeine course.
Hence my comments about some places advertising within shops ;-), where I have absolutely no intentions whatsoever of taking my daughters to.  It would be great to hear the views of your friend on all the ins and outs, thank you.  Unfortunately everyone I have asked around here just points me in the direction of the nearest shop! :-)

SJ - I had already googled and know of a couple of places around here but I just thought I would ask on here for any personal recommendations as well - forewarned and all that ;-)

Hi kerib
Its Tanya  from Metal Guru the body piercer philly256 was refering to in her post.
I cant help you with studios in your area but I can help you a little with the pros and cons of gun piercing and needle piercing.
You are correct that needle piercing is a much safer method to use as every item used for the piercing can be sterilised.
However APP guidelines state minimum age for piercing should be 12 yrs so they are mature enough to understand what they are doing and to understand aftercare and chances of infection.
For each ear using the needle method the lobe will have to be clamped pierced and jewellery inserted,the child has to remain still for this to be done not once but twice.Most body piercing studios use a guideline of 16 plus if they are reputable so you may have a problem finding someone to use this method on your 10 yr old twins.

I would like to add that Body Piercing studios cover all aspects of body modification including male and female genitalia and therefore they may be items on display unsuitable for minors to see.

Personally and professionally speaking I cannot advocate the use of a piercing gun to do any body piercing as the gun itself cannot be sterilised in an autoclave and therefore may harbour blood borne viruses and bacteria that could potentially cause harm.
For further reading please check out the APP Website here <a href="http://www.safepiercing.org/"> App guidelines and Information</a>

I dont wish to sound like I am being biased and should you wish to still go ahead getting your childrens ears pierced,there are plenty of "jewellery accessories" places that will pierce you childrens ears with a gun, just please make an informed choice after reading the guidelines stated by the APP and you can also ask your local Environmental Health Officer for advice.

I would also like to point out that NO piercing is fully healed within 6 weeks and if your children have to remove their jewellery for any length of time whilst at school there may be problems re inserting the jewellery at the end of the day and infection may be introduced through germs carried on hands etc or on unsterile jewellery.

I find it refreshing to find a parent that asks all the right questions rather than going blindly ahead anywhere. Any reputable piercer will take the time out to sit  and chat about the risks associated with piercing children.If they are in too much of a hurry to take your cash and get you in their chair....WALK OUT QUICKLY

I hope ive been of help If you have any more quieries about piercing and would like to talk to me further, or my other half Mark, please pm philly 256 and she will pass on my shop number to you. I will be happy to answer any further questions you may have anytime.

That's a very interesting and useful post. As I have a daughter who was given earrings for her recent 7th birthday which got her interested in getting her ears pierced, I found it an eye opener! I had my own ears pierced on a dare aged 13, the shop did it without any parental consent and my ears went so badly septic one of them was just about falling off!! It took a couple of years to heal properly and now I never wear earrings as I was so put off. It is good to be informed of the risks involved if you don't take care and go somewhere reputable. 

Thank you so much Tanya for taking the time to respond, its much appreciated.  I can fully understand what you are saying about items being on display in the studios as I have had a very educational evening searching places online and even I had to look away at some pictures!! :-D

I think probably they can wait until they are 12 at least now!  Looking at the state of their fingernails earlier tonight reinforces this I think, as like you say they have to be able to look after them and if they insist on cultivating their own potatoes under their nails, I would dread to think what would happen to their ears!  The reason I contemplated it at this age was the thinking that the ears had time to heal properly and settle down and they were used to caring for them before they started secondary school (they are in year 5 at present) but I dont think it will matter that much now.

You are certainly not being baised at all, I appreciate all the help you have given me.  Obviously some people do not have a problem with the guns and that is fair enough, but having read up on them myself and from what I have heard it is not the way I will be going.  I may just visit a couple of places in a couple of weeks time (having never been in one before) just so I have a look around but I am now of the opinion that I think I will put the girls off and reassess again in 18 months time.

Thank you again for your post and your kind offer of further help.
Kerri x

Hi kerib and Honeybee,

Its philly256 posting now.Just to let you know I will pass on your thanks to Tanya when I next see her and to let you know should anyone have any peircing related questions that Tanya said if you pm me on here I can pass on her shop number so you can speak to her direct
philly x

We have always used Clares in the ueens gate center for all our girls and we have never had a problem with any of them

Lynn

Hi Lynn.....
I have to say that you have been very lucky then and in no way am I having a go at you or anyone else thats been pierced in places like these but  I would like to know if you observed any of the following whilst you were in there getting your girls ears done please.
I know you will answer no to one of these questions...

1. Did the person  percing your girls ears wear gloves and change them every 15 mins?Or at the very least did they wash and sterilise thier hands properly? In places like the one you mentioned Lynn,the people doing the piercing will probably have handled,money thats been handled by other people,  and  carried stock around thats been handled by other people.Perhaps been to the loo and not cleaned their hands properly, maybe have a cold and been blowing their nose again not sterilising their hands to the required standard.....all of which can pass on germs if their hands are not sterile when piercing and If they are not APP recomended they will not have sufficient hygeine knowledge to know this

2. Apart from the studs used in the gun, did any of the other implements used ,if any, come in sealed plastic packets and were opened infront of you? I know they wont have, as Guns cannot be sterilised in an autoclave and therefore  WILL NEVER BE 100% STERILE

3. Were you taken into another room away from the public so you were not sitting inamongst possibly unsterile areas?

4. Did they sterilise all surfaces before and after your peircings and what did they use?

5. Did you see an autoclave anywhere in the vacinity whilst your girls were being pierced?.

If you answered no to any of these questions....and I know you will say no to the gun question so if you would like to read the following copied from the APP guide for safe piercing, maybe you will understand the risk a bit better......

Reusable ear piercing guns can put clients in direct contact with the blood and body fluids of previous clients.

Although they can become contaminated with bloodborne pathogens dozens of times in one day, ear piercing guns are often not sanitized in a medically recognized way. Plastic ear piercing guns cannot be autoclave sterilized and may not be sufficiently cleaned between use on multiple clients. Even if the antiseptic wipes used were able to kill all pathogens on contact, simply wiping the external surfaces of the gun with isopropyl alcohol or other antiseptics does not kill pathogens within the working parts of the gun. Blood from one client can aerosolize, becoming airborne in microscopic particles, and contaminate the inside of the gun. The next client's tissue and jewelry may come into contact with these contaminated surfaces. There is thus a possibility of transmitting bloodborne disease-causing microorganisms through such ear piercing, as many medical studies report.

As is now well known, the Hepatitis virus can live for extended periods of time on inanimate surfaces, and could be harbored within a piercing gun for several weeks or more. Hepatitis and common staph infections, which could be found on such surfaces, constitute a serious public health threat if they are introduced into even one reusable piercing gun. Considering the dozens of clients whose initial piercings may have direct contact with a single gun in one day, this is a cause for serious concern. Babies, young children, and others with immature or compromised immune systems may be at higher risk for contracting such infection.
Additionally, it is not documented how often piercing guns malfunction. Some operators report that the earring adapter that holds the jewelry will often not release the earring, requiring its removal with pliers. These pliers, which contact contaminated jewelry immediately after it has passed through the client's tissue, may be reused on multiple customers without full sterilization. Few, if any, gun piercing establishments possess the expensive sterilization equipment (steam autoclave or chemclave) necessary for such a procedure.

You were very lucky ,you didnt have any problems and believe me  im glad, many people dont, or wont admit thay have had and because of this, unfortunately  the body piercers who have trained  properly  for years in all aspects of piercing and strict hygeine, get laughed at and told they dont know what they are talking about,just because parents refuse to be told that their children cannot be pierced.

My friend Tanya who answered a question above has seen many many deformed ears and piercings that have gone wrong and caused severe problems caused by people who dont follw APP guidelines and dont know what they are doing....the people who laugh and go elsewhere are usually the first people to come back to her with serious problems asking her to put them right

The  vast majority of the general public who have been refused piercing in an APP recomended studio for either health or age reasons wont take on board that  APP  Piercers are actually there to prevent any harm coming to you and just go out willy nilly and pay the first place that doesnt ask questions and just does the piercing regardless of the health risks or the persons age,often they have little or no training..Its not that APP piercers  dont want to pierce you,they are not being awkward ,they are just doing whats best for the client health wise so please bear this inmind if you are ever told no.

All Tanya asks is that people read the APP guidelines she put a link to in her above post and make an informed choice.If its best that your child waits untill they are the right age to be pierced in a Professional APP recomended studio,surely that is preferable to condeming your child to the possibility of damaged ears or worse,Hepatitis and common staph infections that can cause serious risk to their health

I hope this has pointed out the risks people take to their health when they get pierced with a gun.