What is the recommended method of earlobe piercing for a child?

Trixie: What is the recommended method of earlobe piercing for a child?
I have been reading that piercing guns are widely criticized in the body piercing community for various reasons.

My five year old daughter has been asking to have her ears pierced, but I can’t imagine her letting someone do it with a needle.

And how exactly is the needle method done?

Answers and Views:

Answer by keekee910
your better off going to a piercing place and for younger kids they do like a double whammy which is just piercing bot ears at the same time, so its less of a hassle for the kid, getting it down with a needle will be more pain and piercing guns are good for ear piercing rather than needles.

Answer by speedup_burnout
guns are not so bad for lobe piercings, just please go to a very clean place as guns are not often kept as nicely as fresh needles!! it will be quicker with the gun and none of the more painful sliding the jewelry through the needle!!
just as she gets older teach her guns are just for ear lobes and not to let any one do her carltiage (top of ear) or nose, or any where else with one!!

needle method- the needle is a bit more like a very sharp bevelled blade which is curled round to look like a hollow needle. it is pushed very quickly through the ear (or any where else) to make the piercing- then the jewlery is slid through the hollow middle of the needle and the needle with drawn. good piercers- like my guy do all of this very fast- so fast you barely feel the needle go through but sometimes adding the earring can tug a little and hurt- they also tend to bleed a little more as the hole is a little bigger- but they do heal better than gun percings which are done with a stud. the back of the stud can irritate the fresh keiloied (the little bit of displaced flesh behind the hole (this becomes what feels hard when you press an ear peiring)

Answer by A Silent Reminder
With the needle, it’s just pushed through the lobe, then a ring is put in, where as with a gun, it uses blunt force trauma to shove the earring in.

Needle is always better, i’ve had nothing but problems with my gunned piercings and wish I had done research before I went and got my earlobes pierced for the first time.

Answer by ☠♥Hannah♥☠
I recommend going to Claire’s and getting her ears pierced. They do it quick, efficiently, and free. After each use they change the needle, so it is clean and new. The worry was that needles used more than once will cause ear infections. If they change the needle, they are fine!

Answer by chick.4.mccain.
i would use the gun – the gun is quicker and a lot less painful. if you use a needle it takes longer and i dont know if a little 5 year old girl would b able to sit still. guns are only really good for the lobe though since there is nothing but skin there. needles should b used on cartlidge since it doesnt shock the cartlidge away from the piercing. good luck!

Answer by vballismylyfe322
well i have a total of 9 peircings.
4 in each ear and my belly button.
i went to claires for my first 2 ear piercings and had to get them both redone twice!
I pierced the other 2 myself and have never had a problem.
i really think the gun would be easier for a 5 year old though mainly because with a needle you have to stick the needle in then the earring.
i however just used the earrings claires originally pierced my first 2 with on my other 2 it was much easier then having to stick the needle in then take it out and put the earrings in. I pretty much did what the gun did just without the gun and it didn’t hurt at all, but idk if that would work with a 5 year old its all pressure…
with the needle if you decide not to do the gun
get everything situated
you’ll need rubbing alcohol,a marker,matches, a decent sized needle, sterling silver earrings,lemon or apple, and ice.
1. rub the ear with rubbing alcohol, sterylize the earrings also
2. use the marker to mark where your going to pierce making sure they are level and proportional.
3. set the ice on the earlobe for a litte numbing it.
4. light the match and run it under the needle.
5. remove the ice replace with lemon or apple ( there so you can tell when the needle goes through)
6. pierce with the needle in the center of your marking
7.gently take the needle out then replace with earrings (make sure backs arn’t on too tight)
8. rub with alcohol again and keep up for 2-3 times a day for 6 weeks
note: her ears will be sore no matter if you get it done or use the needle!
hope this helps!
good luck!

Answer by Brittany
People need to stop replying with wrong information…rubbing alcohol should never be used on piercings!

If you’re going to a place that uses disposable guns, you’re going to be putting your daughter at less risk. If they reuse guns, that means that she is getting everyone’s bacteria that has been pierced with that gun. Also, guns force a blunt point through the ear causing more trauma than needles and also not creating a hole as well as needles.

Needles cause less trauma and make a better hole. Also, the jewelry that guns put into your ears is improper for healing…those butterfly backs don’t give the piercing a way to breathe. It’s done very simply, the piercer may or may not clamp the area and then will push the needle through. A lot of piercers have the person breathe in and out and on the last time they breathe out, the needle goes through. However, I do warn you that some piercers might be against piercing someone at that age.

Answer by Zeer
Go with the needle, seriously. The needle is changed every time, whereas the gun works more like a hole punch – it shoots in and out, and while I’m sure it gets cleaned, the bacteria stays in the gun, making it hard to get out. You’re essentially sharing it with every other person who’s ever gotten their ear pierced.
Imagine which is worse for your body – a hypodermic needle, or a hole puncher. The skin is not able to recover from the blunt trauma of a gun as it can from the needle. The needle is similar to getting a shot at the doctors, but obviously they put the earring in at the same time.

Seriously though, the gun is way worse and leaves your kid open to infections more than a needle. The needle is a cleaner wound and will heal quicker.

Answer by Cheryl C
I recommend the needle, but with a five year old, I would do it the old fashioned way with ice. That way she wont feel it and be scared to have the second ear done. I have had piercings done the old way, with a gun and with a needle. The one set of holes that give me the least problem is the old way, with ice. Good luck!

Answer by Btchy987
well i have alot of ear piercings (done by needles) and i suggust that you get it done with a needle because the gun can tear your child’s ear and as we all know, it doesnt heal if its torn. A needle doesnt hurt that bad and its alot more effifcent.