Why You Should Get Your Child’s Ear Pierced at a Tattoo Parlor
My ears got pierced when I was 10 years old. My aunt took me to Claire’s at the mall, where I watched an exhibition of gem-set earrings, picked out a pair of shiny crystals, and then sat down in a chair and hugged the giant, comfortable bear like a bear. a young employee aimed at my lobes with a piercing pistol. Thirty seconds later, you got your ears pierced!
Three days after that, a solid green substance came out of said pierced ears and it sucked.
Fortunately, for today’s piercers, the warning sounded clear: don’t poke a hole in your body from some teenager in the mall , damn it.
Piercing guns are bad news . You poke through the skin with a blunt object, which can lead to excess scar tissue and infection. The Professional Piercing Association (APP) describes the effect as “more crushing than piercing.” The weapon is also not sterile, and the people who work with it are probably not properly trained – the certification process could consist of a workshop or even a video and some practice of shooting with a piece of cardboard or a teddy bear.
For a safe and hygienic piercing, you will need a very sharp hollow needle and a professional who really knows what he is doing. You can find it in both a tattoo parlor and a piercing parlor.
If you’re nervous about bringing little Ella to a place called Big Daddy, where the walls are adorned with skulls and thorns on the forehead, don’t worry. In fact, there is a growing movement of piercers urging parents to pierce the ears (or other parts) of their children in tattoo parlors rather than in the mall. The Instagram photos are amazing. Brian Keith Thompson, owner of Body Electric Tattoo in Los Angeles, regularly posts photos of his youngest clients.
Here is a video of the process:
Good piercing parlors are exceptionally clean. The units are sterilized in autoclaves – devices used in the medical industry to destroy microorganisms and spores using high temperature and pressure. The needle, which makes a clean incision for quick healing, is discarded after use.
And piercings often go through extensive training. “ Piercers often do a year or more of internships, take courses on blood-borne pathogens, often undergo cardiopulmonary resuscitation with a client only in a medical emergency, need to learn about follow-up care, potential medical problems, and the right jewelry for everyone. type of piercing, and you have to watch the procedures many times before learning how to perform them very carefully, writes Christie Haskell of CafeMom .
To find a reputable store, read reviews and call ahead to make sure kids are welcome.
This article was originally published in 2017 and updated on March 10, 2020 by Elizabeth Yuko. Updates include the following: Validated references for accuracy, revised the function image, and updated formatting to reflect the current style.