I've had multiple piercings over the years. I get an allergic reaction to surgical steel (what's up with that?) and finally discovered I needed real gold piercing studs until they healed. The thing about piercing studs is the gun shoots them in and you're done. There is nothing quite so unpleasant as to have your ears just-now pierced and then have to thread in a second wire (especially a curved one). I never want to do that again.

I wouldn't pick anything beyond a simple stud for the piercing/healing process. I never wear studs myself, but what is considered dorky about them?

They make diamond studs for piercing. I think you can get a couple of different sizes.

Linelle, I think because she thinks of them something little kids wear? IDK, frankly I don't get it. But her younger sister has had her ears done for 2 years now, and this one won't budge. Hmm, I forgot about the gun. So the earring has to fit in a gun sort of?

Nini, I am having trouble finding them.

Mtn, it's been a while since the last time I had a piercing, but if it's still the same, yes, they go into a piercing gun. The end of the stud is sharp. Unless you have a backing that covers the point, they can be slightly uncomfortable to sleep in. I'm not sure I'd invest a lot of money (e.g., $500) in a piercing stud that is meant to do the job of making a nice clean hole and keeping it open during healing. I had some fake diamond studs last time and they were fine. Of course, they were third holes and less prominent.

You might want to look into the benefits of getting pierced with a needle as opposed to a gun. That is what local pediatricians recommend. We've been able to take in our own earrings, although they did insist on autoclaving them.

I pierced my own ears when I was 14 much to the chagrin of my parents. I threaded a needle, iced one ear and then attempted to push the needle through but I had to stop to get a thimble as it was slippery. Actually they never knew for two years as I kept my ears covered. I put in gold hoops immediately. All was fine. I've pierced many peoples ears and then used gold and they were all just fine. Ask around to see if you can bring your own earrings, remove the stud they put in and replace it with yours.

There are medical facilities that do piercing, maybe that would be your answer.

My dd was 10 when we had hers done. We just went to this cheesy place (Claire's...it's an accessory shop for young girls.) They do piercings all day long, lol. They have a gun, and a big selection of studs. Dd chose "diamond" studs (CZ) but they did have real diamonds, too IIRC. She was too young and careless for me to spring for the diamond ones. I have read about many people preferring needle piercing, but (no offense to anyone) in our area the places that do that are located in tattoo places, and didn't really want to go there.

The mention of medical facilities reminded me of this news item I saw last week:

$1,877 ear piercing

Does she truly want her ears pierced? Maybe this is just a stalling tactic on her part...?

When you get your ears pierced with a gun, the piercing earring has a bit of a thicker post and also that pointed end. As oregonmom pointed out you do not have to go this route. You can use the more traditional approach of piercing with a needle. Then you can use whatever earrings you want though lightweight studs should still be used.

You will want a small earring to be able to look at the front and back of the piercing to make sure that healing is proceeding normally. A larger earring could prevent visibility to the hole.

Hmm, DD2 went to our dermatologist for hers; he used a gun and she could choose from a selection of junky studs.

I do hear that needles are preferred. A friend of mine recommended a place in the city. It looks perfect; real earrings and cute styles. I opted to get a Gift Ctf just for the piercing, so she can choose. But they sure have some really nice ones! All of these can be used for or made as piercing earrings, due to the weight and material. They also have some very nice studs, but I am pretty sure she will opt for the very small hoops. As long as she is careful, which I am sure she will be, they are fine.

Probably all the girls will go and do lunch after. I just hope they don't look to closely at all of the ...offerings... on their piercing price list. Yikes.

This is the store:

Carol, no, i don't think so. TBH, I can kind of see what she is saying . She is on her own at school and thinks she is 25. She thinks the typical ones are childish (and they are in fact marketed mostly to kids and preteens).

I think the triple stud or curved earring or a small crawler or bar stud earring with one hole would probably be cool enough for her. Let me look for some pictures.

They recommend gold over the studs they typically use. The site also mentioned thin hoops would be the best as they are lighter and have a very thin closure piece that goes through the ear. Most ladies would love a pair of gold hoops, they go with everything.

I just noticed you picked a place for a gift certificate. The store looks nice and I was looking through their offerings. And, umm, I really don't want to know where some of those things are inserted. Yikes.

Yeah, exactly D!. I think DH will not come with. But, other than that ...wrinkle, i think they provide exactly what I was looking for. She is not cool or hip, so I don't think she would want spikes or bars or multiples etc. I am pretty certain she'd love the pave hoops.

I've had 10 holes pierced (only 6 survive). The early ones were with needles and no ice. Honestly, it's not the piercing that hurts, it's trying to thread a post or ear wire through a raw hole. Often the piercing is not straight and it can be difficult to thread it through. I've been there, including having a doctor do it.

I love the gun because it's all over and done with before you even register any pain. Which isn't much anyway, a little sting, and then gone.

I asked them about this and they sent me a video. Maybe it has to do with the design of the earring or the needle, but it looked like no big deal and my friend said her daughter likened the whole thing to a vaccine shot.

I am sure she will be fine!! I did mine with a needle and a potato .. and I wore small hoops in the beginning!! I think it’s a great stocking gift!

Mtn, your daughter sounds a lot like mine. My dd waited until mid-high school to get her ears pierced (she was scared). We went to Claire's and had to wait for ages while a mom and the woman from Claires tried to coax a four year old into having the second ear done. No bribes of "you'll look like a Disney princess" were going to cut it. When it was (finally) my daughter's turn, she wisely asked them to do both at once. It was over in a flash and she chose small gold studs.

Now I can't remember her wearing anything other than pearl earrings.

Good luck to your daughter, if she seems scared, just remind her there is an ice cream store next door. (j/k about the scared part, but not about the ice cream.)

Jo

Just make sure whatever she gets will be comfortable for sleeping.

The studs they use for piercing are THICKER than any earrings she will ever wear again. Even if you get the diamond look they offer--she will never wear them after the 6 weeks are up. They become TIGHT to put in. Perhaps you should suggest a sleep over with friends..so old school-get ice/potato and have a bffs handle this. Then you can get any stud you want.

My thoughts...the studs they use are thicker and will allow for easier insertion of earrings afterward once they heal. Even at that, mine are tight and I had to have the posts changed on my diamond studs because the thicker ones with screw backs hurt to insert.

Also she may want something plain in that, IIRC, while it's healing, it's recommended that you apply neosporin and that you rotate the studs. I wouldn't want nice earrings to get gunked up with neosporin.

I've also heard that people recommend getting them done with a needle in a quality tattoo parlor as they are familiar with difficult piercings and follow all necessary sanitary procedures...I'd never be sure of that in the mall stores.

Another point that nobody has mentioned is that mall piercing can be quite random. I had my ears pierced at a mall store and had to let them heal and get them repierced later, because they were so far out of kilter from each other the first time.

I've pierced people's ears the old fashioned way with needle/thread and an apple, but none of them wound up with unevenly placed holes!

I see you’ve found a solution, but another vote for a tattoo place. I took my DD to one, after trying it myself, and was so impressed with the guy who did the piercings. So much more knowledgeable than the usual mall shop or beauty salon. AND their selection of earrings was HUGE. He used a needle, which scared me because I’m a baby, but it wasn’t any worse than the gun piercing.

Thanks all. From what I have now read, most suggest that a needle, and not a gun, should be used. And that indeed the most skilled and hygienic practitioners are those shops that do body piercing (and often tattoos). None other than the ordinary folks at Good Housekeeping give this advice.

As for the wisdom of using a certain type of earring (re thickness, sleeping, etc) I will ask again but I was assured that the ones I liked should be fine. And several people above, whether using potatoes or apples or just bringing their own earrings, seem to have used something other than "thick" piercing earrings.

I am just going to give her a gift card for the piercing and she can decide from there. The earrings i like are sold singly and are a few hundred dollars each; they are not just for a single use. But I want her to like them so I will let her pick them out. They are for her birthday next month.

Does anyone remember those earrings that gradually pierced your ears? They were hoops that you would put on your earlobes, and gently squeeze now and then until your ears were pierced. I bought tried some because my mother wouldn't let me get my ears pierced. I didn't stick with it though, and got my ears pierced later,when my mother finally relented, but I can't remember exactly where, when, or how!

Here's a blog post about the self piercing earringshttps://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/32225-14k-self-piercing-hoop-earrings

Does she want her ears pierced?

Ah yes, I remember my folks would never ever let me get my ears pierced, and how I suffered with those horrible painful clip earrings. Then I went off to college and got them done. When I came home, my mom liked seeing me in earrings all the time that she got hers done too.