This is a guest blog post written by Ian Whiskers, of Electric Tattoo Parlor
Many parents are heeding the advice of medical professionals and waiting to pierce their children's ears until they are older, but where should you actually take them? An experienced tattoo parlor or piercing studio is absolutely your best bet. That does not mean every professional piercer is created equally. A little research will go a long way, so use that to your advantage.
Jessyn came in with her mom and dad and first got to pick out her jewelry for her ear piercing with Ian
Why a tattoo parlor?
It's safer.
Most piercing pagodas you'll find in the mall or department stores only rely on a brief video their employees watch, to basically learn how to use their "tools."
While most professional piercers will have a first aid certificate, CPR training and pass a blood borne pathogens test annually, have taken an apprenticeship that can last anywhere from 9 months to a year (preferably), and attend seminars on anatomy, technique, and cleanliness, and have cleaning and sterilization comparable to most healthcare professionals.
Isn't a piercing gun safer?
Absolutely not. A piercing gun cannot be properly cleaned, cannot be ran through an autoclave or statim, and cannot even be thoroughly wiped because of the tight spaces that make up the mechanism. Chances of spreading hepatitis A, B, C, and even HIV are a genuine concern when using these guns on multiple people. Did you know hepatitis C is seven times more infectious than HIV? Pretty scary
Professionals use single use sterilized needles for every procedure. Some even use single use sterilized tools and sterile gloves for the procedure!
Ian sanitizes the jewelry that will be used and shows Jessyn the hollow needle he will use to pierce her ears. He also demonstrated to her with an inflated glove how easy the needle will pierce her ear so it would hurt less than the blunt force trauma of a piercing gun. He also had her try to pierce the glove with a typical earring back to which Jessyn could not get it through the glove since it was not sharp enough.
But don't the needles hurt more?
Again, no. A gun uses an earring and pressure to shove that blunt object through skin, or worse, cartilage. Have you ever tried popping a balloon with an earring back? It's difficult to say the least.
Needles however are hollow, extremely sharp and are beveled to allow the needle to slice through tissue with ease and gently separate the tissue to allow the width of the needle to pass through. Think about popping a balloon with that!
Ian marks her ears first, Jessyn checks out the placement in the mirror, then he sanitizes and pierces both earlobes
Then that's it, she is all done and all smiles with her new big girl earrings!
But the piercing pagodas have plenty of cute jewelry options!
Most of those cute options are mystery metal jewelry that can cause irritation and problems with nickel allergies, even if they aren't apparent at first. Plus they don't sterilize them before use. Alcohol only has aseptic properties while still wet, so after it dries, it's doing you no good. Kind of gross when you think of how many people probably laid their unwashed hands on that jewelry.
Higher end shops will only use implant grade jewelry and have a high selection of options in every price range to give your little one the option to get exactly what they want.
Research your piercer, call and ask a million questions if you have to. Make sure your child is being taken care of the best they can. Your child deserves the best, make sure they get it.
To book with Ian you can email him at ian@electrictattooparlor.com or call the Electric Tattoo Parlor at 224-802-2151
Also for a limited time I am offering $100 off any family, mini, engagement, or wedding photo service if you use Ian for your piercing,
be sure to ask Ian for the coupon it will be in your aftercare bag he provides.