Ear Piercing

[RainyNightGirl]

Hello girls

I am thinking of having my ears pierced in advance of my first outing. I have a few questions if any one can help, how long does it take before you can remove the initial studs and wear something more fashionable? I mean does your piercing need to be completely healed before wearing anything else? Also how have any of you advice about answering questions on why a middle-aged male has just got his earlobes pierced?

Thank you and hugs
Natasha

[Beverley Sims]

It takes about 3 weeks to a month and it is not advisable to remove and replace studs before everything heals.
Someone else could answer the middle aged bit.

[2B Natasha]

Three weeks to a month. WOW. You must heal quick. Must people take 8 weeks. I hope your heal in 4.

Why a middle age man would all of a sudden get his ears pierced. Because you wanted to. Must of the conversations I had went like this.

Hey. You got your ears pierced.

Me: yes.

Or the alternative.

Did you get your ears pierced?

Me: yes.

You don't have to make excuses. Just say you felt like it and wanted to.

[Megan_Renee]

My response to questions like that (which seem critical in nature) is to turn it around.

Example:

Did you get your ears pierced?

-- Yeah! Why don't you get yours done?

In my experience, you'll come across a few people who are rude about it, but for the most part they will just mumble something and walk away. People respond to change in their environment. If you change, they will respond. It might be positive, it might be negative. I've been plucking my eyebrows again for the past few months and people keep saying, "You look different... Better... What did you change?"

One of my neighbors commented on my cleanly shaved legs and my wife responded, "He likes it that way." I added, "Yep... Not a big fan of extra hair."

He muttered something about not liking to shave, and I said, "Yep... I could tell!" Conversation went on from there...

tl;dr - People are just curious, if you share your enthusiasm they might be more accepting.

[Alice B]

My ears have been pierced for years and I've never had a negative comment, but lots of questions as to why. I simply answer "why not" and that ends questions. I was told to remove my studs every few days and clean the hole with some hydrogen Peroxide, which I did. After one month I was wearing regular ear ringas with no problems and my wife even gave me some of hers and then had some hoops made for me.

[DonnaT]

I am thinking of having my ears pierced in advance of my first outing. I have a few questions if any one can help, how long does it take before you can remove the initial studs and wear something more fashionable? I mean does your piercing need to be completely healed before wearing anything else?
6 to 8 weeks, for many. Took me longer.

Probably because I didn't wait before switching them out.



Also how have any of you advice about answering questions on why a middle-aged male has just got his earlobes pierced?
No one ever asked.

One friend back in WV where I grew up asked, "What's this?" I replied, "Purty ain't they?" Nothing else was said.

Last time I saw him he had his done ;)

[Cheryl T]

I was told 6 weeks before you replace them with anything that has wires or is heavy. You can replace them earlier if you heal quickly and are going to wear a stud type earring.
As to why ... just tell them you like them. No one ever had the nerve to ask me and I had both double pierced.
Besides, it's none of their business.

[STACY B]

Just go to your local TATOO place ,,They have pearcings now ,,Trust me they dont care ! They can put a hole big enough that you can change your ear rings before you get home ,,lol,,,

[Sissy_in_pink]

I have 3 piercings in each eye, the last one I got done about 2 years ago had little star shaped studs in them, but even with all the cleaning I did the left ear still got infected and the little star ended up buried in my ear lobe, so I had to remove them and put gold sleepers in. I have found gold sleepers are much easier the keep clean as the are a full circle so can be turn them through you earlobe which helps to remove any gunck from the hole.

[JeanneF]

Just go to your local TATOO place ,,They have pearcings now ,,Trust me they dont care ! They can put a hole big enough that you can change your ear rings before you get home ,,lol,,,

This is good advice. Usually the piercing person at a tattoo shop is more experienced and will do a better job that getting your ears pierced with a gun at the mall.

When I had mine pierced 5-6 years ago, I had it done at a tattoo shop to 14 gauge. That's a little bigger that what they'll do at the mall, but it looks less feminine when I'm in guy mode. No one questions the guy with spikes in his ears. :)

[Bree-asaurus]

It varies from person to person, but I was told it takes 6 weeks or so before you can take out the original studs. I got my ears pierced two years ago or so and because I don't always wear earrings, my right ear has healed up in the past 4 months and now I need to get it re-pierced. So just make sure you keep those suckers in for as long as you can and wear studs to bed every night just to make sure (until you are sufficiently sure they won't heal up).

I got my ears pierced with a needle, but am just going to Claire's or the mall or something for a gun re-piercing.

[Stephanie-L]

When I got mine done about 6 months ago, they told me to not change them for 6 weeks and always wear an earring for at least 6 months. I have had no problems with them, in fact I have a bit of an earring addiction now, just bought another pair today. I wear them pretty much 24/7, wouldn't be without them.

As to answering people why I got it done. Several people have noticed and commented, mostly at work. There is a little teasing, but nothing mean or hurtful, of course I work with a fairly accepting bunch of people. Only one person asked me why, in a nice way, and I told him "Mid-life crisis type of thing" and that was the end of it, it helped that it was the truth, just not in the way he thought. Now I am known at work as "the guy with earrings", if they only knew, and they will in a year or two....................Stephanie

[ronda]

to explain why you got your ears pierced is simple" because you wanted to" thats all there is to it.

[sweetvictoria]

Generally 6 weeks until you can change earrings. As far as the other goes, many men, including me, waited until I was older to get my ears peirced. It is not an unusual thing anymore. Tell them its a midlife crisis and laugh it off.

[AndreaCD1963]

I think I was only asked once when I first had mine done - and I replied "it was a birthday gift from my parents" (which is was indirectly - they gave me some cash, I didn't need/want anything, so my ears got pierced)

[Sandra1746]

I had mine pierced last year and I like it. I got mine pierced because I wanted to. End of story!

I changed earrings every day while they were healing. Studs or 'dangles' I wore both types. The only rule was to keep things clean using alcohol or a germicide solution a few times a day. Mine were fully healed within a couple weeks. I also restricted myself to sterling silver for the first several weeks. Silver has an inherent antibacterial property which is an advantage.

Hugs,
Sandra1746

[Bree-asaurus]

It is not an unusual thing anymore. Tell them its a midlife crisis and laugh it off.

Yeah... it's not out of the ordinary...

And I doubt they would even ask why you would want to. It's a common thing for newly venturing transgendered individuals to be super afraid, but there really isn't much to be afraid about when it comes to stuff like this.

[Rogina B]

I have surgical staples to hang my earrings on..weird ,sort of..They were not premeditated as it was done as a demo by a kinky doctor friend. They have now been in there long enoughand exposed to enough critical eyes,to have really brought on questions..lol. I still have them in..why? Because they are great hangers for drop earings and don't hurt one bit...All of my wigs cover my ears[unless I put my hair up to eat] so drop earings are the same regardless of how they connect with your ear... It has gone been way better than planned..perhaps because I "am different" anyway lol My wife didn't want me to get my ears pierced..I argued"two,four,or none" She said "none"... Didn't work..lol Cause they technically aren't piercings..lol.

[Andie56]

Had mine done about 9 weeks ago.... because I wanted to! Tried to change them out after the 6 week waiting point discovered big fingers and a lack of coordination made it a pain (pun intended) to put them back in!

[Starr]

Ok this is where i am right now.. i want my ears pierced but not sure about doing both at the same time.. i think i can get away with doing just one and when the new wears off that with everyone do the other.. i don't worry about being found out to much except for mom and Dad.. my hair is half way down my back now.. i am smooth all over and i wear clear polish and long nails most of the time..

If i do both at once might not be able to answer questions mom might ask.. if i do one and then the other don't think there will be questions... and i would love multi piercings.

Starr

[Bree-asaurus]

Ok this is where i am right now.. i want my ears pierced but not sure about doing both at the same time.. i think i can get away with doing just one and when the new wears off that with everyone do the other.. i don't worry about being found out to much except for mom and Dad.. my hair is half way down my back now.. i am smooth all over and i wear clear polish and long nails most of the time..

If i do both at once might not be able to answer questions mom might ask.. if i do one and then the other don't think there will be questions... and i would love multi piercings.

Starr

You're worrying too much...

Just get your ears pierced and put in some black studs or something. Nobody is going to think that because you got both ears pierced that you're a cross dresser...

[whowhatwhen]

You're worrying too much...

Just get your ears pierced and put in some black studs or something. Nobody is going to think that because you got both ears pierced that you're a cross dresser...

In all fairness my mom had a bad reaction when I mentioned that I wanted to get mine done, the phrase "please don't" was enough to know that getting them done would be awkward for everyone involved.
It's probably better though to just get what you want, believe me when I say it feels awful when you don't feel like you have control over your own body.

Don't let them do that to you.

[Patrice_CD]

Ok this is where i am right now.. i want my ears pierced but not sure about doing both at the same time.. i think i can get away with doing just one and when the new wears off that with everyone do the other.. i don't worry about being found out to much except for mom and Dad.. my hair is half way down my back now.. i am smooth all over and i wear clear polish and long nails most of the time..

If i do both at once might not be able to answer questions mom might ask.. if i do one and then the other don't think there will be questions... and i would love multi piercings.


Starr

I agree with Bree, Don't worry about it and just get both of them done. Get small diamond type and most folks wont even notice. I have both ears double pierced and wear diamond studs in the upper holes and something dangly in the bottom holes each day. I love my earrings :)

[Karinsamatha]

I had mine done 4 weeks ago - got some questions at work. My answer was I wanted to do it for many years. Then a couple of days of good natured teasing and that's about it. And one guy asked if it hurt! For as much as it irritates me I still get sir'd all the time. I love the look and feel of my ear rings.
If you want to do it do it. it's like hairless legs no one much cares.

[paulaloha]

Ahhh, reading this thread is making me want to get mine done so badly! But I cannot do it during the summer as that is kayaking season for me. Everyone says that you shouldn't get in fresh water while your ears are healing. The thought of me giving up paddling for 6-8 weeks during the summer doesn't sound like fun at all! So I think I'm waiting till the end of November to get mine done. But I am so tempted right now, I want them so badly! I'm really starting to think about getting them double pierced, but that is just a thought.

Paula

[StarrOfDelite]

If a person is concerned about presenting a masculine look to the world, my advice is that for the initial pair of earrings it is best to get a pair of black hoops, approx. 1/2 inch diameter and 1/8 inch wide, instead of studs. You should be able to have the piercing done at a tattoo parlor, and avoid the earring kiosk at the mall. The tattooists use a different method to do the piercing, and they can supply any type of earring you want. Mall kiosk operations use the piercing gun method, and give overly cautious instructions on care, because corporate ownership is more worried about lawsuits than the customer's health and happiness.

My ears were pierced by the old-fashioned method, the lobes were numbed with an ice cube, pierced by a sanitary needle, and hoops were inserted directly from an alcohol bath into the openings. Didn't hurt at all. I washed with disinfectant mix of alcohol, hydrogen peroxide and distilled water daily, and had zero problems with infections or oozing.

[Tracii G]

So the consensus is go to a tattoo parlor and not the mall?
I want to get mine done but all this has confused me to some degree.Which place would be more sanitary?
I'm not OCD just wanting to get it done right.

[StarrOfDelite]

So the consensus is go to a tattoo parlor and not the mall?
I want to get mine done but all this has confused me to some degree.Which place would be more sanitary?
I'm not OCD just wanting to get it done right.

IMPORTANT: Tattooists are licensed under state law everywhere, must prove their competence before getting a license to do piercings, and are subject to spot inspections to examine the cleanliness of their equipment. In most states ear piercings done with a piercing gun are exempt from the licensing requirement. Arguably, the chances of getting a clueless know-nothing are higher at the piercing gun places.

In Ohio and New York, the only states in which I am familiar with the law, a kiosk sales clerk is not even allowed to touch the earrings once they are inserted in the ear by the piercing gun.

I don't think there is any inherent sanitary advantage to either method, in the sense that both are safe if done properly, and both could cause an infection if done improperly. The main danger is to make sure the skin area is absolutely clean before the piercing is done, because either the piercing gun or the needle could drive bacteria from the skin into the wound.

My recommendation was based on the premise that, because of the way it works, the piercing gun can only use a limited number of earring styles, whereas the tattooist can insert almost any sort of earring into the hole that the customer desires. If a person is concerned about the masculine look, I can pretty much guarantee that the tattoo shop is going to have a much better selection of that type of earring.

[RainyNightGirl]

Thank you StarrofDelite, that is really excellent advice on the type of earring. Thank you.

Also thank you to everyone else. I am really quite comfortable with the answer to why have piercings is 'because I want them'.

I will also likely go to a Tattoo parlour as well. Those guys are professionals at what they do and are probably very well trained/qualified on disinfecting their equipment.

Hugs
Natasha

[whowhatwhen]

My niece got one done in a mall, and I say one because they did a bad job and the other one fell out within a minute of getting it in.
I'm planning to get mine done by someone more professional in the future, once I've discussed with my therapist how to handle my family.

:)

[Julogden]

Used to be 6 weeks back when I pierced mine, and I'd assume the same now. A bit of patience is required but after that you get a lifetime of wearing the cutest earrings. :)
Carol

[giuseppina]

So the consensus is go to a tattoo parlor and not the mall?
I want to get mine done but all this has confused me to some degree.Which place would be more sanitary?
I'm not OCD just wanting to get it done right.


Correct. The piercing gun, with earrings that aren't often sharp makes a ragged hole that doesn't heal as nicely as that from a sharp needle. Some have likened it to the machine that installs tags on cattle ears. :eek:

I'd rather have someone with more than a day or two of training under their belt do mine. Sterility is of utmost importance.

Last I heard (other than this thread), six to eight weeks until removal of studs is recommended, and six months to a year of continuous earring wear before anything too heavy is worn. After the initial healing period, the skin in the hole is very thin and needs more time to grow thicker so it can handle the heavier earrings.

And Tracii, there is a lot more to OCD than taking the time to research what amounts to minor surgery.

[Sandy Michaels]

So the consensus is go to a tattoo parlor and not the mall?
I want to get mine done but all this has confused me to some degree.Which place would be more sanitary?
I'm not OCD just wanting to get it done right.

a good piercing place will have a web site you can check out before hand. they should have pics and reviews. also treat it like a cut. keep it clean and apply antibiotic cream with the earring on. it will heal up faster and nicely.

[Briana90802]

In the early 90's I got my ear peirced. As was the custom and style of the day. Now I see middle aged men with a single ear pierced and I know they are gen Xers. So I recently got my other ear pierced and amazingly I look like a guy from gen Y or even gen 'next'. So do it. Just go to the mall and find a nice young girl to do it. You'll find the gen omg girls very open minded.

[Miriam-J]

I got mine pierced a year and a half ago at Claire's, which is a chain low-cost jewelry store here in the US. They did well enough and their system was very sanitary: the studs are in pre-sterilized cartridges that they slip into the gun. They provide some sanitizing liquid that I used from the outside for six weeks after which I was allowed to remove the studs and clean a bit better. I was fully healed a couple weeks after that, but wonder if it might not have healed sooner if I had removed the studs earlier and applied the santizing liquid to the inside of my ear sooner.

I was terrified of the questions that might come, especially in the male dominated engineering world, but got few and could answer those with just 'I felt like it'. I even responded to a couple people (close friends) that they should do it too.

Nothing to it. Sure is nice being able to wear nice earrings now when I'm dressed en femme. For daily wear in drab I now wear diamond studs.

Miriam

[April_Ligeia]

I had mine pierced in a mall by a gun when i was a teenager, but had them repierced with twelve gauge plugs a few years ago because i did not like the placement, they weren't centered. Definitely go to a tattoo shop. I have stretched mine to zero gauge, this allows much more options.