# Bad ear piercing experience!!!!



## Hilly (Nov 22, 2008)

Here is a complaint letter I just sent off to The Icing/Claire's.

Hello, 

I am writing today about a complaint and poor experience I had at the Baybrook Mall, Friendswood, TX Icing store. I went to get my cartilage pierced today and it was an awful experience. I have had my ears pierced several times at Claire's in the past and had fine experiences. First off, the girl that was about to pierce me was very nervous as if she hadn't pierced many ears before. She wanted someone to come and watch her do it for accuracy. I had asked that the piercing be aligned with my other cartilage earring in the opposite ear. Although they were aligned, the piercing was not good. The post was coming out of the top of my ear rather than straight back. Displeased, the sales associate brought over the manager who said they could re-do it. The manager attempts two hard yanks to remove the earring from my ear. She was not even wearing gloves! She had dirty hands and was dealing with my fresh piercing which was now bleeding. I was in serious discomfort and all she could say was, we will take 20% off. I did not want to even try re-doing the piercing. It was highly unprofessional and unsanitary. Now my ear is swollen, warm, and painful. I did sign the waiver, but I also signed on with the confidence that the piercer (and manager) would be sanitary, courteous, and accurate with their work. I am extremely dissapointed.

/endrant


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## Shimmer (Nov 22, 2008)

Never never get pierced in a place like that. :/


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## Zantedge (Nov 22, 2008)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *Shimmer* 

 
_Never never get pierced in a place like that. :/_

 
Yeah, I would only ever go to a professional. Those people are obviously not trained properly and should not be piercing anyone.


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## TISH1124 (Nov 23, 2008)

Ok...Three-repeat...Never get your cartilage pierced by a none professional nor with a gun!! Mine got so infected I had to go to a doctor...You should have NEVER let her touch you considering the conditions of the employee and the piercing environment in general.


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## chocolategoddes (Nov 23, 2008)

Claire's/ Icing piercing station is so sketch. I don't understand why they even allow it! What's next? Boob jobs at Victoria's Secret?!


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## stacylynne (Nov 23, 2008)

Sorry to hear that you had this horrific exp. Yeah, I agree with the above posters. Never get your cartilage pierced by a none professional.

If you can I would get some epsom salt & warm water & do compresses on the area. Don't get it re pierced until it's fully healed & goto a pro.

I belive @ Claires all they have to do is pierce someone 3x b4 they can pierce to the public. (Meaning they get 3 friends to pierce & they're given a gun)

Good luck & hope you heal quickly


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## makeup_queen81 (Nov 23, 2008)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *Shimmer* 

 
_Never never get pierced in a place like that. :/_

 
i COMPLETELY agree,never ever ever get your ears pierced at one of those places...they do not know what they are doing...

i am sorry you had such an awful experience...keep cleaning it, but also make sure its keeps dry, the less moisture the better IMO


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## TISH1124 (Nov 23, 2008)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *chocolategoddes* 

 
_Claire's/ Icing piercing station is so sketch. I don't understand why they even allow it! What's next? Boob jobs at Victoria's Secret?!_

 

If so I am there!!


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## blindpassion (Nov 23, 2008)

I think I heard somewhere that the use of the piercing "gun" in your cartilage area could cause the cartilage to shatter.

Claire's should not be authorized to do any type of body mod.


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## chocolategoddes (Nov 23, 2008)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *TISH1127* 

 
_If so I am there!! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	





_

 
Are you sure?
First, they'll lay you down on the floor of one of the fitting rooms. For anesthesia, they'll make you inhale one of their body sprays. 
They'll "sterilize" your skin with a shimmering body lotion. then, instead of using a scalpel, they'll cut you open with a broken rhinestone plate that says "*SEXY*" that fell off a thong, while simultaneously yelling at teen boys wearing bras on their faces as goggles. 
They'll stuff cotton balls in your boobs and glue your skin together with a lip gloss.

I KNOW THIS!


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## TISH1124 (Nov 23, 2008)

^^^ Well maybe not!


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## TamiChoi (Nov 23, 2008)

Sorry to hear about your experience. Noob ear piercers suck!


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## jinxii (Nov 23, 2008)

I'm sorry to hear this as well. and as said before.. you really shouldnt get your cartilage pierced with a gun, it can cause your cartilage to collapse.


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## jrm (Nov 23, 2008)

Please tell me they didn't pierce with a gun?

To be honest, any place that pierces with a gun - even ear lobes - i would steer clear of.  There's no possible way to get a 100% sanitary piercing when using a piercing gun - and certainly you should never use a piercing gun on an area such as the cartilage pierced with a gun as it can cause it to shatter, and you can end up with permanent ear damage. 

To be honest, I can't think of any professional piercing establishment I've ever seen that would even consider using a piercing gun...

Piercing Guns vs. The Needle - Why the Gun Should be Banned


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## Hilly (Nov 23, 2008)

Well I had good experiences at Claire's as a child, and they say they had done over 1, 000, 000 ears pierced or whatever on their advertisements. I didn't know it would be so sketch...


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## frocher (Nov 23, 2008)

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience, you must be in a lot of pain.  I hope it heals quickly and you can get in fixed at a more professional place.


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## xxManBeaterxx (Nov 23, 2008)

Wow you just got unlucky and found a bunch of girls who obviously weren't using their head.  If she felt nervous she should have asked another experienced sales person to pierce your ears.

are u thinking of trying again once your cartilage heals?

*hugs*


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## MACATTAK (Nov 23, 2008)

Ouch!!  I've always had my ears pierced at Claire's too (cartilage & lobe), and never had an issue before.  Of course, it only takes one bad experience to ruin everything.  I hope your ear gets better soon.  They definitely need to fix this.


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## redambition (Nov 23, 2008)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *chocolategoddes* 

 
_Are you sure?
First, they'll lay you down on the floor of one of the fitting rooms. For anesthesia, they'll make you inhale one of their body sprays. 
They'll "sterilize" your skin with a shimmering body lotion. then, instead of using a scalpel, they'll cut you open with a broken rhinestone plate that says "*SEXY*" that fell off a thong, while simultaneously yelling at teen boys wearing bras on their faces as goggles. 
They'll stuff cotton balls in your boobs and glue your skin together with a lip gloss.

I KNOW THIS!_

 





Hope your ear gets better soon, hilly 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 infections in the ear-piercings are so not fun


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## banjobama (Nov 23, 2008)

Quote:

   Originally Posted by *Shimmer* 

 
_Never never get pierced in a place like that. :/_

 
Do it yourself before getting it done at the mall. Especially for cartilage you should have someone do it with a hollow needle.


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## Hilly (Nov 23, 2008)

Thanks everyone. Yea I probably wont get it re-done. I had it done in highschool and I did it myself with an earring and it was fine! lol go figure...


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## MacAddict_Sami (Nov 23, 2008)

I had a really bad experience when I got my second hole on my ear lobes done and it was done at Claires too... Since then, I've only gone to professional parlors... I am sorry you had this experience and I am glad you are writing a letter to let them know how displeased you are and hopefully something is done about it...


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## vocaltest (Nov 23, 2008)

i've had all of my ear piercings done at claires (minus the last two) and have had no problems. 

and they should NEVER EVER EVER pierce a cartilidge with a gun. it can shatter the cartilidge completely.


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## NutMeg (Nov 23, 2008)

Of my 7 piercings 5 were done at Claire's or something similar when I was in my early teens or younger. 4 lobe, 1 cartilage and man am I glad that none of them went horribly wrong... I knew nothing about piercing back then, but I won't ever go back. 

I hope you guys realise that the whole getting pierced at Claire's thing isn't just bad because of the damage the gun can do as a result of the actual piercing, or because the "piercers" are woefully under-trained. It's scary because the piercing equipment can't ever be properly sterilized and you can catch blood borne diseases like hepatitis. Please, go to a professional or at the very least do it yourself in a sterile environment, for all piercings not just cartilage. The gun damage and under-trained staff problems are minimized for lobe piercings, but the sterilization issue is not.

And Hilly, be careful. If it gets infected and it starts looking nasty you should consider going into a piercing shop and having someone look at it. The problem in your situation is that there isn't a ring in place to allow the infection to drain, so it could become trapped and turn into an abscess. And watch it like a hawk, I know from experience that cartilage infections come out of nowhere and are very very bad. And take your complain to the highest level, the issue with that lady removing the earring with her bare hands is so sketchy.


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## Kayteuk (Nov 23, 2008)

Hilly did you report it to the local Health and Safety committee? They should be made fully aware of what  happened and so they can investigate.


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## Hilly (Nov 23, 2008)

Good Call!


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## Kayteuk (Nov 23, 2008)

I would report it to the health authority asap. And then write a second letter of complaint mentioning the health authority, and print it out twice. Give one copy in store,and one to the head office.


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## Darkness (Nov 23, 2008)

I've had many piercing over the years and have been to Claire's when I had by lobes done. To be honest they're not very good. If you're having cartilage done, you should go to a professional body piercing studio. They are fastidious with cleanliness and highly trained. Piercings should always be done with the needle method on cartilage and Claire's use a gun which is a big no no. I hope your ear gets better soon. To help with the swelling, bathe it a couple of times a day with sea salt. Put about a teaspoon in some boiling water and let it cool until it's tepid and dip a cotton bud in and put this around the piercing. Don't over clean though as this also can cause irritation. Hope this helps..


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## blindpassion (Nov 24, 2008)

Something to add onto my previous post, 

When I was younger I had my ears pierced at claires and they failed completely. 

The sides weren't lined up and I had to let them heal for five weeks and then go back and have it done again. Well, they did it wrong again, and I've lived to this day with one of my piercings being lower then the other.

*curse words*.


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## elib067 (Nov 24, 2008)

i have had the same experience! i got my ears pierced and cartilage pierced years ago at claires (before i new the dangers of a gun) and everything went just fine and dandy. well i went to get a second cartilage done underneath my first and it went horribly wrong. first of all it immediately swelled up and the angle that it went in was different than the first. well i went along shopping and an hour later it was still massively swelled up. well just thinking that i was having a different recovery period than all of my other piercings (and i have a lot) i didn't do anything about it. a couple days later, maybe 4 or 5, my cartilage was as thick as my ear lobe and i had to definition to it, it looked like cauliflower ear (what wrestlers get). i had to take it out and a month later it was just getting back to normal. now i would say that maybe it was me, but it wasn't. out of my 12 other piercings i had never had this experience!

i knew that it wouldn't be the most professional job ever but i was expecting a completely botched piercing.


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## jennifer. (Nov 24, 2008)

i'll copy and paste a part of a response i put in another recent ear piercing thread:

_when my own daughter was 10 though, she asked me to get hers done at claire's and that was an instant NO. i made sure to take her to an APP certified piercer (Association of Professional Piercers) in the area that would do it with my permission. it wasn't worth the risk of infection for my daughter and it shouldn't be for your own body. no matter what the cost. proper aftercare is important as well and i made sure she was doing it as directed.

on a funnier note, this thread makes me think of the part in pulp fiction where rosanna arquette's character is talking about her piercings and how the gun goes against the entire idea of piercing. it's actually true. like others have mentioned, it's not worth the risk.

also, another vote from me for non-iodized sea salt soaks!

*sorry about the long reply, it's something i firmly believe in!
_ 
sorry about that, but yeah--claire's (or any place in a mall) is a big no-no.  i'm sorry you had such a horrible experience hilly.  next time go to taurian or sacred heart (i took my daughter to sacred heart) on westheimer in the montrose.  i believe both are APP certified


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## abbey_08 (Nov 24, 2008)

first time i had my lobes done when i was very small, the gun got stuck in my ear!!! it wasnt claires though. 

let us know how they respond!! they shouldnt of been pulling around with ur ear with no gloves after muffing it up in the  1st place!


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## ZoeKat (Jan 15, 2009)

Wow, I didn't know about the cartilage issue.  I had 3 cartilage piercings done on 3 different occasions as a teenager, each done with a gun.  Yikes.


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## LMD84 (Jan 16, 2009)

jeez that's terrible what happened Hilly! lets hope that something is done to the manager with dirty hands and no gloves! that's terrible service!!

i only have my earlobes done and had it done when i was 11 in my local hairdressers! cost £5 and i was so proud of the little gold balls in my ears! now if i wanted anymore i'd deffo go to a professional


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## AmberLilith (Jan 18, 2009)

Piercing with a gun is a very bad idea, for several reasons.

As mentioned, gun piercing can shatter cartilage. 
The studs are not sharp enough, so it's forcing something blunt through your ear, which creates far more damage to the surrounding tissue than a sharp needle does -leading to longer a healing process.

The studs are a set size, meaning they are sometimes not long enough and can get embedded in the ear lobe or not allow room for any swelling.

Piercing guns are not sterile, no matter what people try to tell you! Maybe the gun part doesn't actually touch your ear, but it is near enough to your ear to get contaminated by 'back-spray' and cannot be autoclaved. That gun has been near so many other people's ears. Do you really want it near yours?  

The studs are often poor quality metals or metals that are not best suited to healing a piercing or to preventing allergic reactions, eg: gold is more porous that titanium so more likely to harbour bacteria; silver tarnishes, the coatings come off plated jewellery...  The recommended metal is implant grade titanium, or at a push implant grade stainless steel. In the UK, the standard is titanium.
Also, the people who pierce in places such as Claire's usually don't have training in bloodbourne pathogens and how to avoid cross contamination.



Here are some links:

BME Encyclopaedia
and again

Daelner, on BME

Wikipedia


I can't find the other link i was going to post... will edit if i find it.
I'm getting an error message on the BME site 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 i think it's been taken down.



*Hilly *- I'm really glad you complained. I'd encourage anyone else who has also had a bad experience to complain too. Maybe then stores such as Claire's will realise that their procedure is just not acceptable. At the very least they might be inspired to clean up their act -literally.


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## hello_kitty (Jan 18, 2009)

Cartlidge piercings done with a gun vs. a needle are like night vs. day.  Mine done with a gun gives me issues even after 10 years.  Mine done with needles healed quickly and properly, and have never given me issues, even though they're a lot newer than my gun one (and are in some harder areas to heal, like my conch).  

Piercing guns are crude torture devices.  I want to slap every parent I see at the mall sitting their kid down in a chair to get pierced. But... people are hard to educate.  There's misconceptions about piercing studios, and I'm sure most of the general public believe Claires or Walmart is safer than a than piercing studio any day.


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## Prinsesa (Jan 18, 2009)

Awwwe man..so sorry about what happened. Hope it heals quickly!


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