Should You Let Your Child Get Their Ears Pierced?

Since time immemorial, people from different cultures and societies have been taking part in ear piercing. In some societies, it is regarded as an aspect of beauty whereas in others, it is only meant to serve cultural and religious purposes.

In some traditional societies, ear piercing was only permitted for the female gender, whereas in others, both boys and girls were allowed to get their ears pierced. In today’s world, ear piercing is a unisex fashion trend.

As much as many parents globally have embraced the idea of having their children’s ears pierced, it is still debatable if it is right to do so. In this article, I will tell about a few pros and cons that come with making the decision to pierce your child’s ears. First, here are a few of its demerits.

Pain

A piecing can be quite painful for a child. Unlike adults, children are not immune to pain. When it comes to pain, children are highly irritable. They cannot persevere the pain through the ear for as long an adult would.

It is not uncommon to see a child caressing their ears from time to time after getting a piercing. The itchy effect on the piercing irritates them. On the contrary, hygiene dictates that you should keep your hands off the wound to avoid contamination.

Infections

Piercing involves puncturing the skin and opening into inner body cells. This puts your child at a risk of being infected. If the child spends most of their time playing outdoors, there is a high chance that the piecing will get into contact with dirt, hence resulting in an infection.

If your child got a piercing recently, you need to look out for signs and symptoms such as swelling around the piercing. The pain should not last longer than a few hours or a day. However, if your child complains of prolonged pain days after getting the piercing, it is a possibility that he or she has contracted an infection.

In some cases, skin may grow over the piercing and the stud. This is potentially dangerous if the stud remains blocked in the piercing. This may necessitate a surgical procedure to remove the stud from the earlobe.

Risk of accident

Children can be quite playful. Imagine a case in which your child is wearing a dangling earring. Accidentally, it gets hooked on something or another kid unintentionally pulls it. This can result in a torn earlobe. The pain is simply unimaginable

As much as such an occurrence is extremely rare, it does not mean it can’t happen. Such cases involving children have been reported before. This is the main reason why some schools do not allow students under a certain age to have earrings on.

But what is the positive impact of having your child’s ears pierced? First of all, it saves you the trouble of having to take them for the piercing at a later age. They will probably be hesitant to oblige when they are older.

Children love jewellery just as much as adults. It is only fair to let them try it on. Their taste in jewellery is majorly influenced by the stereotypical children programs and fairy tales of beautiful princesses. They simply want to try what they see on television.

Before letting your child get a piercing, there are factors that you need to consider. As much as ear piercings are a popular fashion trend for children, the decision to get them should be arrived after considering some of the factors outlined in this article.

Age

How old is the child at the point of getting their ears pierced? Some parents prefer to pierce their children’s ears a few weeks after birth. However, this is not advisable. The immunity of a baby at such an age is extremely weak. An infection at this stage can turn quite disastrous.

In countries such as Britain, children’s health experts are campaigning for the abolishment of piercing children under the age of six months. At six months, the baby’s immunity is strong enough to fight such wound infections.

Method of piercing

What method of piercing are you intending to use on your child? If you are taking your child to a beauty Parlour to get a piercing, ensure that it is a trustable parlour. The levels of hygiene should be high. The most common piercing method is the use of a gun with sterilized studs.

The piercing gun makes the process faster and less painful as compared to the use of a surgical needle.

Child’s consent

There is chance that your child will not be a fan of earrings and other ear jewellery in the future. It makes no sense to impose it on them. This is why it is highly recommended to broach up the subject of ear piercing when your child is old enough to make such decisions.

Before making the decision, ensure you provide enough information to your child about the process. Tell them about the procedure, whether it’s been painful or not and where it is done. Make sure they know about what they need to do to keep infections at bay. If your child finds it too much to handle, then a piercing is definitely a bad idea.

Type of piercing

There is a wide variety of piercings. Some types such as the industrial piercing, pierce through multiple spots on the ear. Others, such as the helical piercing are made on the upper cartilage of the ear.

It is advisable to avoid such piercings for children. This is because a child’s ear is not fully grown and hence such piercings can affect the shape of a child’s ear. Just stick to the normal earlobe piercing. Multiple piercing are not recommended for children.

All in all, the question of whether children should get piercing can not be answered conclusively with a yes or no answer. Taking a deeper look at it, factors such as the age of the child play a big role in making such a decision.

In all fairness, the decision should be left upon the child. It is important to let the child attain the age they can rationally think through the pros and cons of ear piercing and make their own decision regarding it. It is not right to impose things that they probably won’t like on them.