Piercing ears - what's the right age?

↑ Pearl ↓

Tue, Mar 15 2005, 4:12 am

Quote:

Rivka wrote:

I went for the lots of bracelets look.

that's an excellent look too!!! I am into all of it - earrings, bracelets, rings, etc - everything goes! real easy to shop for, though not cheap... Wink

Quote:

Pearl, I'd like to own one of those. r they expencive?

it's been at least 10 yrs since we saw that store, awesome, but I doubt it still exists. although in Tsfad...? who knows? maybe I should google it

raizy ↓

Tue, Mar 15 2005, 7:34 pm

I had my daughters ear pierced at two weeks. I think that was the first place I went beside the doc and my mothers house....

↑ sarahd ↓

Wed, Mar 16 2005, 2:53 am

Wow, Raizy, that's real dedication! You should have gone to the Kimpeturin Heim in Monroe. I understand that the Satmar Rebetzin (but maybe the old one, a"h) gives earrings to all the girl babies there.

(They tell the story of two women named Weiss who were there at the same time, one with a boy and one with a girl. Girl baby's mommy was asked if she wanted her daughter's ears pierced, to which she agreed, but they forgot to check the diaper area, before they pierced baby Weiss' ears...leading to the first guy with pierced ears in the history of Kiryas Joel! LOL

)

↑ Pearl ↓

Wed, Mar 16 2005, 3:01 am

LOL sarahd!

↑ ForeverYoung
Guest

Wed, Mar 16 2005, 8:32 am

rofl

↑ Tefila ↓

Wed, Mar 16 2005, 8:36 am

Quote:

I understand that the Satmar Rebetzin (but maybe the old one, a"h) gives earrings to all the girl babies there.

Wow Do you know her reason sarahd for her giving that, as opposed to something-else Smile

↑ sarahd

Wed, Mar 16 2005, 10:46 am

Freilich, you obviously haven't seen too many Satmar baby girls, if you're asking that question. It's a real Hungarian chassidish thing to pierce babies' ears and before you ask, no, I don't know why.

↑ Tefila ↓

Wed, Mar 16 2005, 10:49 am

I have seen lots of satmar aswell as other baby girls w/h ears peirced! But never knew the Rebbetzin gives them out as baby gifts!

↑ raizy ↓

Thu, Mar 17 2005, 7:13 pm

u think earings are bad I have a kid in my daycare cute like anything . she has two bracelets and her ears are pierced.

↑ Pearl

Fri, Mar 18 2005, 2:30 am

how old is she? seems a bit dangerous to me, the bracelets....

secretsmile

Mon, Mar 21 2005, 3:04 pm

I wait till they want earings so they can appreciate and remember the occasion. I also feel it is their ears and should have the choice of wanting extra holes put in.

One daughter was 8 yrs, 5yrs and 6 yrs my youngest 5yr. old still does not want.

deedee ↓

Mon, Mar 21 2005, 3:40 pm

I could not bear the thought of putting needles in my babies ears!!
someone mentioned about the rebbe saying not to pierce till bas mitzva or older-sounds good to me!

queenie ↓

Wed, Mar 30 2005, 12:14 pm

Every little girl I have ever known, no matter how tom-boyish in the end wants earings. Especially frum little girls bc they wear dresses and go to more parties. My 3 year old has been to more weddings, bar mitzvas and every other simcha than I ever did and loves dressing up! Lady

I pierced her ears at 4 months. It was great. She cried about a second and then forgot about it. She let me clean her ears twice a day and never touched her ears. She loves her earings and doesn't remember the pain at all. I was five and I still remember the pain. My sister was 8 and she touched her ears and they got all infected and it had to heal and then she did it again. It was then, at the age of 6 I decided when I have a daughter I will pierce her ears when she is too little to touch, complain or remember.

stem ↓

Wed, Mar 30 2005, 2:03 pm

My mother-in-law never got her ears pierced because her father didn't let. She made her daughters wait till they were Bas Mitzva so that it would be their own choice as an "adult." I think that is a nice lesson to teach girls about responsibility and life decisions, but I would probably let my daughter get her ears pierced at a younger age if she really wanted to, if I and my husband agree that she is mature enough to take care of them.

↑ Rivk

Wed, Mar 30 2005, 5:34 pm

Your mother in law sounds like a great woman! Wink

↑ stem ↓

Wed, Mar 30 2005, 6:17 pm

You got it! LOL

1stimer

Thu, Mar 31 2005, 1:45 am

I liked the idea of letting a bas/bar mitzva child make a responsible decision (that is within their capabilities of course.)

chochma73

Thu, Apr 07 2005, 6:29 am

To my oldest I got her earings when she was nine months and it was great but with my other daughter my husband won't let me get her ears pierced because he hated when the earings would come out and then the frantic search to find the backs ( of course he forgets that as soon as I got her huggies she never had that problem) But he still won't let me pierce her ears Crying

Debbie

Sun, Apr 10 2005, 6:49 am

Rivk wrote:

One of my pet peeves is seeing tiny babies with pierced ears. My parents had me wait until my bas mitzvah and I remember counting down the years as a kid!

I agree,unlike bris milah there is no mitzva in having a baby girls ears pierced so why not let her decide when she's older if she wants it done.
I remember when my older daughter was 6 years old she asked me if she could have earrings,so she got them for chanukah about 2&1/2 months after she turned 6.

proudmom

Tue, May 10 2005, 6:18 pm

MONDAY, May 2 (HealthDay News) — Ear piercing is seen by many young girls — and some boys — as a rite of passage, an outward sign that they're starting to grow up.

So, they beg for their parents' permission, but they're often told to wait until they're teenagers.

Now, a small study in the May issue of Pediatrics may help them convince their parents that sooner is better than later.

Ear piercing done before the age of 11 might actually be better for health and cosmetic reasons, said study author Dr. Joshua E. Lane, an assistant professor at Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, Ga. He conducted the research while at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.

In a survey, those who had ear piercings done at age 11 or older were much more likely to develop keloids — unsightly scar-like growths that occur at a site of an injury — than those who had the piercing done before when they were younger.

With co-researchers Jennifer Waller and Dr. Loretta S. Davis, both of Georgia college, Lane surveyed 32 patients, including 27 women and five men, who were, on average, 24 years old when they were seen. About 85 percent of the participants were black, and keloids are more common in blacks, Lane noted. And 56 percent had a family history of keloids; it's known that these run in families.

Lane found that 80 percent of those who had their ears pierced at age 11 or after developed keloids, but only 23.5 percent of those who had their ears pierced before age 11 did.

Further dividing the age categories, Lane and his co-researchers found that 83.3 percent of those who had their first piercing between 11 and 18 years got keloids, compared to 66.7 percent of those who had been at least 19, 25 percent of those whose ears had been pierced in infancy and 22.2 percent of those who had been between the ages of 1 and 10.

In all, 50 percent of the participants developed a keloid after their first piercing. Twenty developed a keloid after a second piercing.

It's not known why those who got their ears pierced when they were younger weren't as likely to get keloids, Lane said. But he suspects that somehow children are more susceptible after puberty.

"That's yet to be studied," he added. "Our study did not address that at all."

Keloids are usually firm, flesh-colored and sometimes painful. They are commonly found on the ear lobes, back, arms and chest, usually after an injury or trauma, according to the American Academy of Dermatology.

A keloid is different than an ordinary scar, Lane explained: "When you have a scar there is a hyperproliferation of tissue, but it remains within the boundary of the cut. A keloid kind of goes crazy. It's a growth that extends beyond the original insult."

Treatment options include topical medicines such as corticosteroids, medicines known as immune modulators, cortisone injections, laser treatments, freezing treatments, surgery, radiation therapy or combinations, according to Lane and the academy.

Keloids are difficult to treat and have a tendency to come back, sometimes even larger than the original one, Lane added.

A pediatrician who frequently deals with ear-piercing issues among his patients called the study very interesting.

"It's a small number," said Dr. Dennis Woo, chairman of the department of pediatrics at Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center. Even so, he added, the results may cause him to reconsider some of his standard advice about ear piercing.

Generally, Woo said he advises parents to wait until a child is older, allowing the child to participate in the decision, perhaps as a preteen or teen.

"Based on this study, I probably will mention, there is some suggestion it's better to have it done in early childhood," he said.

"Usually I discourage piercing [very] young, especially in the first six months," he said, unless there are strong cultural inclinations to pierce early.

When infants' ears are pierced, he said, he is concerned that there could be infection or that the infants will grab ring-type earrings and cause tears.

Based on the study, Lane said that those with a family history of keloids should consider not having their ears pierced at all.

"But if there is a history, and you want to pierce, do it early," he said. "The key is prevention."