a simple survey about ear piercing

I've had both ears pierced repeatedly, 4 holes in the left one 3 holes in the right.

1) your gender: Female

2) how old were you when you got it done? 12 the first time, 15 the second time....

3) did it hurt and if so, exactly how much? The first time hurt crazy bad! They used some kind of old fashioned contraption where instead of shooting the earring in with a gun (like I had done the second time, which didn't hurt much at all), they screwed something in slowly, then had to take it out and put in the earring. I needed a half hour between ears to have a break from the pain, and the whole mall heard me screaming. So the second time was the nice and not so painful gun, the third and fourth time I did it myself with a needle and an ice cube. That hurt some, but was creepy to do. The 4th one was high up on my ear and incredibly painful for months. Even after healing, the earring was irritating in that spot and kept getting pulled. I eventually let that one close up.

4) did you decide to do it voluntarily or were you under some kind of compulsion (family member getting it done for you without your consent, friends coaxing you into it, feeling the need to do it because of fashion etc)? All voluntary, because I wanted to wear the pretty earrings I saw in stores.

Probably more than you ever wanted to know. So did you get yours done yet?
Seriously, the gun most places use is nothing to worry about.

It doesn't mean anything Debbie if a guy has both ears pierced.
Years ago, if a man had his left ear pierced, he was hetrosexual. If he had his right ear pierced, he was gay. If he had both pierced, he was bisexual.
But that went out years ago, in my mom's generation.
Today , most men who have both ears pierced are ordinary hetrosexual men who are with women.

I have each of my ears pierced twice, but I usually only wear one pair of earrings.

I would actually like Brent to get his other ear pierced and wear earrings in both ears. We could share pairs of earrings then.

duke wrote: I would like to ask those who have (or have had) pierced ears to answer a few plain questions: 1) your gender Female 2) how old were you when you got it done? Let's see. . . sixteen at first, that was both ears. Then I got a second hole in my left ear at about. . . *thinks* somewhere between 18 and 21? Not quite sure. All I remember for sure is that I had to have that one done twice, because the first time it got infected and I had to take the earring out. I still have a tiny scar from the first attempt. Then maybe four or five years ago I had a third hole put into the left ear. My right ear still has just the one, though. 3) did it hurt and if so, exactly how much? I seem to remember the first time hurting a lot, but the other times, it's just a quick stick, and you're sore for a little while after, but it's not really that big a deal. 4) did you decide to do it voluntarily or were you under some kind of compulsion (family member getting it done for you without your consent, friends coaxing you into it, feeling the need to do it because of fashion etc)? Well, I wanted my ears pierced from a very young age, because my ears seem to be pressure-sensitive-- if I try to wear clip-ons, ear cuffs, headphones, etc. for more than a few hours it makes my ears really sore. But uber-conservative parents wouldn't allow it, so it was like everything else, I had to wait until I was out of their control. The second hole, I hate to say, was because I had a teacher with two holes in her left and one in her right. Not that she was a great teacher or that I wanted to emulate a middle-aged lady, just it looked cool. The third hole was that I was at the mall, had wandered away from the rest of my party, and ended up in an accessory shop. *shrugs* Kinda on impulse.

Hi! This is fun! I am a female. I was a freshman in High school when I first had mine done. The second holes- while I was a Sr. in high school, and the third holes about 7 weeks ago. It didnot hurt, but I am having trouble with the 3rd holes healing. My mom did the 1st holes at home with a needle, I had the 2nd and 3rd holes done with a gun at the mall. I did them all on my own except the 2nd one. I had a boyfriend that told me if I got it done he would break up with me. I want to do another hole in the cartlidge but that kinda scares me! I hope this helps! Debbie
(Edited once- I just read what I wrote and it was the 2nd holes that I was not allowed to get from a boyfriend.)

The first hole was done when I was 2 days old by my grandmother. She is from Spain and it is tradition. The second and third I did myself, 1 pair at home and the other in the girls bathroom at school with my best friend in the seventh grade. I then went on to do my sister's second piercing and my brother's first piercing.

I have one more piercing in the top part of my ear. Had that done in high school.

They were all quite voluntary I guess.

jacqui