Ear Piercing

[Ravvana]

Yes, I am the elusive college student who has yet to pierce her ears. I love jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, rings) and have even bought a few cute stud earrings over the years, but I've never quite talked myself into going down and getting it done.

Mainly, I've been worried that I don't have enough lobe to even get pierced. No, seriously, here is my lobe (or lack thereof):


Thoughts?

Also, does anyone have opinions on going to a mall store (ie: Claire's) vs a professional piercer? I know that most simple lobe piercings are done at malls, but a) I'm worried about getting a hole punched in my ear by a minimum wage high school student with little training and b) I've heard terrible things about the piercing guns used at mall stores as opposed to needles used by professionals (infection, uneven, etc). I know the cost of a professional piercer would be more, but I'm thinking this is a situation where you get what you pay for...

My other main concern is that I am an active competitive equestrian. When my ears are healing and I need to leave the starter earrings in 24/7 (for 6 weeks, apparently), will I have trouble with my helmet rubbing on the ear - causing infection, etc? Has anyone else had newly pierced ears while actively riding?

[zarzamora]

Nah you have plenty of space there for a piercing! if you can pinch it you can pierce it as they say

I always went to professionals personally, as I have heard of a few people who went to clairs etc and ended up with wonky piercings or nasty infections. As far as riding goes- i was 11 when i had mine done but i dont remember my helmet rubbing them, and they certainly don't now. you just have to be aware that a lot of showing rule books say no earrings xx

[Winged]

I would recomend going to a profesional. I got mine done last summer, at a piercing and tattoo shop. It only cost £10, which i don't think was too bad. I would never trust someone at a mall store.
My lobes aren't much larger than that, i have really tine ears. So i'm sure you'll be fine.

The piercing itself went fine, didn't hurt at all till a couple of hours later and that soon went away. However, i did have problems 6 weeks later when i had to take my earings out because of school I got a pretty nasty infection. I never had any problems wearing a riding hat when they were newly done, i worried about that too but it was fine.

That has all cleared up now, but i am a bit worried about what i'm going to do when i go camping next week. So far, the longest time i've had them out for is a little over a day, and i'm away for four days. I'm worried that the earings will be hard to get in when i come back, but i don't want to wear them while walking. I suppose i could just put them in at night, but i think it'd be tricky to get them in in the tent and i'd be worried about my hands not being clean enough.
Anyone have any advice on that? Sorry about hijacking your thread Ravv