Is there really a certain age you need to be to get a cartilage piercing? Because my friend has told me you need to be 18 or so but I doubted it at first. I know you need to be 18 to get your belly done from where I'm from, in calfornia.

I know that you shouldn't remove the piercing from your ear or belly after you've gotten it done, but can you just take it out to clean it real quick then put it back in?

How can I avoid really bad infections from both cartilage and belly piercings?

What's the best way to go to get an ear and/or belly pierced? As in using a gun or a needle?

If you wanted to pierce them yourself, how do you be safe about it and avoid infections and other bad nasty things?

I've never got any piercings before so I'm a real beginner about this kind of stuff and I need information and " how to's " to keep myself out of infections so please help! :D

The age depend on where you live.
I don't know about the second Q- I'm sure someone else here will
Regular cleaning using warm saltwater or savlon (different places recommend diff stuff)
Always use a needle, especially for cartalidge or you can risk shattering it.
Don't pierce yourself go to a professional and save yourself a lot of potential problems.
The amount of infection/irritation seems to vary from person to person. Go to a professional peircer (with a hygiene licence!) they can give you the information you need.

Don't go behind your parents back it will stop the trusting you when they find out (they usually do) and then they'll never let you do anything. Trust and respect are a two way process. If you go behind their back you may just mess up your chances of satying out later/going places when you are older. Prove you are responsible instead. :)

The reason you need to be a certain age to get piercings is for liability issues. Basically so parents can't sue that owner of the store if their kid got a piercing. At 18 you are an adult and you make your own decisions.

The reason they tell you not to remove it, is so it has proper amount of time to heal. Once it has had the proper amount of healing time, then you can take it out and put a different one in, or whatever you want to do. You don't have to take it out to be able to clean it. You can easily clean it without taking it out.

You shouldn't use a gun to pierce your bellybutton. The gun is made to pierce ears not bellybuttons. A needle is used to pierce bellybuttons.

DO NOT PIERCE ANYTHING YOURSELF! That is extreemly dangerous.

So, I take it you are not of age if you say your going to keep it a secret because you don't want your parents to know. So, I'm guessing that's why you wanted to know about doing it yourself...
Do not do it yourself, and talk to your parents. If they are going to let you do it, they can sign a concent form. That is how I got my bellybutton pierced at 15. My dad went with me and signed a paper for me to do it.
Do not keep it a secret. If you get an infection it could become very sick and your parents will have to know.

I am in California as well. You need to be 18 to sign for a piercing yourself. If you are under 18, you must be 16 and have parental consent.

You should always leave a navel piercing in for 6 weeks before taking the jewelry out; cartilage piercings need to be left in for 8-10 weeks. The reason for this is, if you take the jewelry out too soon the piercing is not stable enough to handle it. It can cause major irritation, which can lead to infection if you are not careful. It can also close up on you at a moment's notice.

To avoid infections, simply take care of the piercing as you should. Cartilage and navel piercings can require a great deal of care, so just take care of them and they will treat you right. For both piercings, clean with antibacterial soap twice a day for the first week that you have them, then reduce to once a day. Make sure not to overclean as it can cause irritation. They will probably recommend you use salt water; I personally do not recommend this because salt water is very drying to the piercing and the skin around it, and does not promote healing whatsoever.

Navel piercings can only be done with a needle, so that is your only option for that. As far as the cartilage piercing, the best way to get it done is with a needle. Piercing guns are not sterilized, can shatter your cartilage, can get caught on the jewelry when the "piercer" tries to unlatch it, and the "piercers" do not go through good training, and are not trained for very long. They also shove a piece of jewelry somewhere where it does not fit. Needles remove a small piece of your cartilage, making room and an easy fit for the jewelry. Needles are sterile, and trauma to your cartilage is low risk.

Never pierce yourself. This is what professional piercers are for. They spend a lot of money to get trained and licensed, so give them some business! Piercing yourself puts you at risk for irritation and infection. Since you are probably not familiar with jewelry placement, you are also at risk for migration and rejection. If you are not careful, you are also at risk for Hepatitis. Doesn't seem worth it to me to save a few bucks on a piercing.

Good luck and I'm sure you will do fine! :)

It is no longer legal to pierce cartilage with a gun where I live,
It has to be done with a needle because of all the reasons listed by nauticalstar420.
Many years ago when it was still legal,
I had the cartilage in my ear pierced with a gun and it shattered.
If where you live there is a choice between a needle and a gun
For cartilage piercings, go the needle route:)

Depends where you are in cali, I visited my friend in l.a. and there are tons of places that pierce underage, if your willing to risk getting pierced in a not-very-sterile environment, and they probably just care about the money. Cartlidge I'm not sure about , here its 14 but I'm not sure about cali. Its probably either 16 or 18.

Don't TAKE IT OUT!! Not until its healed, belly button you can change it in about 6-8 weeks, and cartlidge after about 2 months, but just so you know both those piercings won't be FULLY healed until about 1 and a half years.

Just follow the instructions your piercer tells you and ull be fine. For cartlidge try to keep your hair tied back as much as possible, and for belly button-dont wear tight shirts.

NEVER NEVER NEVER USE A GUN!! It will shatter your cartlidge and cause soooo many problems in the future, I had all 6 of my cartlidge piercings done with a gun (before I knew any better) and they (I only have 2 left) hurt when ever I touch them and bleed a lot and trust me, if I could go back in time I would NEVER have used the gun. I even quit my job at claires just because I had to pierce people with the gun, and I refused because I don't want them to go through what I went through! Needle is way way better.

Don't do them yourself! I feel like a hypocrite saying that since I did all 15 of my piercings myself, but that just means I know what I'm talking about when I say that it causes many problems and its just not worth it. But if your going to do it, at least use proper equpment. Go to painfulpleasures.com and buy these things forceps(to clamp you bellybutton) needle (these are actual hollow piercing needles, not safteypins!) in the next size bigger than your jewelry, and your jewelry. For bellybutton ii Sugest 14 gauge, for cartlidge I sugest 16 gauge. BTW you don't really need to clamp your ear, just your bellybutton. I know that thers a chance you still might do it yourself after me telling you not to, so it you do just be sure to be careful. You can't paralyze yourself from either piercing, since I know your probably wondering.

Happy piercing! :D

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Originally Posted by zombie_princess

But if your going to do it, at least use proper equpment. Go to painfulpleasures.com and buy these things forceps(to clamp you bellybutton) needle (these are actual hollow piercing needles, not safteypins!) in the next size bigger than your jewelry, and your jewelry. for bellybutton ii Sugest 14 gauge, for cartlidge I sugest 16 gauge. BTW you dont really need to clamp your ear, just your bellybutton. I know that thers a chance you still might do it yourself after me telling you not to, so it you do just be sure to be carefull. You can't paralyze yourself from either piercing, since I know your probly wondering.

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You should never give a minor information on how they can pierce themselves. If this person takes your advice and pierces theirself and gets in trouble by their parents, or worse, gets hurt, they have you to thank for that.

Even with the proper equipment, this person probably does not know the first thing about piercing placement or technique. They would be putting themselves at risk for migration and rejection, which as I'm sure you know, is quite nasty, painful, and leaves significant scars.

Always refer them to a professional piercer.

To get both your cartiledge and bellybutton pierced you need to be 18 with a parent. Tattoo places are more strict about your bellybutton now. And once you get it done, id wait a while to take it out because cartiledge is so thick and it closes really fast. I pierced my cartiledge and some of my friends and both of my thirds and fourth and my nose, so I wouldn't for a while. To avoid infections make sure you clean your piercings twice a day till there healed (about 2 months). Use ear care solution you can get from claires or hydrogen peroxide for your ear and saline solution or saltwater for your bellybutton. Ear piercings should be done with a gun using a hollow needle (so there won't be bump) a bellybutton ones should be done using a clamp and 14 g hollow needle. To pierce them yourself you have to be careful and make sure everythings sterile. I ordered a starter bellybutton piercng kit online from painfulpleasures.com and I think I'm going to do mine in a couple weeks. If you wanted to pierce your cartiledge by yourself, id ice it for like an hour so it won't hurt as much. And you need to know what your doing if you decide to do your belly because if you do it too close to the surface it could migrate out of you, and cause other problems and scarring so definitely get a kit and make sure there's a clamp. Hope this helpss. (:

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Originally Posted by megan.chilo

To get both your cartiledge and bellybutton pierced you need to be 18 with a parent. Tattoo places are more strict about your bellybutton now. And once you get it done, id wait a while to take it out because cartiledge is so thick and it closes really fast. I pierced my cartiledge and some of my friends and both of my thirds and fourth and my nose, so I wouldn't for a while. To avoid infections make sure you clean your piercings twice a day till there healed (about 2 months). Use ear care solution you can get from claires or hydrogen peroxide for your ear and saline solution or saltwater for your bellybutton. Ear piercings should be done with a gun using a hollow needle (so there won't be bump) a bellybutton ones should be done using a clamp and 14 g hollow needle. To pierce them yourself you have to be careful and make sure everythings sterile. I ordered a starter bellybutton piercng kit online from painfulpleasures.com and I think I'm Going to do mine in a couple weeks. If you wanted to pierce your cartiledge by yourself, id ice it for like an hour so it won't hurt as much. And you need to know what your doing if you decide to do your belly because if you do it too close to the surface it could migrate out of you, and cause other problems and scarring so definitely get a kit and make sure there's a clamp. Hope this helpss. (:

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never EVER ice it before u peirce it... EVER. If anything put it in very warm water. Icing the area before you peirce it causes your skin to contract making it harder to do. If u warm it your skin will expand leaving more room for the needle to go through. It just makes things a lot easier :)