From earlobes to belly buttons and back, piercings have become an incredibly popular accessory.

But getting piercings doesn’t always go as smoothly as having the lady at Claire’s hold your hand and, on the count of three, shoot a needle through your ear.

Channing Smith ’17, at four, had an eventful first experience. “The first time, I actually had to get them surgically removed,” Smith said. “So I waited a few years, until I was seven, to do it again.”

Some students chose to forgo the Claire’s experience completely, and opted to take matters into their own hands.

“I did all of mine myself,” Maddy Jones ’17 said. Jones is a connoisseur of piercings, and in fact, has eight. However, she said the time has come to say goodbye and she has removed all of her ear piercings to let her holes close.

Like Jones, many students have their doubts about piercings.

“I just have a question of what you do when you get sick if you have a nose piercing. You’re eventually going to have to sneeze,” Caroline Gray ’17 pondered. “But then what happens?

Despite Gray’s questions, girls tend to be much more inclined towards piercings than boys.

According to a Statistic Brain survey, in 2014, 72 percent of the pierced population was female, though in recent years, the male population has taken a better liking to it.

But Aiden Weir ’18 will not be adding to the ranks of pierced men. “I think they should remain female oriented,” he said.

According to Owen Burke ’15, few guys can pull off a piercing. Many boys will have to choose between their salmon Vineyard Vines shorts and rocking a three carat diamond earring, Burke said.

“Preppy people cannot pull off an ear piercing,” he added.

Although they are considered fashionable, piercings may have ramifications in professional settings, according to a Salary.com study.

Morales agreed that she had been discouraged from getting a nose piercing because it would hurt her chances of getting a job. However, she doesn’t believe this will affect her.

“It’s a stereotype,” she said.

No matter the possible consequences, Smith insisted everyone’s preferences are their own, and it’s a matter of personal style. “I think it’s really whatever you want to do,” Smith said. “It’s all about your self expression.”