The Piercing Gun Debate

Many people’s first experience with piercings happens at a small kiosk in a mall, with a piercing gun. The question is often presented, “Why can’t I get other piercings besides my ears done with a gun?”.

The Truth of the matter is that piercing guns are not a good option for any piercing, let alone ear piercings.

Why?
Piercing guns have plastic parts and cannot, and often are not, sterilized. This can put the customer at risk for bacterial infections or other blood-borne pathogens like Hepatitis B and C.
The process by which a piercing gun operates is actually unhealthy for your body. A piercing gun actually inflicts blunt force trauma to the area which increases the chance for infection and makes the healing process all the more difficult. If you plan on stretching your ear lobes, you run a higher risk of blow-outs due to the scar tissue formed from the healing process. Also, often on women the ear piercing is not placed centrally on the lobe to make room for possible future other ear piercings. A centrally located ear piercing is crucial for an even stretch. Piercings should be performed with a hollow, surgical steel tribevel needle.

The second problem has to do with the shape and the material of the jewelry that is used . These guns were first made to tag livestock, and inflict unnecessary blunt trauma to the tissue. The earring studs used by the guns have clasps which can trap bacteria and which, when combined with the post generally used which is too short, compress the tissue. This does not allow for any swelling, which makes the healing process all the more painful and difficult. Also with no room between the flesh and jewelry, cleaning the wound is very difficult. The jewelry commonly used in this process is often of inferior quality and can irritate the skin and cause dermatitis and nickel-allergy reactions.

In conclusion; your best option is to seek out a professional body piercer. An Association of Professional Piercers certified piercer goes through months of training and be approved by the association. These people are knowledgeable in the anatomy of the human body and blood pathogen safety. Unlike a clerk at the mall, who receive little training. Professional pierces use proper sterilization techniques and good quality jewelry, and sharp single-use needles.