Professional Piercing vs. Piercing Guns

***Piercing Guns

 And Mall Piercings 

 Are Dangerous!***

 

"Let's go to the mall and get our ears pierced!

It's cheap and it will be cool to have a new piercing!"

 

Sounds like a good idea, right? What about going to the mall to get your ears pierced by someone that watched a video, practiced on a teddy bear, and then was given a non sterile piercing gun to pierce your ears is a bad idea? All of it!!!!

 

So why do we go to the mall?

     Because it seems like the safe place to go when you're growing up. Stereotypes tell us that the mall is a happy go lucky fun place to hangout, and that tattoo and piercing shops are for scary hardcore people getting crazy things pierced by a 300 pound gritty looking guy named Spike in a dark and shady back room.

This could not be farther from the truth.

 

Today, professional piercers are just that, professional.

     Tattoo and piercing studios even get health scores just like restaurants. Many of them go to school and study to be a piercer and then have lengthy apprenticeships with professionals.They are clean, knowledgeable, and have the proper tools for sterilization.

 

So aside from skill level,

 why is it better to see a professional???

 

PIERCING GUN-- If you visit the mall or a department store to get a piercing, they will use a piercing gun. A piercing gun works kind of like a stapler or nail gun.

• It forces a sharp object into an object abruptly. 
• Guns are often plastic and can not be properly sanitized.
• They are sold publicly and don't require training.
• Even if the earrings or studs are sterile, the guns are generally just wiped with an alcohol or antiseptic pad which does not kill germs instantly and does not get every part of the gun clean.
• Piercing guns can spread Hepatitis
• Sometimes malfunction (by fault of gun or piercer) causing stud to get stuck in the ear or stud to get stuck in the ear AND the gun (pliers anyone?)
• Crooked piercings are more common with guns
• The earring back pressing on the post of the stud breaks the skin in such a way that causes a wound that takes longer to heal

STUD EARRINGS-- Stud earrings are loaded into the piercing gun and you are advised to leave them in for several weeks while twisting them regularly.

• Studs are usually "plated" and not a single material that is safe for ears (usually, not always)
• While usually pointed, studs are not very sharp and literally rip through your skin.
• Posts come in a single length and are not always the right size for all earlobes or cartilage causing an improper fit (squeezing)
• The backs are flat against the skin and do not allow the piercing to breathe or heal
• The divot in the post (the part that makes the back click on) can get debris in it and is hard to keep clean.  
• "twisting the post" aggravates the piercing and can actually get bacteria in the hole.

NEEDLES-- Needles are used by professional piercers.

•  Needles come in multiple sizes.
•  Needles are hollow. Think of it this way: If you punch a hole in a piece of paper with pencil, what does the hole look like? Jagged and a big mess, right? That is like using a post earring on your ear. Then think of using a hole-punch on a piece of paper. What does that hole look like? Get the picture? It may sound violent to "punch a hole" in your skin, but the hole is clean and not jagged, will heal faster, and is less likely to get infected.
• Needles are MUCH sharper than stud earrings. This actually makes the piercing hurt much less. On a microscopic level, a stud pushes on the skin until the pressure rips it, where as a needle slices with very little push.

AUTOCLAVES-- Machines used to sterilize tools.





autoclave

• These are used to sterilize surgical instruments and hospital equipment (and tattoo and piercing equipment at quality shops)
• Autoclaves can kill germs and other things that could survive boiling water and detergent
• Any tool used in a tattoo and body piercing studio that can not go in the autoclave is immediately disposed of in a bio hazard trash compartment after use.
• Professionals are well aware of and trained on how to handle blood borne pathogens

 

D.I.Y. PIERCINGS-- After reading all of the things above, I will let the "Do it yourself piercings" section speak for itself. Either people try it with a sewing needle and an ice cube, or a contraption like the one shown below. Regardless, why take the risk of infection and the experience away of actually going out and meeting new and interesting people that do this for a living???





I didn't even start my "Jewelery Quality" rant....that's for another day.

Be smart, and go somewhere clean for piercings.

Research what you want, and be educated about the experience.

:D