I don't know too much about piercings but I know enough that when I go to get my nose done it'll be with a needle.. I was just curious, though. I have two piercings in my ear that were done with a gun at some teeny-bopper store in the mall (and another one done with a safety pin during a drunken night at my friend's house.. another story, 'course..) and they're all lobe piercings.. they've never given me too much problems besides the occasional flare-up due to bad jewelry or too much tugging. And, of course, the inevitable piercing "bumps." Although, I have to say, the safety pin piercing seems healthier than the gun ones.. then, maybe it's just in my mind. Considering they're pretty normal piercings, was I lucky that my ears didn't become horribly fucked up? Or is it perfectly safe to get lobe piercings done with a gun? I was just wondering because I'm pretty sure my little sister will be getting her ears pierced soon and I want her to be as safe as possible.. so I thought I'd suggest the best possible option to whoever will end up paying for her ears to be pierced.
I pierced my sister's ears myself. Every time she got them done with a gun her ears tweeked out and got all gnarly. Could have been the jewelry, though. I got my ears done at Piercing Pagoda or something, the bottom holes when I was like, two and the second holes when I was around ten. All the rest I've done with needles myself. The gun piercings have never given me any problems, so I can't really knock it too bad, though guns are bad news.
my piercings done with a gun took longer to heal and were more irritated than those done with by a piercer witha needle. it was a lot less scary too (those done by the piercer; no popping of the gun)
Piercing guns are terrible, they CANT be sterlized between people and are used on hundreds of people. They are piercing your ear with a badly sharpened stud. They are bad bad bad things, a regulation has been passed recently in ontario to get rid of them because you can pass on all kinds of diseases with them not being cleaned. Needles and Professionals are the ONLY way to go.
Gun piercings rip through the skin, whereas needle piercings slice through the skin. The gun is dirty, the piercing jewelry is generally too short to allow for swelling and the person doing the piercing is usually a teenager who has no sense of placement. How old is your sister? Most piercing studios will pierce ears on kids who are older than 8 with a parent present, and it's really not much more expensive than getting jabbed at the mall.
You all have fantastic arguments which sound like much of what I've read before.. thanks for that.. very much. The only problem is how to convince my mother that it truly is safer. My sense of beauty is much different from her sense of beauty and she believes that I'm just using an argument trying to convince her that tattoos & piercings are safe and beautiful by telling her to bring my sister to a tattoo/piercing shop instead of a mall.. you should know I'd never want to change her personal opinion (it's HER'S.) My mother believes that the mall piercings are more socially acceptable.. or something along those lines. It's okay that she's old fashioned but at my sister's expense I wish she'd hear me out a little better. I'm truly concerned about my little sister's (who is almost twelve, btw) health and even though I went down the gun road and was totally fine, I care about her too much to let her go down that road as well with potential danger. How can I convince my old-fashioned mother that I can save my sister extra potential pain?
I can't even fathom getting my nose done with a gun. That's just... nuts. Seriously. Isn't there too much... shit in the way for the gun to even go through? Nuts.
Yeah, I've known quite a few people who have had it done with a gun. Hell, I'd rather buy my own piercing needle and have my boyfriend do it. I wouldn't want to risk having my nose swell up to four times it's normal size.
all four of my ear piercings were done with a gun, and they're all ok and i'm pretty sure they are ok for most people. as nose piercings are concerned, even though loads of people i knew got theirs with a gun for about £3, i got mine with a needle at a professional piercing shop for £35. why? because i wanted it done properly i suppose. i've heard stories about guns fucking up people's noses before and didnt want to go through that...
Well, my nose piercing was free. Found a small needle in my room, stuck it through my nose, and put a stud in. It was almost painless, and I quite prefer piercing myself because I don't like strangers touching my face.
Most of the people who use the guns in the mall and what not have a training course of 2 weeks. Where as a professional piercer who uses a needle is most likely to be licensed (you'd have to check with your state regulations on this - every states requierments are different.) They've also probably gone through years of training and apprenticeship (again check with your state). Any kind of procedure that involves contact with bodily fluids requires strict cross contamination prevention and because peircing guns are made usually made of plastic, they can not be sterilized in an autoclave like a needle can be. A gun also causes scarring and tissue damage due to force of a blunt stud through the skin causing the tissue to rip in order to make room for the jewelry. It's best to go to a professional piercer that uses an needle for any type of piercing you have done even just the ears, guns just aren't worth the risks. I hope this helps you. Peace & Love.
I did my nose with a piercing gun I bought myself from Sally's Beauty Supply. It pierced fine and there was very little swelling or anything, but I couldn't get the backing off so I had to stick a pair pliers up my nose to yank it off. I wouldn't recommend it, although I had no adverse effects. It's not safe.
I would simply print out some information on piercing guns to give to your mama. Google provides plenty of scary stuff. You're a good sibling to look out for your sister, I wish someone had looked out for me before my ears got erm... mutilated. Ugh. Piercing guns are pretty scary. I agree a piercing/tattoo studio (a reputable one, theres a difference) is the way to go. It's clean. It's safe. It's better. But mamas can be stubborn in their beliefs unless you show them something someone else put down on paper as fact, to know you arent just rattling. I did the same for my mom, when they were considering letting my sister get her ears pierced. She quickly changed her mind and apologized for my ears, that they didnt have much as far as research goes at the time. Good luck <3
