Can You Pierce Using a Gun?

The gun is a tool originally used for punching holes in earlobes. In time, it’s been more broadly used, and in many shops and studios around the world it’s also being used to punch the upper part of the ear (Helix) and the nose. Irresponsible shops, would agree to punch holes in other parts of the body. Problems can also arise in the ear and nose from piercing with a gun. Problems are rarer in the earlobe, but very common in the helix and nose, which is why a responsible piercer will refuse to pierce them with a gun. Due to the prevalence of problems caused by piercing with a gun, in various countries (such as England, for example) its use is completely illegal.

These are the disadvantages of the gun as opposed to needle piercing:

* Sterility: Today, almost no studio uses a reusable gun, but even the disposable gun doesn’t come close to the sterility of the equipment and earring you receive when you get a needle piercing. The disposable gun does come from the manufacturer in a hermetically sealed package, but we have no idea who or what touched the gun and the earring inside it during the manufacturing process. In needle piercing, on the other hand, the entire process is completely sterile; the needle is manufactured for medical use and therefore undergoes the most stringent sterilization, and the earring and other equipment are autoclaved by your piercer.

* Gentleness: What pierces the hole when using a gun is the earring. And if you look at it, you will see that it is not even sharp! It simply enters the body with force! The trauma that will be caused to the body will result in several things: the pain will be stronger than a needle piercing, the healing will be slower, and the scar that will remain if you remove the earring will be more prominent. This trauma can be very dangerous in areas where there is cartilage (such as the nose or upper ear), where most people who pierce with a gun have problems. On the other hand, the needle used to perform the piercing is very sharp, so it will penetrate gently without shocking the body.

* Quality of the earring: When you get a piercing with a gun, you are required to stay with the temporary earring (which someone coined the name “medical earring”…) for at least a few days, before you can replace it with a quality earring. And the first few days are the most critical… The temporary earring is made of a relatively inferior material, and the body may be allergic to it. In needle piercing, on the other hand, the earring that the piercer will put on you immediately after the piercing is a quality, sterile earring, made of surgical steel or titanium (details: in the article “What types of jewelry are there?”).

Gun-piercing has only one advantage: it’s cheaper. And that, as I’ve already explained in previous articles, does not play a part when your health is at stake! And anyway, if you do punch the hole with a gun, and a week later replace the temporary earring with a high-quality piercing – you’ll come pretty close to the price you’d pay, if you’d pierced with a piercing needle…