One of the worst inventions ever is the piercing gun. It is responsible for more damage, more allergic reactions, more disease than anything else I can think of in the piercing industry. There are many reasons that you should NEVER get pierced by a piercing gun and I will explain them to you here. Hopefully after reading this article you will choose a professional piercer for yourself and your children.

Sterility
Piercing guns are made of plastic. Plastic melts in a regular autoclave (sterilizer). In order to sterilize them, they would have to be chemically sterilized which is very expensive. They also have many small, moving parts. This means that tissue and blood from other people can get stuck in the gun and be transfered into your body. Piercing guns are generally wiped down with rubbing alcohol between uses. Rubbing alcohol is very poor at killing bacteria and almost useless in killing viruses.

Piercing needles are made of stainless steel and are single use. This means that they can be sterilized in a regular autoclave, which all body piercing studios should have. They are then thrown out using a proper sharps disposal container. The containers are taken to a local hospital or medical waste disposal center to be incinerated. Any other tools used in the piercing (like clamps) are made out of stainless steel and can be cleaned and sterilized in the autoclave.

Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is a blood borne disease which is transfered by contaminated blood. If blood and tissue from previous customers is transferred to you by a piecing gun, you run the risk of contracting it. Hep C attacks your liver, creating scar tissue in it and eventually liver failure. There is no cure for Hep C. It can live on contaminated surfaces for up to 8 days. In piercing, tools need to be sterilized in an autoclave to kill any Hep C virus and surfaces need to be cleaned with hospital grade virucide. These basic precautions are not or can not be followed in most establishments that offer gun piercings.

Infection
There have been cases of serious bacterial infections being spread by piercing guns. Because the guns can not be properly sterilized between uses, bacteria is able to grow and breed on them. These bacteria are easily transfered to the piercing stud in the gun, then on to you. Bacterial infection in the cartilage is especially dangerous because of the lesser blood flow through the cartilage, which means that traditional oral anti-biotic medications are often ineffectual (not enough of the medication gets to the site of the infection). The result can be a complete destruction of the cartilage of the ear, which will require re-constructive surgery to correct.

Piercing Method
Piercing guns take a pointy ear ring (not sharp, just pointy) and force it through the skin.The jewelry tears the skin instead of piercing it. This causes trauma to the tissues and can prolong healing and create scar tissue - those bumps that you often see on piercings. This force is also enough to shatter cartilage if used on the upper ear.

Piercing needles are tri-beveled and laser sharpened. The beveling ensures that the needle pierces the skin instead of tearing it. Laser sharpening - the same method used to sharpen a surgeon's scalpel - ensure that the needle passes through the skin with minimal pressure and pain.

Jewelry Material
The ear rings used in piercing guns are generally made of cheap materials. This is part of why gun piercings are so inexpensive. Even if they offer 14 karat gold ear rings, they are usually only gold plated. Hypo-allergenic ear rings are usually made of cheap metal plated with a higher quality metal, such as gold or stainless steel. Cheap metal often contains nickel which can cause allergic reactions in many people.

Quality body jewelry is made from implant grade steel or titanium. Pyrex is also acceptable for initial jewelry, but can only be used in larger gauge jewelry due to it's relative fragility. Quality jewelry is not plated and will not turn your skin green/black.

Jewelry Style
The ear rings that a piercing gun uses are made of a stud and backing. The backing moves on and off the stud and can easily trap bacteria in the backing itself and between the backing and the stud. Some backings have a plastic ring that presses against the skin. Acrylics can be broken down by the body and release toxins. The jewelry is also generally a standard size which does not account for the variety of the human body. Often the studs will be too short to accommodate the swelling caused by piercing, resulting in either an embedded piercing or the backing falling off and part of the piercing healing over the jewelry.

Quality body jewelry is designed to work with the body and minimize areas for bacteria to live and grow. Quality jewelry should have internal threading (if there is threading) so that the jewelry doesn't tear the tissue when it's inserted or removed. Body jewelry is made in a variety of sizes and lengths, so your piercer can choose a size that is appropriate for you.

Training
Piercing guns are usually found in malls. The people using them have received only minimal training. Often this training is only watching a 2 hour video. Sometimes they will get additional instruction from another minimally trained employee. They have next to no knowledge of anatomy. Rarely will they have first aid or CPR training. They will not have Blood Borne Pathogens certification and will have little, if any, knowledge of cross-contamination.

Body Piercers go through an apprenticeship of at least 1 year. Before they even begin, they need to have First Aid, CPR and Blood Borne Pathogens certification. They will often have taken courses on anatomy, and will be taught piercing specific anatomy during their training. Before they are able to take needle to skin they will learn about cross contamination and spend many, many hours learning how to clean and sterilize needles, jewelry, tools, surfaces and skin.

Aftercare
Piercing gun aftercare usually consists of expensive ear cleaning solution which contains many harsh chemicals. These chemicals will prolong healing and irritate the healing tissue. Customers are also instructed to turn the jewelry in the piercing, which only tears the healing tissues and can actually introduce more bacteria into the wound.

Piercing studios will instruct their clients to use only sea salt soaks for cleaning, which are mild and don't hinder the body's natural ability to heal. Jewelry is not moved, even during cleaning, which results in shorter healing time and less discomfort.

Tags & Keywords : body piercing, aftercare, sea salt soaks, piercing guns