A piercing gun

An ear piercing instrument (commonly referred to as a piercing gun or an ear piercing gun) is a device designed to pierce earlobes by driving a pointed starter earring through the lobe. Piercing guns may be reusable or disposable. Piercing guns are typically used in mall jewelry shops.

Piercing guns have been widely criticized as dangerous among professional body piercers. The use of older designs of piercing gun can possibly carry an increased risk of disease transmission, as compared to methods used by professional piercers.[1] Piercing guns have been criticised for causing blunt force trauma to the skin and underlying tissue. Diminished air and blood circulation in tissue compressed by a piercing gun can lead to prolonged healing, minor complications and scarring.[1]

More modern designs of reusable piercing gun use self-contained disposable cartridges, which come sealed and are one-time use only. Modern piercing guns may also use longer and thinner posts, with sharper points, on the earrings used to pierce the ear, as opposed to the short, thicker and blunter posts of most earrings. These newer designs reduce the trauma to the skin and tissue, but still cause more trauma compared to hollow needles used professionally. Modern ear piercing studs are also more likely to be made from materials certified as safe for long-term implant in the human body, such as titanium.[2]

Design and use

An ear being pierced with a piercing gun

Traditional model

The most common design of ear piercing gun uses a spring that stores potential energy when part of the ear piercing instrument is pulled back. Pre-sterilized starter studs and matching friction backs are typically provided in pairs by the piercing gun manufacturer in sealed containers. A starter stud has a point that is designed to penetrate the earlobe when the mechanism is released. Ear piercing instruments are designed to pierce using 20- or 18-gauge earrings, normally made out of surgical steel, 24 karat gold plated steel, 14 karat gold, or titanium.

On the oldest types of piercing gun, one starter stud is manually loaded into a receiving tube, and its matching friction back is loaded into a holder closer to the main part of the instrument. The earlobe is inserted between these two parts of the instrument. When the trigger is squeezed, the spring is released, causing the instrument to close with considerable pressure. The stud is forced through the earlobe, engaging it into the friction back. This model cannot be sterilized.[3]

Disposable cartridge model

A piercing gun employing a disposable cartridge

Some newer models of piercing guns use a disposable cartridge, sometimes called a cassette. With these models, the stud holder and clasp holder are entirely disposable. In some parts of the world, e.g. most of Europe and Australia, this modification is either specifically required (e.g. in Scotland) or implied by Health and Safety legislation.[4]

Hand clasp model

A newer design does not use a spring to force the starter earring through the earlobe; instead, the operator must manually squeeze a hand grip in order to force the stud through the ear. Some of these models work with earrings in capsules, which are loaded into the instrument without the operator touching them. A wider variety of jewelry shapes and designs are available for newer piercing instruments.

Criticism

Piercing guns are widely criticized in the body piercing community. Shannon Larratt, editor and publisher of BME and a vocal critic of the piercing gun, penned an essay titled Piercing guns are blasphemy!,[5] where he described the piercing gun as an inherently flawed, dangerous instrument that should never be used. Larratt also printed T-shirts which featured an image of a piercing gun with a red circle and line through it, to mean No Piercing Guns. BME also published an article titled Do Piercing Guns Suck?.[6]

Use on areas other than the ear lobe

Ear piercing guns are not designed to pierce through the cartilage of the upper ear, or to pierce any part of the body other than the ear lobe. Some U.S. states and some countries in Europe have already banned piercing guns for use on cartilage, including ear cartilage and nostrils. Improper usage of piercing instruments upon areas of the body not intended for their use can lead to additional problems. Jewelry that is too short for the tissue, or inappropriately shaped, especially jewelry used in the mouth, can embed itself into the body, with the wound effectively healing over it. This can require the surgical removal of the jewelry in some cases and can lead to abscesses, infection and severe scarring. In many piercings, the narrow gauge of the jewelry used by piercing guns can lead to tearing and other ongoing trauma that expose the body to infection and cause permanent scarring.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Association of Professional Piercers Procedure Manual" (PDF). p. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-27. Retrieved Jan 9, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Piercing FAQ". SafePiercing.com. Archived from the original on 2012-01-14. Retrieved Jan 9, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Using ear and nose piercing guns". www.health.wa.gov.au. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
  4. ↑ "REGULATION OF SKIN AND BODY PIERCING:ANALYSIS OF WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS TO CONSULTATION: page 5". www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
  5. ↑ Piercing guns are blasphemy!
  6. ↑ Do Piercing Guns Suck?
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