A Guide to Piercing with Guns vs Needles
Here at Red Tower, we only pierce with needles. However, it’s not a bad idea to be aware of the differences between the different methods of piercing.
What is a piercing gun?
There are several different types of piercings guns out there. They all operate on a similar principle, though some will try to claim that they are not guns. These include the traditional style of piercing guns, which are spring loaded and activated by pulling on a trigger like device. Next up are the stapler style of gun, which needs to be squeezed together to perform the piercing and finally the sort of thing that you will find used in places like Superdrug in the UK. They are advertised as NOT being guns, which is rather disingenuous, as they are essentially the stapler form of gun but with an added handle. They are reusable.
Of these, the basic single use stapler is the most hygienic as it arrives sterile and pre loaded with jewellery. After use it is thrown away. The reusable guns cannot be sterilised in an autoclave, so there will always remain chance for infection and the spreading of infections diseases, including hepatitis and HIV/AIDS.
All of the guns work by forcing a stud through whatever is being pierced. Due to the fact that the same stud that is making the piercing will also be worn throughout the healing process, the studs by their nature cannot be razor sharp - if they were they would cause a whole host of further injuries every time they got slept on or banged. Imagine lying down and the stud piercing through the side of your head!
As the studs are not as sharp, or as tapered, as a traditional piercing needle, they rely on blunt force to create the hole. This means that rather than slicing cleanly through the flesh, they are tearing a hole and creating a ragged wound. Clean wounds will always heal faster - ragged wounds have a larger area to the damaged flesh and so will always take longer to heal
In all cases, a longer healing time and blunt force trauma caused by the gun piercing will make the following months a bit of a misery and very often the piercings will never quite heal properly - constant weeping from the hole, lasting for many years, is normal and expected with a gun piercing. Things get even worse when it comes to cartilage. The act of forcing a stud through can, in some circumstances, lead to the cartilage shattering. This will, at minimum, forever change the texture of the ear - it will lead to the cartilaginous part of the ear to feel like soft haribo, at worst it can cause cauliflower ear.
Piercing Needles
Piercing needles, on the other hand, are razor sharp - I’d be happy to bang my finger against a stud as used in a gun, if I were to do so with a piercing needle I would impale my finger upon it. So I won't be doing that. Rather than tear through the skin, they slice a hole of the correct size for the jewellery to pass through. This clean wound will heal as quickly as any wound ever can and due to the much lower amount of pressure required, will cause no blunt for trauma to the area. Most reputable piercers will then insert a flat backed stud, which will be a lot more comfortable to wear through the healing period. Needless to say, needles are also single use and sterile - manufactured out of surgical quality metals.
The other benefit is that needles are far easier to aim - a mark is made, and the needle is pushed straight through the mark. An experienced professional will have complete control over the angle of position that the needle will go through. Guns are a bit trickier - the stud can end up taking some very strange angles and hitting the exact mark is as much about luck as judgement. This is due to the way that the gun will deform the ear as it passes through.
But guns are fast, aren’t they?
Many people make the assumption that guns are an ideal way to get a piercing due to the perception of the speed with which the piercing is completed, ignoring many of the more problematic issues that can arise from their use. However, in the hands of a trained professional the use of a needle isn't much slower - it will lead to a better healing experience and much less pain overall than would ever be achievable with a gun piercing, for the reasons already mentioned.
There is also the issue of training to consider - most professional piercers have had to undergo multiple months or years of apprenticeship in order to learn about how to pierce and all of the problems that can rear their heads. A lot of places that use guns, the people performing the service have had training that can be measured in single digit hours, if that.
If you would like to book in for a piercing, please go to https://redtowertattoos.com/piercings to make an online booking
