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. However, more modern designs of reusable piercing gun have addressed this problem by the use of self-contained disposable cartridges. Unfortunately there are still the issues of blunt force trauma to the skin and the inability for the guns and gun studs to be autoclaved and are therefore not completely sterile. Gun studs are also inadequate because they are all one length and so those with fleshier lobes are more likely to find that the jewellery will embed when the piercing swells. There is also the issue with piercing guns that the environment in which the piercing takes place in is a shop window where other people are allowed to stand near and this is very unhygienic whereas in a good piercing studio all of the surrounding surfaces are able to be cleaned properly.
Gun studs are also inadequate because it is likely that the coating on the gun stud will come off and expose the nickel underneath which many people are allergic to. There is also the problem that even if the stud itself does not create an allergic reaction it is likely that the butterfly back will.
These butterfly backs also trap dirt and bacteria and increase the chances of infection.
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The most common design 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 kt. gold plated steel, 14 kt. 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.
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 (eg in Scotland) or implied by Health And Safety legislation. The image shows a White Disposable Cartridge System, loaded with a with a blue cartridge and a gold stud.
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.
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!, 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?. However, some supporters of the use of piercing guns point out that professional body piercers have a vested interest in attempts to discredit piercing guns, as they are in direct competition with establishments using guns, but charge prices per piercing that are higher in cost. However, this is because of the lengthy training and effort that goes in to learning how to pierce properly, the use of good quality jewellery and equipment and the maintenance of a very clean studio.
Most piercing guns are impossible to autoclave, because they are made of plastic which would melt under the high temperature.
These 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. A post to BMEzine titled Gun Piercing shows graphic photos of a severe infection of the ear cartilage after piercing it with a piercing gun, which later required reconstructive surgery.
This is one area where both the body piercing community and supporters of piercing guns do agree, and most responsible manufacturers of piercing guns strongly advise against such use. However, some less reputable users of piercing guns still continue to offer such piercings.
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