11/04/2025
Needle piercing vs gun piercing:
I see a lot of posts regarding this and I think it is important to tell everyone my position on it!
Needle piercing is absolutely the gold standard. There is no question about that, for the following reasons.
It is sharp - very sharp! The piercing is clean, and usually not too painful (although that can be a very individual thing!).
The needles are sterile and single use, so less risk of infection or cross contamination. I will always perform needle piercing when asked, at the same cost.
I do also offer a type of 'gun' piercing. Why?
There are several reasons, but the most important for me being.
it is very quick - particularly if there are two piercers. One click and the lobe is pierced, the jewellery is in, and the back is on - which is, in my experience, an absolute godsend when you are dealing with young children. Children can also often be very frightened by the thought of a needle.
HOWEVER - I do not use the type of 'gun' that is used in places such as Claire's accessories, for all the reasons that you often hear. (i was originally trained in them and did have them, but have converted recently)
Those types of guns are difficult to clean well. I was confident that they were not high risk, because i have very strict cleaning procedures, but it was more difficult than my newer system.
The jewellery can be lower quality, and they were a lot blunter than a needle leading to the concern of 'blunt trauma'.
So what do I use now?
To clarify, I would never - EVER - use a gun for anything other than a lobe piercing. The skin is soft and easy to pierce. My current system uses a completely sterile, single use device, which fits into a handpiece that is very easy to clean. There is no risk of cross contamination. These devices, in my opinion, should never be used for cartilage, or god forbid, noses.
The jewellery is much higher quality, much thinner and much sharper so the 'blunt trauma' is greatly reduced.
There is no 'bang' or 'clunk' from the new device - it is a manual pressure system, which is less frightening for younger children.
The single action piercing is better tolerated than the needle for some, which involves several steps, and you never see bleeding with gun piercing where as it is more common with needle.
As a nurse, with a background in surgery and wound care and healing, I am confident that these systems are more than adequate for lobe piercing - i very, very rarely get anyone have any problems with any of my piercings, and if i do it is almost certainly due to fiddling, touching, twiddling or in some other way not following proper aftercare instructions.
I understand that not everyone agrees with this and that is fine - but for me, to have both options, works very well. I always give all my clients the choice, and particularly those with younger children almost always choose the manual system rather than needle. I always help with any concerns with healing, and am always there for advice and help with concerns that may arise.
I am happy to chat if you want any advice, but as i am well used to handling needles for many of my treatments, not just piercings, please trust that I will never risk something that could be damaging or problematic - we pierced around 150 sets of lobes in 2024, and I had one problem - because the little girl was panicking about them falling out and pushed the backs on so far they caused problems with swelling! I'm always here for you!
