Why 'piercing guns' should never be used

CianRyan

Elle Victorine wrote: »

I hate piercing guns.....seriously. My first piercing was done with one...the noise has since put me off ever getting pierced again.

Needles are fine to get pierced with, but if you're squeamish about needles, just close your eyes! (like me, but shhh dont tell)

Rohypnol

I had my lobes done with guns, then I had my top ear one done with a needle and the one below that with a gun. Never had a problem with the top one, the other three piercings all got infected at some point or another. The bottom ear one is closed up now. I intend on getting it done properly at some point in the future.

Hellrazer wrote: »

Mate of mine got his nipples done with a gun a long while back--in Fibbers no less--there was a bloke piercing anyone who wanted it done with no thoughts as to contamination at all.It didnt so much pierce the nipple,more kinda bunched up the tissue behind it and made a right mess of it altogether.

Wow. He's lucky he wasn't a girl. Nipples are actually important there. :l

techguru2k8

i never knew piercing guns were a bad idea - thx for the heads up

VickBack

Tut tut... Tragus with a gun....

Raze_them_all

VickBack wrote: »

Tut tut... Tragus with a gun....

Blood looks very fake

VickBack

No hand on heart it is actually real!!

Its the camera I have... It makes everything red look pink!!

Raze_them_all

hmmm ok...but even pattern at the bottom looks weird!!!
anyway
guns are evil

VickBack

Its true... Never again!!

capedcrustacian

had my nose pierced with the gun once, and it stuck, which was nice...:(

Lilliput69

The first time i had my ear lobes peirced was in 1977 and it was done with a needle and my Ma holding my hand, i was 5 yrs old, second earrings i was 9 and a gun, third 12 with a gun in the local video shop, fourth 14 in Georges st arcade with gun, nose at 17 with a gun and it put a back on it, nearly killed me, got nose redone at 18 and this time no back on it, got top of ear done with gun when i was 19, it only healed when i found a ring that didn't irritate it, got belly done when i was 30, never healed with the bar, kept getting it caught in bike gear, put in a BCR and never looked back

so all in all i have been fairly lucky

WanderlustQueen

I remember getting my lugs pierced when I was about 9 years old in a hairdressers, and i can still rememeber how sore it was for ages after...but that may be because my parents thought they should change the earrings after about a week.

And when I was about 15, I got my nose pierced by a gun in that awful place in Geroge's Arcade, £3.50 it cost me. It was an earring through my nose, and yes it even had one of those earring backs. A few weeks later a massive...thing...I thought of it as a tumour, started growing on the inside of my nose, and the stud went right through it. It got so big it started to block up my nose...GROSS!!! After I took it out and put some sea water on it it was fine...About a year ago I got my nose done properly with a needle, and it was about a hundred times more traumatic than the gun piercing! Blood everywhere and shaking hands and all that, but so far has been infinitely better than that feckin gun piercing!

And I had my ears done a few years ago with a gun, no problems at all so far. The girl even said 'ok, I'll pierce it on 5 ok? 1....2.....BANG!' so i wouldn't squirm!

elainepie

about 6 or 7 years ago i got my BELLYBUTTON pierced with a gun!! in the George's St arcade!! I didn't know any better. Luckily enough it was ok, and never got infected and i didn't catch anything! I never knew they were so dangerous though!

goodladdy

first post in body mods so hi all

was lookin through this thread and seen all the horror stories about piercings and guns and said thankfully i never got any done with guns but i got my tongue done in that li'l shop in d square 6 yrs ago and she done it with a needle but its far too far back (so nearly unuseable) and off centre to make it worse!!

just writin this and my gf tells me d same place done her belly button with a gun!

i couldn't understand why it got so infected at the time but i do now! all healed up tho with a lot of care by myself!!

WornPandora

1st Piercing; Lobes; Gun; aged 10
These got infected and scarred up a little, so I let them close up.

2nd Piercing; Lobes; Gun; aged 13*
Took ages to heal, but seemed to be ok other than for a little bit more scarring.

3rd Piercing; Lobes; Gun; aged 14*
Infection. Spread to the other piercings. I had to let all 4 holes close and was left with very bad scarring (to recently quote my current piercer, "Its the worst I've ever seen [after 15 years of piercing], and I've seen a lot. There's more scar tissue than lobe.")

*Both of these were done in Claire's. Scary, huh?

4th Piercing; Nose; Gun; Aged 21
I've been lucky with this one. Noses heal faster than most other piercings so it was easier to keep clean while it healed. It was only after I had this done that I found out the dangers of the gun. Can't remember the name of the place but it was in England.

5th Piercing; Lobes; Needle; aged 22
Paddy** had to pierce around the scar tissue, but it worked. I've had no infections but because of the state my lobes were in, they've taken a very long time to heal.

6th Piercing; Conch; Needle; aged 23
Different piercer, China***, a lot more professional and careful than Paddy. I had asked him to pierce my lobes for the 2nd, but he had to think about whether or not it was wise. So instead he pierced my conch. I've had the least trouble with this one so far, though it was done just a month ago and it takes up to 6 months to heal.

7th Piercing; Lobes 2nd; Needle; aged 23
I went back to China a week later and he said he would pierce my lobes, using titanium barbells instead of stainless steel, and making sure they were a little bit longer than usual too to cope with my scars and the swelling. He also said he wouldn't pierce me again until all three of my 'healing' piercings had healed. (3 weeks ago)

...

8th Piercing; Tragus; Needle; aged 23
So, I went back to Paddy and he pierced my tragus. Sshh, don't tell China! So far so good. I will say though that this one hurt more than the others, but I know it was because I went in totally relaxed and had zero adrenalin running through me, and I was very tired. It really did hurt a lot though, and Paddy actually apologised. Oops! (2 days ago)


Bottom line, stay away from the gun! It messed up my ears so badly that I had to wait until I was 23 to get them repierced with a needle, and even then it was a tough thing to get done. DON'T go to places like Claire's, jewellery shops or chemists, because they WILL use a gun. If you're getting pierced, go to a piercing studio. My two favourites - and very much trusted - are listed below.


** Paddy is of Body Shock, in Temple Bar in Dublin. He's great for his weekly specials (every week is a different piercing for €25 including stainless steel jewellery - this week was the tragus. That's why I got it done!) and he's very friendly, too.
*** China is in Ring In Ma Thing, on Carlisle Road in Derry. He's my favourite. Very professional and really goes into detail on aftercare and what to expect, every time you see him, and his place is so clean its impressive.
These two places are probably not the ONLY places in Derry and Dublin that are safe, but you can take my word that they are definitely 100% safe and sterile.

Gun: 6 FAILED holes, 1 success.
Needle: 7 SUCCESSES, no fails.

unknown13

marti101 wrote: »

I know a girl got her tongue pierced in Georges aArcade with a gun.In the end she had to take it out with a scissors,

That should be classed as GBH.

PinkTulips

i had my ears done at 5 with a gun, then 2nd holes at 14 with a gun, then cartilage and [eek] nose at 16 with guns.

but once i experianced the differance with needle piercings (or for ears good old showing a nice sharp sterile stud through myself) i'd never let a gun near me again, and certainly wouldn't let my daughter have her ears done with one.

i suffered years of infections with my ears, my daughter has had hers over a year and never had a spot of bother yet.

aoife2k

popecatapetal wrote: »

I remember being put off getting my lobes pierced for YEARS when I was small because I had watched my aunt dig a stud out of my cousin's lobie with a pair of tweezers. The stud was ridiculously tiny and was completely swallowed by the swelling, to the point where the ear had begun to grow over the front of it. Yeah, guns = bad...

Same thing happned me, had to go to the docs to get it removed (I was 13/14 I think).... Since that I can't wear ear jewellry at all. And even more recently (2 weeks ago) I was bridesmaid for my best friend. I knew she wanted us to wear ear-rings and I was ****tin it that if i wore mine that my ear would go all mental. I woke up on the morning of the wedding with a swollen lump in my ear (i hadn't tried the ear-rings) which went on to pop the next day. They must have known something ha ha!

I'm more into my tattoos now because of what happened with my ears, I'm **** scared to even try any other body piercings. Havin the hassle with my ear is bad enough never mind it happening anywhere else! Bad guns, bad baaaad guns!

Novella

I had both my tragus and my belly button pierced with a gun! :pac: Guess where that took place?!

dearg lady

Guns were a means to an end once upon a time, when I was a kid it was a gun or nothing. I used often get an extra hole in my ear when i was in town on a Saturday afternoon with mates, just pop in the jewellers, they wouldn't even ring my parents! Had a stud too tight and swell up and envelop the jewellery too, agh, the pain! I didn't realise it was so common til I read this thread!
When I got my eyebrow pierced my ma insisted I go to a proper piercing studio( the only one in Dublin at the time!) and I'm glad I did. No way I'd let anyone near me with a gun now!

hdowney

WornPandora wrote: »

2nd Piercing; Lobes; Gun; aged 13*
Took ages to heal, but seemed to be ok other than for a little bit more scarring.

3rd Piercing; Lobes; Gun; aged 14*
Infection. Spread to the other piercings. I had to let all 4 holes close and was left with very bad scarring (to recently quote my current piercer, "Its the worst I've ever seen [after 15 years of piercing], and I've seen a lot. There's more scar tissue than lobe.")

*Both of these were done in Claire's. Scary, huh?

i know my first lobe piercing was when i was four, honestly couldn't tell you what they were done with but probably was a gun, far as i know there were always fine. but got my second set of lobe piercings in claire's when i was like 16. well they were hella painful all the time. and i worked on d checkout in tesco then and one day, mid scanning somebody's shopping i heard a pop, and my right ear had just like burst round the piercing and there was blood everywhere! had to take them out and let them close up. would love to get them repierced professionally but not sure if the scar tissue will let me.

WornPandora

hdowney wrote: »

i know my first lobe piercing was when i was four, honestly couldn't tell you what they were done with but probably was a gun, far as i know there were always fine. but got my second set of lobe piercings in claire's when i was like 16. well they were hella painful all the time. and i worked on d checkout in tesco then and one day, mid scanning somebody's shopping i heard a pop, and my right ear had just like burst round the piercing and there was blood everywhere! had to take them out and let them close up. would love to get them repierced professionally but not sure if the scar tissue will let me.

I got my very scarred lobes repierced without much trouble. A good piercer will know how to deal with it. It will hurt more though.

hdowney

Well here's hoping then. I always wanted to get them redone (has been nearly ten years now since that incident) but I was worried. I can certainly imagine it will hurt more. Had an operation on my eye twice. First time not a bother. Second time I had to turn left every time I wanted to move so as not to jog my eye as they had had to cut through scar tissue from the original op and it hurt like hell. Think I mite brave the piercing tho

Pierced Off

Find yourself a piercer who's used to needling lobes and you'll be fine. Don't assume because they can pierce lips, eyebrows etc that they will be fine on lobes either. The lobe is a totally different part to pierce.

WornPandora

hdowney wrote: »

Well here's hoping then. I always wanted to get them redone (has been nearly ten years now since that incident) but I was worried. I can certainly imagine it will hurt more. Had an operation on my eye twice. First time not a bother. Second time I had to turn left every time I wanted to move so as not to jog my eye as they had had to cut through scar tissue from the original op and it hurt like hell. Think I mite brave the piercing tho

do. You won't regret it. Just make sure they use needles this time! If you're in Dublin head to Body Shock. That's my usual (yep, after braving the scarred lobes being repierced, I now have 13 piercings) and they're really good in there. I've heard good things about some other places too but that's the one I know.
And GOOD LUCK!

WornPandora

Novella wrote: »

I had both my tragus and my belly button pierced with a gun! :pac: Guess where that took place?!

Not George's Arcade, surely?! :eek:
:rolleyes:

Ms. Koi

I had my ears done when I was 7 somewhere in Dublin, could not tell you where. After a few weeks, the swelling was unbearable, even though I was doing the typical turning them and cleaning around it. Got a huge abcess on the back of my right ear and the scarring is still there. I'll never forget the pain of it!
Got second piercing done in the chemist where I live, was fine for a while but got infected as well. Can't wear earrings for any long length of time because they swell and get sore.
Third piercing done but infection was too bad and had to let them close up.
All three were done with a gun.
Got top of my ear (not sure what its called) done with a gun as well, infection as usual but cleared up once I put a ring through it. Still leave the same ring in, just clean it every now and then. It's fine now!
Got my belly button done in Metal Morphosis with a needle, usual, fine for a while, then infection. Had to take piercing out to clean the absess and then missed the whole and pierced it myself (by accident)...the pain!!! Had to take it out for surgery recently and just never put it back in!
Got my tragus done with a needle, but the entire side of my face swelled up and the pain was unbearable. Had to take it out.

I've given up on piercings! My body just simply rejects them!

hdowney

kellief wrote: »

I had my ears done when I was 7 somewhere in Dublin, could not tell you where. After a few weeks, the swelling was unbearable, even though I was doing the typical turning them and cleaning around it. Got a huge abcess on the back of my right ear and the scarring is still there. I'll never forget the pain of it!
Got second piercing done in the chemist where I live, was fine for a while but got infected as well. Can't wear earrings for any long length of time because they swell and get sore.
Third piercing done but infection was too bad and had to let them close up.
All three were done with a gun.
Got top of my ear (not sure what its called) done with a gun as well, infection as usual but cleared up once I put a ring through it. Still leave the same ring in, just clean it every now and then. It's fine now!
Got my belly button done in Metal Morphosis with a needle, usual, fine for a while, then infection. Had to take piercing out to clean the absess and then missed the whole and pierced it myself (by accident)...the pain!!! Had to take it out for surgery recently and just never put it back in!
Got my tragus done with a needle, but the entire side of my face swelled up and the pain was unbearable. Had to take it out.

I've given up on piercings! My body just simply rejects them!

Ignoring the gun piercings which are obviously a bad idea, I would say ur body is reacting to the metal of the jewellery. Perhaps go into a reputable piercer and discuss with them if you still want a piercing.

Pierced Off

It does sound very much like a metal allergy. Usually it is just nickle that people are allergic to. That would explain the ear studs, most places don't bother checking whether they're nickle free, in fact most of the places that use guns don't even know there is such thing as a nickle allergy. I can't comment on what jewellery Metal Morphis was using to pierce with. I know that some, seemingly quiet reputable, city centre studios do use surgical steel for initial pierceings, although I have never heard of Metal Morphis doing this. Therefor if they are using titanium then you have a serious metal allergy. This is found in around .5% of people. If you do have a metal allergy then Bioplast or Polytetraflouroethylene (ptfe) can be used for initial piercings and have been found to be hypoallergenic.

hdowney

I think when I had my eyebrow and Tongue done in metamorphosis they were both surgical steel - I had no problems. And on their website u can also buy coated titanium jewellery as well as the surgical steel. But whatever your allergies here's hoping you can sort your piercing problems.

xxshebeexx

I got my lobes pierced when I was 10, in a jeweller's with a gun, and again at 13 in the same jewellers (I let them close up after I lost my favourite earrings!). No infections, but I remember being in terrible pain for days afterwards. I got my lobes pierced a second time with a gun in America last year at 21, in a jeweller's stand in the middle of a shopping mall (yeah, I know) and there wasn't even a pinch.

I'd love to get my lobes done a third time but don't want to go down the jeweller's route again. I'm worried, though, that if I go to a piercing studio, they'd laugh me out of the place just wanting a lobe piercing - I always imagine noses and belly buttons and exotic piercings when I think of proper studios! Where, in Dublin, would I not be laughed at? (Am I being paranoid??) Thanks!