Consider this...
Are you getting poked in the head or neck by your earrings while you're sleeping?
Is your cartilage piercing always sore even though you've had it for years?
Are your piercing channels green or black when you remove your jewelry?
Do you have a bar hanging out of your nostril looking like a straight up booger?
If you find yourself somewhere, being offered anything similar to the red flag in these images, know that you are not where you should be!
At this point in time there is no excuse for places offering these styles, they do not meet industry standards, which mean they are not safe for long term wear, and they certainly aren't safe for fresh or healing piercings!
If you're sporting something like these 🚩 there is far better out there for you, and it will 100% change your perspective on jewelry and your ability to heal piercings drastically.
Allow the jewelry to speak for itself.
Say NO to Piercing Guns
There is no shaming here, just facts!
Maybe you truly didn't know this, and you can now use this information to help someone in the future.
This is something that is always on my mind as someone who pierces precious little ones every day.
I get tagged in many posts with recommendations all the time, which is literally so incredible!
I see those of you out there who are quick to recommend me. I appreciate you all so much for the support, you could never imagine what it means to me, and my business, and how much it fills my heart.
Sadly, in those threads there tends to be at least one person who says, " I took -insert child's name- to Claires, no issues." I try not to read through these posts because of the anxiety this one comment can bring me.
It's always that comment that sticks in my head because I can't help but think if this person understood what exactly they were putting their child at risk for, I don't think they would be admitting that so confidently.
I had a wonderful client reach out, asking about the differences of being pierced with a needle vs. a gun.
I of course could go on about this because I truly care about how my clients heal and how things turn out for them in the long run, so I figured why not share this information with everyone, I'll add more as the thoughts come to me.
Piercing with a sterile, single use, piercing needle is the only safe way to perform a piercing.
No professional would ever use a piercing gun due to the health risks and damage to the tissue they cause.
She asked if the needle stays in for a long time, or if I have to reverse the needle back through to install the jewelry.
I use a tool called an insertion pin, it immediately follows the needle out directly and then the flat back jewelry connects to the insertion pin creating a very smooth, and fast transfer.
Why shouldn't you allow someone to pierce your child's ears with a gun?
Piercing guns are plastic, meaning they aren't sterile.
These would quite literally melt in an autoclave, so right off the bat, they are using a non sterile device, some places even reuse these devices after simply wiping them down with the equivalent of a Clorox wipe- if you're lucky...
They use blunt force trauma to ram a dull earring through the tissue which causes scar tissue, making no actual space for the jewelry, causing the body to fight the jewelry like a foreign object.
This is why many people have to search around a little, poking and prodding to get their earring in because what should be a healthy piercing fistula is just a lump of scar tissue.
Using non sterile equipment is incredibly dangerous, piercing guns are known for spreading bacteria leading to staph and MRSA infections, and in worse cases can spread blood borne pathogens such as Hepatitis B and HIV, these corporations using piercing guns are completely unregulated, meaning the people using them don't need any training, they aren't even required to have blood borne pathogen training the way piercers do.
This lack of regulation is where " I took my 2 month old to Claire's and they didn't ask for a birth certificate" strikes my soul, that sentence leaving your mouth should click instantly as an extreme red flag.
They don't even care who's kid you're bringing to them.
They don't have any of the legal requirements that I as a professional piercer do, because of the fact that they aren't using needles, it's essentially a loophole.
The only reason these places still exist is because of the money these corporations bring in, they are entirely unbothered by public health.
None of this even touches on how low quality the jewelry is, jewelry used in a piercing gun is improperly sized for swelling and wound stability, the backs are sharp, the ends that hold the earrings on also have sharp edges and loops that harbor all kinds of bacteria, and because they are not properly sized for swelling they often become embedded in the ear, needing surgical intervention.
The jewelry is made of metal that is not bio-compatable meaning it breaks down inside the body over time, exposing you to harmful alloys, causing metal allergy, tarnish in your ear, possible argyria, which is the permanent discoloration of the skin etc.
A true, and sad fact is that even piercing studios still use low quality jewelry these days, and pediatrician will offer infant piercings with the same tools and inappropriate jewelry, & naturally, you think, its a doctor! It must be safe!
No, the medical field and the piercing industry is vastly different. They are not trained to pierce.
I've heard horror stories of doctors cutting open ears and destroying quality jewelry to remove a swollen piercings in cases where I could have effortlessly removed without excessive damage to the tissue...
so it's so important to do your research regardless of where you decide to go.
Another problem with piercing guns is that there is zero planning of placement or wound control so these "piercings" come out angled very harshly and are usually placed absurdly uneven leaving little ones with very bad placement which only becomes more apparent as they grow.
It's unfortunate that kids are typically the victims of this because of the false advertising these corporations use to manipulate people.
It's understandable that there was a time that this knowledge was not wide spread, and you couldn't bring your kiddos into piercing studios as minors, but times change!
As we learn, we evolve
Know better, do better!
For those of you that stayed for the whole post.
Thank you
If this felt familiar to anyone...
If you're struggling with a piercing...
If you have questions,
I'm here for you!