NEEDLE OR PIERCING GUN

A piercing gun cannot be sterilized in an autoclave because it contains plastic parts. This means it can only be disinfected, which is by no means sufficient when it comes to piercing, which is essentially creating a fresh wound. During piercing with a gun, tiny particles of blood and tissue can be dispersed onto the device due to the force of the blunt earring being shot into the skin, which can then come into contact with the next client’s piercing. Always make sure the entire device is disposed of after each use.

Bacteria that naturally live on human skin and are harmless, until they come into contact with a wound, can also be transmitted from one person to another via a piercing gun. Keep in mind that bacteria are invisible to the naked eye, so a surface may appear clean even when it isn’t.
Fortunately, in Croatia, diseases such as AIDS and hepatitis are not as widespread as in some other parts of the world, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist or that the risk of transmission should be ignored.

Disinfection is not the same as sterilization! Hygiene standards in piercing studios should be equivalent to those in hospitals (think of a clean hospital, Croatian ones may not be the best example). This means that only autoclave sterilization of tools and jewelry is acceptable.
An autoclave is a device that sterilizes equipment using pressurized steam, at 2 bars of pressure, a temperature of 134°C, and for 30 minutes. Before sterilization, all instruments and/or jewelry must be manually cleaned with disinfectants, then placed in an ultrasonic bath for deep cleaning, and finally sealed in sterilization pouches, which maintain sterility until opened

People who pierce ears in jewelry stores usually haven’t received any proper training related to bloodborne diseases or cross-contamination. They are simply handed the device and start piercing ears because it’s considered “the easiest thing in the world.”
In some jewelry stores, they don’t even wear gloves, which represents an extremely low hygiene standard.
The “training” required to use a piercing gun generally consists of reading the user manual – where to place the earring and which button to press to fire it. You’re “qualified” in under five minutes.

A jeweler will typically explain piercing aftercare something like this:
“Keep turning the earring so it doesn’t stick to your ear, clean it several times a day with alcohol or a strong disinfectant, and after a few weeks, change the jewelry to whatever you like.” Wrong, wrong, and wrong!

Turning jewelry in a fresh piercing irritates the wound, which often leads to swelling, scar tissue growth, or infection, especially since people tend to touch their piercings with unwashed hands or cause cross-contamination (for example, touching something dirty and then touching the piercing).

Applying alcohol or other strong disinfectants to a wound (and a piercing is a wound during the healing period) will also cause irritation around the pierced area. Alcohol is an effective disinfectant when used on intact skin, but when used on a piercing, it leads to irritation and drying of the skin around the jewelry. The skin becomes dry, red, overly sensitive, and painful to the touch. The jewelry can no longer move freely through the channel, as the dry skin tightens around it, meaning that any accidental movement will cause tissue damage, pain, and further irritation.

A piercing is considered fully healed only once the channel has epithelialized, i.e., when new skin has formed inside it. For earlobes, this healing period is around two months, while for cartilage piercings it ranges from 6 to 12 months. Healing times can vary depending on individual immunity and other factors.
Removing and reinserting jewelry prematurely damages the piercing channel and restarts the entire healing process. Since a piercing heals from the outside in, it may appear healed long before it actually is.

Initial “medical” earrings for the ‘piercing gun’ are usually made from non-implant-grade materials, which can trigger allergic reactions in some people.
Jewelry used for an initial piercing should be made from implant-grade titanium (Ti6AL-4V ELI, ASTM F136) or implant-grade steel (316L, ASTM F138, ISO 5832-1).
The clasp on the back of the earring is practically impossible to clean thoroughly and carefully when it comes to a new piercing. Lymph, plasma, and dead skin cells collect in its grooves, creating the perfect environment for bacterial growth. Sleeping with a “butterfly” clasp guarantees nightmares, as the earring will poke you every time you press against it.

Silver and gold are not implant-grade materials!

Bone plates, pacemakers, and other medical implants are not made of gold, they’re made of titanium. Keep that in mind when choosing piercing jewelry that you’ll be wearing inside your skin for several months without removal.

People who use a piercing gun generally don’t ensure that your ears are pierced symmetrically. In most cases, they don’t even mark the piercing spot beforehand so the client can see and approve it.

Everyone’s earlobes are shaped differently, and some anatomies are more challenging for proper and symmetrical placement. For people with very small or narrow earlobes, it’s important to make sure the piercing isn’t placed too low, as over time the hole can stretch (especially from wearing heavy earrings) and may eventually tear.

One of the reasons we don’t pierce earlobes on children under the age of 12 is that their bodies are still developing, meaning their ears won’t be the same shape or size at age 2 as they are at age 12. We often have clients whose ears were pierced in early childhood and who now want to add a few more piercings to their earlobes. This can sometimes be a problem because the original (old) holes were pierced asymmetrically, too low, or too high, making it difficult to create a neat, anatomically aligned row that follows the natural line of the ear.