Ear piercing instrument

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An ear piercing instrument, commonly referred to as an ear piercing gun, is a device designed to pierce earlobes by forcing a sharpened starter earring through the lobe. Even though designed to only pierce earlobes, ear piercing instruments are commonly used to pierce ear cartilage, and sometimes to pierce non-ear body parts. These devices come in both disposable and reusable models that are primarily of two different designs.

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Contents

1 Ear Piercing Instrument Designs
2 Controversy Regarding the Use of Piercing Instruments
3 Advantages Over Traditional Piercing Methods
4 History and Culture
5 See also
6 External links

Ear Piercing Instrument Designs

The traditional design is built around a spring that stores potential energy when the ear piercing instrument is pulled into the cocked position. Pre-sterilized starter earrings of the stud earring design, are typically provided in pairs by the manufacturer in sealed plastic containers. One starter earring is loaded into a receiving tube in the cocked portion of the instrument, 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, and the trigger is squeezed, releasing the spring, and causing the instrument to close with considerable pressure, forcing the sharpened stud earring through the earlobe, engaging it into a friction back. Most disposable models, intended for home use, are variations of the traditional design

The newer design uses a similar concept, however, instead of using potential energy stored in a spring to force the starter earring through the earlobe, energy is provided directly by the operator through a hand grip. This provides an additional level of control. Also, these models usually provide the starter earrings in special capsules that allow the pre-sterilized earrings to be loaded into the instrument without the operator touching them. A wider variety of jewelry shapes and designs are available for newer piercing instruments.

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.

Controversy Regarding the Use of Piercing Instruments

Reusable piercing instruments are difficult or impossibile to sterilize. Also, they are almost always used by persons who have little or no formal training in related health areas such as cross contamination, and may only have minimal training in using the instrument itself. Many of these instruments cannot be autoclaved because some of the components from which they are constructed would be destroyed by the process, and even if autoclavable, almost all businesses where they are used lack autoclaving facilities.

One-time use disposble instruments are made from plastic, and cannot be autoclaved. They are pre-sterilized and come in sealed containers. These models should be discarded after use, and never be reused.

A secondary issue is the amount of trauma caused by the use of piercing instruments. Although the jewelry may appear to be pointed and sharp to the naked eye, in comparison to the surgical needles used by professional body piercers, the initial piercing jewelry used in these instruments is effectively blunt. Brute force is used to drive the jewelry through tissue, causing far more trauma which can lead to extended healing times or scarring. The amount of force required to drive the gun in newer models is tremendous, relative to the ease with which professional piercers penetrate tissue with medical needles. Piercing cartilage with these instruments can also lead to ear collapse or cauliflower ear two potentially disfiguring conditions. Barbell style jewelry used in newer models has external threads that may cause additional trauma, in addition to the trauma caused by use of the instrument itself.

Mechanical failure can occur when operating a piercing instrument. While the new design is possibly less inclined to failure than the older, spring driven, design, mechanical failure can often be incredibly painful, leaving the instrument attached to the ear, or the jewelry may not penetrate the tissue fully, requiring its removal. Staff at the businesses that employ piercing instruments are usually not prepared to deal with these situations. Blood loss from the wound created during the failure can be significant, and massively increase the risk of cross contamination.

The low quality and improper design of jewelry is another reason the body piercing industry shuns these instruments. The standard jewelry for earlobe piercing has been 1/4" studs with "butterfly backs". These studs are often too short to allow for swelling during the healing process, swelling often caused by the additional trauma caused by the use of an ear piercing instrument, or they are shorter than the tissue they are intended to pierce entirely, which causes unneeded pressure on the healing piercing. The "butterfly back" is a natural collector for lymph, blood and bacteria, which can lead to or prolong infection. The quality of the material used in piercing instruments is often of much lower quality than would be used by professional body piercers, with potential for nickel allergy and skin discoloration caused by using improper materials for unhealed piercings.

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 many cases and can lead to abscesses, infection and severe scarring. In many piercings, the narrow gauge of the jewelry used by piercing instruments can lead to tearing and other ongoing trauma that expose the body to infection and cause permanent scarring.

If used at all, ear piercing instruments should only be used for earlobe piercing.

Advantages Over Traditional Piercing Methods

There are two advantages to using a mechanical piercing instrument over professional contemporary body piercing. The low cost of providing the piercing service (most mall shops that do piercing with instruments charge $10 for both ears, including jewelry) relative to the greater cost of professional piercing (piercings can cost $20-$40, not including jewelry) is one advantage. The other advantage is not having to train the employee to the same degree. A piercing instrument can be used with minimal instruction, where an apprentice piercer at a body piercing studio takes a minimum of one year of on the job training, and may be required to take college level courses in anatomy, cross contamination and other health issues.

History and Culture

Ear piercing instruments are of modern design. Until the rise of the professional body piercing industry in the early 1990s, most piercings were performed either with guns, at home or by medical professionals. Before the advent of piercing instruments most piercings were performed with a sharp implement, such as a needle or a blade.

Amongst body modification and body piercing enthusiasts and professionals there is a large bias against the use of mechanical piercing instruments. Body piercers generally operate their businesses to much higher standards of sterilization, and usually have more experience and/or training than the users of piercing instruments. A commonly seen sticker in body piercing circles is a red circle with a line crossing out the silhouette of a piercing gun.

When legal regulation is placed upon the body piercing industry, exemptions are usually made for these devices or the businesses that use them. This may either be the result of a social stigma against body piercing, or due to the lobbying pressures of industry groups.

External links