BME and other reliable sources make the dangers of being pierced with a 'stud gun' very clear. However, many people continue to go out to shifty places and get pierced with that awful device that launches a relatively blunt, poor quality, stud through your ear or heaven forbid, nose or other body part. The reason why someone would be pierced with an ear piercing gun depends on the individual. Perhaps they think that "those dangers won't happen to me", that piercing guns are perfectly acceptable piercing devices, are strapped for cash and can't afford a proper piercing, or maybe they actually aren't aware of the dangers.
At A Glance Author Michelle Contact Michelle@bme.anon IAM Flutterfly When Five years ago Artist A store employee, not properly educated on piercings Studio Ardene, which shouldn't be considered a studio by anyone. Location Cambridge, Ontario Years ago I feel into that last category. I was a grade 9 student who randomly decided that I wanted a nice little helix stud. Only at the time I just called it "my cartilage", not helix. Specific ear piercings actually had specific names? No way. It was about 5 years ago, but I remember the day quite clearly. I was shopping in the mall with my mother and my Grandfather. While looking at hair accessories in Ardene (what, not Claire's? *gasp*), I saw the infamous sign that advertised cheap ear piercings, with the purchase of aftercare solution. My mother and I inquired as to whether or not they did "cartilage" piercings. Sure enough, they did, with parental permission as I was not 18. If I had been 16 I could have gotten regular lobe piercings by myself, but cartilage was "special" and you needed to be a legal adult. That I was not.
My mom agreed to allow me to have my piercing. No, this experience doesn't mention a kid begging their parent for that piercing that they "just absolutely have to have and can't live without" After paying (probably about $20, or less) and picking out my jewelry ("No, that's not in stock", "No, that's not either") I hopped up into the black chair while shoppers discretely peered at me, while pretending to be interested in the hair clips, necklaces and rings in front of them. The young salesperson put on gloves, cleaned my ears with rubbing alcohol and marked my ear with a pen. I was nervous. After all, I only had one set of lobe piercings, done when I was 8. How was I going to react to this "special" piercing? I was asked if I was ready and I said sure. I heard the loud click and it was done. I thought "Okay, it's all good" and got off of the chair. We left the store and while walking to the food court I turned as white as a ghost and almost passed out. Little did I know that was only the beginning of problems – horrible problems in the future.
When I got back to my Grandparent's house I looked in the mirror at my abused ear. It was red, swollen, there was some blood and I was shocked to see this HUGE, horrible plastic backing on the stud. It wasn't a butterfly back... it was the most disgusting looking thing I've seen, and was revolted to know that it would be visible for the next 6-8 weeks until I could change my jewelry. It was not aesthetically pleasing whatsoever.
I pushed that thought out of my head and followed my aftercare instructions. It wasn't hard, since all I was told was to put on the ear care solution a couple times a day. I found it hurt in the morning. At first I dismissed it as a problem caused by trying to roll over and sleep on it the night before. But then my ear didn't just hurt in the morning. It hurt all the time. It throbbed constantly. Some time later I discovered that the stud was beginning to get pulled through my ear. The back was on way too tight, but I wasn't able to loosen it. My ear was majourly pissed off, as was I.
Eventually the pain became more than I could handle. I knew I had to change the jewelry as soon as possible, but when I tried I was unable to do it. My sister volunteered to remove the stud for me. I sat in the kitchen, with my head on the table. My sister got into position, barely touching the jewelry and it hurt so much. I tried to reassure myself that what we were doing was correct, and that in a couple of minutes I'd have a nice hoop in my ear and things would improve. Nope, didn't happen. My sister had to pull on the backing extremely hard. No luck for a while and then it just came right off. I screamed in pain and felt something rush down my neck. It was blood. At this time I was freaking out, crying and screaming, convinced that the jewelry had actually ripped right through my cartilage. My mom received a frantic phone call at work that afternoon. I wasn't being overdramatic... it hurt that much and there was a considerable amount of blood and pus running down my ear and neck.
The stud was out and here comes the ever-so-expected mention of Claire's. I didn't have proper jewelry and didn't even know what a captive bead ring was. So in went the silver ring from Claire's. My ear calmed down for a while until one morning when I awoke to a huge red bump. I tried to get rid of it for a couple of days, certain that peroxide would do the trick and stupidly decided to switch to a different stud, as opposed to the current ring. One night at midnight I felt sick to my stomach as I looked into the mirror at what my ear had become.
Within a couple of days my mom had gotten sick of my obsessive worries and took me to the ER. I live in a small town and I bet this was the most excitement they'd seen in a while. The ER waiting time was almost non-existent and a doctor came to examine my ear. He pulled on the stud and removed it. He took one look and said "Yup, that's certainly infected" and had a funny look on his face, that to me said "Holy shit, what have you done?". He ordered me to remove the jewelry at once and gave me a prescription for both oral antibiotics and an antibiotic ointment. I was told to go to the pharmacy that night and start them. On the way out he joked that I may be losing an ear piercing, but I should go and get my tongue pierced. I laughed, but I don't believe my mom did. The next 3-4 weeks were spent popping pills 3 times a day, and coating my ear in stinky cream, all while being bitter that I had lost my piercing.
Looking back, I know I was lucky. I should not have removed the piercing with a horrible infection, but assumed that the doctor was always right. The infection could have become trapped. I'm also lucky that I'm not left with a horrible keloid and/or scarring. Fortunately, you can't even tell I had a helix piercing unless I speak of the bad experience and my ear is inspected under good lighting conditions. Only then can you see the tiny white mark.
Years after the ordeal I was watching Life's Little Miracles on TV, (which is filmed at the Hospital for Sick Children, in Toronto) and I was further reminded of how lucky I was. A girl, who had the same name as me, was getting reconstructive surgery on her ear. She had had a helix piercing and her cartilage had become very infected and had to be removed. At the beginning the girl's upper ear had no form because it didn't have the cartilage anymore. Jaw dropped, I watch that whole TV show. I saw her ear cut open, new cartilage being harvested, cut/shaped and put in place. The girl then had gauze and a splint keeping her ear immobilized for weeks while it healed. That day I promised myself I would never get another helix piercing, even if it was done properly at an actual piercing studio with a needle and appropriate jewelry.
Though I will never have a helix piercing I have not been scared off of piercings all together. Years ago I found BME and began doing my research. I became educated on the topic of piercings and the dangers of gun piercings and was told that peroxide is not my friend. I learned what to look for in a studio, and that piercing experience don't always (and shouldn't) end up with a gruesome infection and antibiotics. I went on to have 2 more sets of lobe piercings, my rook, tragus and navel pierced. I'm not done – I will likely continue to add to my 'collection', but a helix will never be a part of that.
It should be more than clear that I do no promote gun piercings. Stud guns are your enemy. They can no be autoclaved as they're plastic and will melt. Due to the fact that they can't be autoclaved, nasty bacteria remains on and in the gun and can be passed from client to client. If the germs don't scare you, there's always the point that the studs aren't appropriate jewelry. They've got a pointed tip, but that's not near sharp enough to go through your ear without casing damage to the surrounding tissue. The gun just blasts it right through your ear. Furthermore, the metal isn't appropriate for new piercings and doesn't account for swelling. Scary stuff. Please, if you'd like a piercing do not go for the cheap method in accessory stores, hair salons, and so on. Go to a real piercing studio and have it done by a professional. You may pay more, but your body will thank you.