In the beginning, there was a lot of confusion amongst our clients over why we boxed up our seemingly effective point and click device in favour of a perceptually more painful or harmful piercing implement, the needle. Sometimes referred to as a blade by professionals, it's the primary tool of the trade and is used for almost every piercing. To clarify, I'm talking about hollow tri-bevelled medical grade needles specifically. Not your granny's sewing needle!
The decision to rid our studio of the piercing gun was inspired by a visit to an annual conference hosted by the United Kingdoms piercing association. While I was there a lot of information was revealed about this particular topic that made the choice feel obvious. Rather than regurgitate that information, I'll leave a link below for anyone wishing to educate themselves in order to respect the heroes that put the research together. At the end of the day the aim is to provide a consistently safe and hygienic service.
Years have passed now and I'm pleased to say that the average person welcomes the change. In fact, I've had scores of new clients arrive at our studio because of it. We pierce ear lobes here from age five and I can honestly say I've never experienced such a relaxed piercing room. I think that's partly due to being able to explain and execute the procedure in a very fluid way which helps curb anxiety. Most people tell me that their piercing wasn't as painful as expected and I agree as I've had both devices used on myself.
Finally, it costs significantly less to pierce you with a gun because it's reusable and a lot of the jewellery that fits onto it can be relatively cheap to buy wholesale. On the other hand, needles are disposable and require Environmental Health approval in order to use in the UK. Studios that use medical grade titanium jewellery that's internally threaded have to spend a little more to achieve that standard. We want your piercings to heal and the results speak for themselves. I can't remember the last time someone came to me with a problem regarding their ear lobe piercing.
