How to Decrease Piercing Gun Trauma

*Disclaimer: I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.*

Now I'm not a professional but I've given myself many piercings over the years from my earlier childhood and now as a sophomore in high school. I've had a lot of time to build up my piercing track record, and trust me — it's lengthy. If you can please, PLEASE, do not get pierced with a piercing gun if possible. I recommend you go to a professional piercing/tattoo parlor. But nonetheless, I know people will do what they want to and I might as will help them decrease the chances of them f**king it up. Coming from someone who did this many times themselves also, despite me knowing the dangers as well. Now with piercing guns they're fast impact and forcefully shove a blunt piece of metal into a meaty piece of skin. Sounds painful right? You are correct! Though, with professional piercing needles they allow to create a "tunnel" that allows the piece of jewelry to travel through, without the blunt force trauma in piercing guns that can cause serious inflammation, scarring, and make a piercing ten times more painful than it needs to be. Which is why piercing guns are extremely fought against by professional piercers, since they cause so much hassle & issues. But to decrease the effects of the piercing gun, keep reading to find out some tips for yourself before you pierce yourself.

1. The Meds You Take Matter (Kinda)

For the first seven days post-piercing, do not take ASA (aspirin) or NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, also known as Ibuprofen/Advil). This is because these medications usually will reduce the dilation of your blood vessels so fewer white blood cells will make it to your piercing, slowing the healing process. But this usually isn't substantial enough unless you have a poor reaction or something is seriously going wrong somewhere in your body. Most people do not require medication after a piercing, but if you are feeling discomfort or pain take acetaminophen (like Tylenol) to manage it instead, just to be safe.

2. Disinfect Everything

Make sure you wash your hands before even touching your jewelry and your piercing gun. Without a designated machine to disinfect the items fully, the items can never be 100% disinfected, so therefore, this will be the best you can get at home. Boil some water and put all tools you will be using in the boiling water to kill all bacteria that may cause an infection. (Try not to let plastic items hit the bottom of the pan/bowl you're using to boil water. Use a steamer platform that the items can rest on.) Then get a paper towel on a ceramic or glass plate (*IMPORTANT*) for the (mostly) disinfected items to rest on. Now take some isopropyl alcohol (at least 75%) and pour some on the ceramic/glass plate to soak the items in alcohol in order to disinfect it further. Take some gloves (I use to steal some from my pediatrician's patient's rooms. But you can just buy some like normal people.) and apply some hand sanitizer to your hands with the gloves on in order to sterilize the gloves. Now you have a sterilized (or as sterilized as you can get) set of tools and jewelry!

3. The Piercing Gun

The piercing gun itself is going to cause blunt force trauma no matter what, but to lessen the "blunt" part maybe even slightly, apply some Vaseline or an alternate lubricant that can be applied to piercings with no side effects (use google here or call your local piercing parlor and ask!) to the tip of the piercing jewelry that will be getting injected into your skin. This is in hopes of lessening the load of the jewelry and helping it "slip" into your skin easier.

4. Choose Your Placement & Go

Decide where you want your piercing with a sterile surgical marker (Like these ones) to mark where you need to pierce. And very importantly, make sure you hold the piercing at the right angle so when you actually push down and the piercing is already in your skin, it doesn't look "off" or wonky. And then BAM. You now have a brand new piercing!

5. Aftercare (Depends on your piercing)

Healing time and aftercare for your specific piercing varies from piercing to piercing. And links to guides for most common piercings will be linked below, and if your piercing isn't listed, take a quick google search and find out the terms for your own personal piercing.

• Helix

• Standard Lobe Piercing

• Upper Lobe

• Nose Piercing

• Tongue

• Nipple

• Septum