Two questions
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Friday June 20th, 2008 @ 12:11 AM
Filed under: Piercing
I have a couple questions both regarding piercing relate stuff. So here goes.
1. This is more for my peace of mind than anything else. I have a friend who decided to get a helix piercing in both ears. He requested that the piercing studs be pushed through the cartilage. This brings me unrest because I really don’t have the whole story. He does say that the lady who did it is a professional. However he is 16 years old. I do know that the law out here in Arizona is that to get conventional piercings you have to have parental consent and the parent has to be present. Now, his mom or dad could have given him consent. The lady did recommend the H2Ocean spray for piercings. However, I am having a hard time believing that a professional would accept a request to push the stud through. Should I still be concerned or should I let it go?
2. I am a body art enthusiast and I would really love to see a ban on the piercing gun here in the states. What I’m wondering is how I would go about doing that and if it would be acceptable to get professional artists in on it? If I do decide to get professionals, how would I approach them about this?
It’s nice to see you are concerned for your friend’s well-being. However, my suggestion is to simply let it go. At this point it’s a matter of he-said, she-said in terms of what actually happened. Whatever “damage” is was done, is done. Involving the health department (or appropriate regulatory agency) might be an option, but it would most certainly require your friend to get involved since it was done to him. I doubt your friend is going to want to get involved in that sort of thing.
The best thing you can do is try to educate the rest of your friend on why that sort of thing is inappropriate. You might not be able to get all of them to listen to you, but even one less person have substandard work done is a step in the right direction.
I’m a little afraid I’m going to sound like Captain Pessimist, but when it comes to the ear piercing gun stuff, my suggestion is the same as before…let it go. I don’t mean to downplay the awfulness of ear piercing guns…I’m a huge opponent of them and have been for years and years. Unfortunately, when it comes to getting ear piercing guns banned, as with many things that are regulated/legislated…money talks.
The ear piercing gun manufacturers have their own association/lobby group. They have put their money/influence into play a number of times, in various places throughout the country, during the 12 years I’ve been piercing. I’m not aware of any legislation that has succeeded in completely banning the use of ear piercing guns. Some places have managed to pass regulations that limit their use, but even those still typically allow the use of the gun anywhere on the ear. If you stop to consider that there are probably 1 to 4 places that do ear piercings with ear piercing guns in every mall in America (and that’s just one country), you can see why the ear piercing gun manufacturers put everything they can into fighting regulations that are going to hinder their sales potential.
At one point in my career I considered ear piercing guns the scourge of the earth. While I still think they suck, at this point, I am much more concerned about the 15 other “professional piercer” in my city that are piercing people with 29 cent pieces of jewelry made from who-knows-what kind of metal, imported from overseas…than I am about ear piercing guns.
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6 Responses to “Two questions”
I have to agree with Derek.
Unfortunately the realistic situation is that no government is going to place the kind of regulations on the piercing industry, that we desperately need.
So the ONLY way we can bypass this is just by getting each and every single “client” informed and have them pass the information on.
If you got seriously fucked up (now this can cover a lot but I mean SERIOUSLY fucked up) by a piercer then you should chalk it up as a lesson learned and then advocate to everyone you talk to about mod work, to ONLY seek out the qualified/experienced/reputable artists.
If you got pierced by a piercing gun and then later found out the problems with them, then just advocate that piercing guns shouldn’t be used.
Word of mouth right now is the BEST thing for our businesses, to weed out the quality from the crap. Because when the client-base becomes self-aware/informed over what is ideal and what is not…Then by implementing that, it will increase the standards because of clients being more cautious.
Warren Hiller on June 20th, 2008 at 2:52 amThank you. I think I will let both issues go. As far as the gun goes, I do let anyone thinking of getting their lobes pierced to go to a professional.
trebleheart99 on June 20th, 2008 at 1:59 pmHere in Oregon they’re not allowed to use guns anywhere but the ear lobe. Use on even ear cartilege is prohibited. They can’t be used on any other part of the body, either. It’s a start.
RR on June 20th, 2008 at 5:17 pmRR: In Ontario Canada its Health Board protocol that Piercing Guns are not advised to be used on anywhere other than ear lobes.
Yet places that offer piercings done via piercing guns, are STILL piercing ear cartilage, nose cartilage,etc.
Warren Hiller on June 20th, 2008 at 8:53 pmAnd remember that even if you do try and educate them, sometimes, money still talks. I’ve educated many of my friends about the damages of gun piercings, but still my best friend from college will choose a $7 gun cartilage piercing from the mall than a professional studio because it’s so cheap. This is also despite the fact that he’s lost several of them due to infection. He just goes back and gets more. Hell, my roommate even owned her own piercing gun that she would use on her sister and herself. Some people, despite all you do, just won’t listen.
Sixums on June 21st, 2008 at 4:43 pmWarren: Sorry, I didn’t know anything about Canada’s piercing protocols and how they are followed. Thank you for explaining. I wasn’t meaning to contradict, and am sorry if I came off that way. I know piercing guns are a big problem, period.
RR on June 23rd, 2008 at 9:34 pmThe original question said “Arizona,” and talked about banning guns in the US. I should have clarified better. I was responding this statement: “Some places have managed to pass regulations that limit their use, but even those still typically allow the use of the gun anywhere on the ear. If you stop to consider that there are probably 1 to 4 places that do ear piercings with ear piercing guns in every mall in America (and that’s just one country)”
Each state has different laws here. I meant for the US, Oregon has strict laws about gun use, and has had them for years. The laws are enforced, as well. The mall shops in Oregon are positively paranoid about not getting anywhere near cartilege. I think that is a step in the right direction, generally speaking.
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