This is an article, and not an experience, per se, although it could be considered one. I hope it is of use to you and BME. :)--
At A Glance Author Violet. Location Rhode Island INTRO I recently learned how to pierce. This is because I work at a mall, in one of those stores that does piercing via piercing gun. All employees are asked to learn how to pierce in a "training seminar", given by a man from the company who manufactures our piercing guns. (Studex, in case you care). So recently, myself and three other employees underwent said seminar. It lasted about an hour and a half, and we spent another hour in a "practice session" that Greg so nobly volunteered his ears for.This is an account of the experience, as best I can recall, and since I knew that I would be writing about it, I paid REAL close attention. . . Keep in mind that this is very close to "stream of consciousness" style writing, and I just wrote stuff as it occured to me, and in the style that it occured to me. I then attempted to edit it into some semblance of order. Jumps in subject matter or rapid transitions are a direct result of this. It'll probably read like I talk. . . meaning there will be a lot of rambling and random interjections. However, it's informative, so enjoy.--
THE EQUIPMENT AND THE PROCEDUREMy first warning about this seminar should've been that the man teaching us wasn't pierced himself. The second should've been that he never once put on a pair of gloves. . .The seminar started with a short overview of the equipment. There are three types of piercing gun, (two common, one less common), and they are all based on a standard design. You've probably seen a piercing gun before, but here's the basic information on one. If were weren't told the name for a part, I simply used a common terminology : - There is the "body" of the gun. This is just the main part of it, and encases the other pieces.
- There is the "trigger" of the gun. This is what you pull in order to drive the jewelry through the ear.
- There is a "holder" of some sort. This piece holds the jewelry, and aligns the post and the backing, so there is no need for the piercer to put the backing on, or to adjust the jewelry.
- There is also some type of "pusher bar". The pressure of this bar pushing on the jewelry forces the post through the ear and into the backing.
- Lastly is the jewelry "cartridge". The individually sealed cartridge contains the (sterlized) jewelry, as well as the jewelry backing. The two common types of guns are both spring loaded. This means that the pressure neccessary for the pusher bar to drive the jewelry through the ear is generated by a spring. One type conceals the spring in the body of the gun itself, and the other has a spring built into the jewelry cartridge. The big difference is that containing the spring in the cartridge costs more per piece. The third type of gun uses hand pressure to push the jewelry through the ear. Obviously, it is less common because it is less reliable and consistent. (We were not "trained" how to use this type of gun.)We were each handed a gun of the first second type to practice with, to get a "feel" for the "equipment". (Note : We were not asked to handle them only while wearing gloves. No mention of gloves were even made until the end of the seminar.) Then, we were handed a "practice ear". This was a piece of thin cardstock, backed with styrofoam, with a b&w photo of an ear on it. Marked out on the ear were common piercing locations. We were told to mark about 1/4" from the bottom of the ear for all piercings, and just inside the ridge of the cartilage. He showed us the marking pens, saying "the cap of this pen is about a 1/4" across", and recommending that we use that as a guide to mark. (Please note that these pens are consistantly reused on people, and that they are plain purple felt-tip markers.) The procedure, therefore, was to look, measure, and mark. Then, to use a mirror to show the markings to the customer, for their approval. (Because, as we were told, "they will have a better idea of what looks good and what they want.")We were also given unsterile "practice" jewelry. We were told that the jewelry provided was not "cheap studs" but rather "typical fashion jewelry" and was designed to be worn "forever". Since he didn't say that they were stainless steel, and given the quality of most "fashion jewelry", I'd suspect that they were steel, but with a high quanitity of nickel. Because of the number of people who are allergic to nickel, I'm surprised this wasn't mentioned. . .Regardless, we each pierced our practice ear. Yay. Simple enough, align it, squeeze the trigger, and there ya go. Our practice on the practice ears stressed the correct way to pull the gun down from the ear, so the jewelry would catch properly, and the cartridge would properly release the stud and backing. We were told by our trainer that if the jewelry failed to catch immediately, or if it failed to release immediately, just to gently wiggle the gun, and tug slightly. He said "it's okay to tug. . . their ear isn't going anywhere." None of us really had a problem with this. (Our "practice session" on Greg later proved that this was more of an issue than we originally thought. . .) Special instructions were made regarding piercing the cartilage. Mainly that a different angle needed to be used, so that way the backing of the stud would not show. (Note that with body jewelry, like CBRs or BBs, this wouldn't be an issue; The backing of the piercing studs are considerably larger and more obtrusive.) We practiced piercing a few times with studs, and then moved onto piercing hoops. A word about the piercing hoops : They are not full hoops. They are a post, with a partial hoop hanging from them. We were instructed to pierce with these just a little bit lower than our typical piercings, just because that way the hoop would curl around the ear, making it *look* like it was a full hoop, even though it wasn't. These instructions were given for the cartilage, too. The other bit of info that was given to us about cartiliage piercing via hoop was to remind customers that if we pierced it with a hoop, they would have to wear hoops in it consistantly. The location would be such that a stud or a barbell wouldn't look proper. However, since the jewelry we were using was "quality fashion jewelry" and most of our customers "probably won't be changing it anyway", we shouldn't consider it a deterrent. . .Our last type of jewelry, which we didn't practice with , but rather, just looked at, were the piercing barbells. Short, (like, 1/2"-3/4", I'm not sure), 16g barbells, with threads, and then a spiked end. Personally, I found them scary. Basically, all I could picture was sending that spike thru someone's cartilage, and then following it with that threading, and basically microscopically ripping apart the inside of the new piercing. (Not that I'm graphic or anything.) Those came with a different type of backing, and ball has to be screwed on approx 24 hours after the piercing is done. But the trainer told us point blank that "most people won't wait that long", but that "once they leave the store. . . we cannot be piercing police."Now that we've learned the equipment, he moves onto other information. He pulls out our waiver booklet. (One side of each page is in English, the other in Spanish! And each page is perforated down the middle, so you can give one side as care instructions to the person you pierced.) He shows us the information that needs to be filled out, emphasizing that it should be filled out completely, including a little box indicating if it is an "earlobe" or a "cartilage" piercing. Reason being, if someone is pierced at our store, but also at another, and it gets infected, they cannot claim we pierced their cartilage if we have written proof that we did not. Most emphasis was placed on the piercing looking good, and covering our asses in case of a lawsuit. He reminds us to always use gloves, but stresses that we needn't put them on "until you have to actually pierce". Because of the way equipment is sealed, it is possible to load the gun with the piercing cartridge with out actual contact with the "sterile" components. In theory. Personally, I'd rather wear gloves. He also opens up a one-time use alcohol pad, (interesting thing to note: no gloves for this part of the procedure, but we "should be wearing gloves" when we use it on the person's ear), and mentions that we should use it to clean the ear. Now he stresses that while we're cleaning their ears, we should gently squeeze to check for keloiding. If there is keloiding, we cannot pierce that part of the ear, since it could become infected and nasty and gross. (Of course, if the keloid is low, and the piercing is higher up, this isn't an issue.)Let me mention also that we were never told WHY we should wear gloves. Yes, the word "sterile" was used a lot, but there was NO information given on the dangers of an unsterile piercing. Granted we were told that it could be infected, but the phrase "blood borne pathogen" was no where to be found. No information at all on the dangers of blood contamination, actually.Basically, what was generally stressed was that everything was "one-time use" and "100% sterile" and that it was highly important to follow procedures, so that way a customer couldn't sue.Finally, we were done with the seminar. Our trainer left us a handful of non-sterile "practice" jewelry, and some more practice ears, along with the piercing manual and a videotape that we could watch in the back room, if we so desired. It was at this point that Greg volunteered his ears for our "practice session". . .Let me tell you something about our practice session : Everything that could've gone wrong, did. Equipment malfunctioned in many surprising ways. Piercings were made crooked. Unsterile jewelry failed to catch onto the backings. (End result? We punched a hole into Greg's ear, without actually putting the jewelry through.) By the end of this, we were cleaning blood up off of the floor, and Greg had tears in his eyes. I actually got to put a piercing barbell thru his upper cartilage, the pain of which made him light-headed for a few minutes. (Like I mentioned before. . . threading tearing microscopic holes into a new puncture wound. . . )Thankfully, Greg forgave us. At least, I think he did. ;)The end result of my "training" is this:
For a long time I have had the stereotypical objection to piercing guns. "They are unneccessarily traumatic for the piercing," I'd say. Or "the jewelry is cheaply made". Or, (this is the best), "they are only marginally sterile". This was all rhetoric repeated from other sources. Now, however, that I have been "trained" as a piercer, I can safely say that all three of those statements are 100% accurate. I can also add another one: "Most piercers trained to pierce with guns are totally inept". --
CONCLUSIONOh, and the afterward to this whole thing, (even though this happened before my "training"), involves my friend Jill. Recently, she went to Black Lotus in North Kingstown to get her cartilage needled. Just a simple hoop in her ear, nothing special, but it wasn't done with a gun. Shortly thereafer, she volunteered to donate blood. They went through the checklist of high-risk activities, and on this list was "body piercing". She was then told that she could give blood only if her new ear piercing was done by gun. Since it was not, she was told she couldn't give blood, as it wasn't as safe or as sterile as a gunned piercing. . . Draw your own conclusions.
Peace out.
Violet.