Needle or Gun? There is a Choice

by Michele Ho

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When you look at people on the street today, you will notice that almost everyone has their ears pierced and some on other body parts in order to put on jewelry which they think will make them look good. It has become a trend in today’s world where this painful action becomes a pleasure to them or even a desire to look trendy and “cool”.  However, how are the piercings done? Does everyone know that there is a choice in the method used to do their piercings? Which is more hygienic, safer, or even better?

It is believed that body piercing is something familiar to everyone in today’s modern world. Over the years, it is an on-going as well as a common topic to talk about by the youngsters about which part of the body should they pierce, but there are very little people who will talk about the different ways of doing the piercing. It is seldom discussed whether using gun or needle will be more hygienic and effective maybe because most people are oblivious about the choice they have, or they just simply do not want to take notice of it as gun piercing has always been known as the most common choice.

Born in the world of advanced technology, teenagers today are used to the gun piercing method because that is what they can access easily. Most of them will only know about needle piercing when they reach adulthood, but some will not even notice if they had not read this piece. Nonetheless, even after acknowledging the existence of needle piercing, most of them still prefer using gun piercing because to some teenagers, needle piercing is not convincing enough, and it is difficult to access.

“I understand that needle piercing only uses ice or even some natural ingredients to anesthetize and the process of needle piercing is slow which makes it look more painful,” said Esther Khoo Wai Mun, a secondary school student.

“It does not look convincing to me,” she said.

Lee Jia Yee, a student from University Tunku Abdul Rahman gave a similar opinion to Esther’s by saying. “I think gun piercing is more accurate, less painful, and safer. The world that we are living in today is improving, why should we still use the old-fashioned method that does not give any guarantees?”

“Well, you can pierce anywhere you like by using gun piercing,” she continued.

However, not many people notice the difference between needle piercing and gun piercing and how needle piercing can be a better choice. Needle piercings are usually done by professionals who know how to handle the needles properly. It is known that the needles used for the piercing are usually sharp and hollow and with this, the process of piercing is usually quick and not painful. After the hole is made by the needles, jewelry can be inserted into it. Additionally, it is cleaner because the needles can be sterilized after usage and normally the same needles will not be used on the same person. This can eventually prevent any hygienic problems from arousing in the future.

On the other hand, the well-known gun piercing is a reusable and easy method. The only thing that the gunners have to do when doing the piercing is to insert the stud of the jewelry correctly and pierce into the customer’s desired place accurately. The pain will only come a few minutes after because the needle in the gun might not be as sharp as the other needles and when it pierces through our skin, it actually tears our skin with an immediate force which eventually creates damage on the skin.

This method is not hygienic in the sense that the needle inside the gun cannot be cleaned thoroughly. The blood of the previous user might still be there and when it is used again, the next person might get infected by an unknown disease. However, it is still highly recommended by the people today because it can be easily accessed and with proper care, the risk can still be lowered down.

Thien Tze Hui, a post-graduate from University of Science Malaysia who is currently doing a research on the effects of piercings commented that, “the inflammation occurred after piercings are usually due to the tight space between the earring and our skin. Those who got their piercings were usually advised to clean it after their piercing and move their newly pierced earrings in circular motion in order to loosen up the hole. This will lower down the risk of getting inflammation.”

However, according to Wong Kang Ling, a sophomore from University Malaysia Sabah, she only gets to know needle piercing method from her grandmother, Choo Ngean Thye, who did needle piercing at her jewelry store in Ipoh before she retired last year. “My grandmother’s piercing never had infections, and it lasted until now even though sometimes she does not put in any studs.”

“All my eight piercings were done using needle method and I do not feel any pain at all,” she says. “Surprisingly, my friends do not know anything about this method when I told them as they do their piercings only by gun piercing.”

“Before I retired, I have encountered many customers who were surprised to find out that they have a choice between using needle or gun piercing. They didn’t know there’s another method which is better besides using gun piercing which has higher risk in getting infections,” says Choo Ngean Thye.

“The needles that I used were usually sterilized before using it on another customer. If we have enough needles, we will not reuse the needles,” she says. “Even though we provide needle piercing, we do not really promote it because the mindset of the youngsters now think that gun piercing is a better trend and needle piercing is considered old-fashioned. As I am getting older, gun piercing becomes more convenient and all my workers can handle it well. Therefore, I think this is one of the reasons why not much people aware of this method.”

“It also uses natural ingredient such as ginger to anesthetize the customer which makes it safer to use compared to gun piercing which uses chemical products. Chemical products can sometimes irritate sensitive skins,” said Quenly Tong, a friend of Wong Kang Ling who used needle piercing.

Therefore, needle piercing is indeed considered a traditional way to pierce human’s body parts in the past but when gun piercing is introduced, it has shadowed the benefits and the acknowledgement of needle piercing. Needle piercing is rather difficult but not impossible to be found these days. The difficulty in finding needle piercing and the lack of awareness towards this method in the public had indirectly made this method gradually forgotten by the people especially the younger generation who know nothing about it even though it is a safer and more hygienic method as compared to gun piercing. Hence, we all actually have a choice on whether to risk ourselves by using gun piercing which is risky but convenient or to use needle piercing which is safer but difficult to access.