Piercing tools & what to expect
Piercing Needles
One of the most common tools that you’ll see when you go to get pierced are piercing needles. Needles come in multiple sizes and shapes to make piercings easier and less painful so that you can heal more quickly and enjoy your piercing.
Piercing needles are either curved or straight to accommodate different parts of the body and come in different gauges (thicknesses) to produce different sized piercings. Lower gauges are made for larger piercings and higher gauges are used for smaller sized piercings.
-
12g needles – navel, tongue, larger earlobe piercings
-
14g needles – navel, nipple, lip, eyebrow, septum, tongue
-
16g needles – cartilage, lip, eyebrow, septum, earlobe
-
18g needles – nose
Dermal Punch
A dermal punch is a tool like a hole punch that is used for dermal and surface piercings that are located on flat parts of the body and are different than something like an ear piercing. These piercings do not exit the body and are also called single-point piercings.
When a dermal punch is used, a small anchor is embedded in the skin so that a visible dermal top can be screwed into or secured in the anchor to keep the piercing in place. Some examples of piercings that dermal punches are used for include:
-
Facial piercings on the cheek, above or around the eyebrow
-
Hip piercings
-
Chest piercings
-
Nape piercings
-
Piercings that sit in the hollow of your throat
-
Collar bones
Forceps (aka clamps)
Forceps, or clamps, are one of the most common piercing tools because they are used to hold the tissue or body part being pierced during your piercing. Forceps are used to keep the area sterile (no touching!) and to keep your body still while a needle or dermal punch is used to complete your piercing. Most forceps are slotted or have a large enough opening for a piercing needle to pass through and are used for most piercings that are not completed free hand.
Piercing Gun
A piercing gun is a tool used primarily for ear lobe piercing that forces a pre-selected piece of starter jewelry through the lobe to then be secured with an earring back. These are often used in mall-style piercing shops where the only ear piercings are done, and for a lower price than a professional piercer and without an appointment. While piercing guns are frequently used in mall shops, most professional piercers think they are a bad choice when it comes to piercing for several reasons.
-
They use blunt force rather than the precision of a fine needle
-
They are unnecessarily painful and get infected, can cause trauma to tissue
-
Most often used in unregulated shops and stores
-
Use disposable needles that have not been sanitized
-
Are often used by untrained, unprofessional piercers
-
Can touch the skin and pass germs from one person to the next
