Piercing Methods

Body piercing literally means making a hole in a
part of the human body with the purpose of wearing
jewelry in the opening created. After a process of
healing, a fistula will be created. This is an
abnormal 'passageway' in your body or skin so that
there's a genuine 'hole'.

Body piercing Methods

* Needle Method (Standard)
The most common method used in the United States
to make a piercing is with a medical hollow needle.
The needle makes an opening in the skin you want
to have pierced but doesn't go all the way through.
The jewelry then is inserted and follows the needle
back. It's necessary to insert the jewelry
immediately to hold the slit the needle made open.
The needle method doesn't involve removing any flesh
(some methods do). The opening is always made with
a needle larger than the initial jewelry to be worn.
This is done to reduce the pressure on the healing
piercing, giving it more room to heal and allow a
fistula to form.

* Piercing Guns
Piercing guns are gun-shaped devices that mechan-i
cally makes the piercing by forcing a stud through
the body part.You can compare it with a stapler.
This method is often used by non-professional piercers
and mostly to pierce holes in the earlobes. You
should avoid this method because the piercing
gun is hard to sterilize. The risk is infection
and transmission of bulletproof pathogens.

* Cannula Method
The cannula method is similar to the standard method.
The difference is that at the end of the needle there's
a cannula (a hollow plastic tube) where the piercer
puts in the jewelry. So at the piercing process, the
cannula and the jewelry is entirely pulled through
the opening. This method is often used in Europe.

* Scalpel method
When you want an opening for a large gauge body
piercing, a medical scalpel can be used to make
a slit. This method is often used for large gauge
ear piercings. It's also used to correct an
asymmetry for example if the ear piercing on one
side is larger than the other because of an
incorrect placement. When you don't want your
piercing anymore and you remove the jewelry,
the fistula will not shrink or close from itself. The
only solution there is surgically.

* Pierce and Taper
This method is for larger gauge piercings and
only works on body parts where the skin is very
elastic. It's similar to the standard method, but
after the hole is pierced with the needle, the
piercer inserts a tapered steel bar (one of larger
gauge then the needle) in order to make the opening
bigger. The jewelry is directly inserted, following
the tapered bar.

* Dermal Punching
Piercings in the upper ear require removal of
skin and cartilage to lift the pressure of the
piercing and guarantee a longer viability of the
piercing. Therefore, a dermal punch is used to
remove a circular area of tissue, where the jewelry
will be worn. Like scalpelled piercings, the healed
fistulas will not shrink or close on their own.