Anonymous wrote:I had asked the same question here and got a recommendation for Bethesda Tattoo. We went there and it was a great experience! No issues at all. I shared the rec with several friends and all have had good experiences as well.

Anonymous wrote:Find a tattoo/piercing place. Seriously. They are the professionals. You want them to use a needle and to pick out good jewelry. The doctors offices use the little earring guns and those are not good.

Anonymous wrote:Would absolutely not let my kid get their ears pierced at the mall or with a piercing gun anywhere. Though many get their ears pierced at Claire's or similar without incident, when I was in HS, a classmate of mine became ill after a mall ear piercing and I've never forgotten it.

And while some mall stores state that they disinfect their tools beforehand, you can't actually sterilize a piercing gun. And this is important because sterilization kills all "viable microorganisms," while disinfection simply "reduces the number of viable microorganisms," according to the Duke University and Medical Center.

"Piercing guns can not be sterilized because they are made of plastic. The plastic would melt in an autoclave, which is what we used to sterilize instruments like needles, jewelry, and any tools we might use during the piercing," says John Joyce, a professional piercer with 18 years of experience and the owner of Scarab Body Arts in Syracuse, New York.

Even if a piercing gun is wiped off with an antiseptic wipe, there's still a risk of spreading diseases (think hepatitis and staph infections) after multiple use, according to the Association of Professional Piercers (APP). And sadly, it's the people most likely to have their piercings done at the mall whose health is the most compromised. "Babies, young children, and others with immature or compromised immune systems may be at higher risk for contracting such infection."

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/beauty/anti-aging/a35208/piercing-guns-bad-dangers/

And while some mall stores state that they disinfect their tools beforehand, you can't actually sterilize a piercing gun. And this is important because sterilization kills all "viable microorganisms," while disinfection simply "reduces the number of viable microorganisms," according to the Duke University and Medical Center.

"Piercing guns can not be sterilized because they are made of plastic. The plastic would melt in an autoclave, which is what we used to sterilize instruments like needles, jewelry, and any tools we might use during the piercing," says John Joyce, a professional piercer with 18 years of experience and the owner of Scarab Body Arts in Syracuse, New York.

Even if a piercing gun is wiped off with an antiseptic wipe, there's still a risk of spreading diseases (think hepatitis and staph infections) after multiple use, according to the Association of Professional Piercers (APP). And sadly, it's the people most likely to have their piercings done at the mall whose health is the most compromised. "Babies, young children, and others with immature or compromised immune systems may be at higher risk for contracting such infection."