I don't usually post much off-topic stuff, but I am so proud of my sister Tiffany for trying to make a difference, and I thought this information might be useful to someone here too.
My sister is a professional body piercer and uses safe and sterile practices to pierce with a needle. She has started petitions in NJ and OH to ban the piercing gun...the kind of equipment used at malls and big-box stores to pierce ears. These "guns" tear the tissue rather than pierce it, so healing is compromised and infection is more common. They are difficult to keep sterile, which can spread disease, and the equipment itself can lock up. This equipment is often used by people who are not trained professionals--they should not be piercing people, much less minors.
Please see this article on about.com which includes a link to her petitions and a place to start a petition in your own state.
http://tattoo.about.com:80/od/psafety/a/piercing_guns.htm
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO TIFFANY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I *never* reccomend piercing guns. They're so unsafe. I even convinced my friend to take her 3 year old to a tattoo shop to get her ears pierced!
This really interested me as my Mum has only recently had her own ears pierced (in her 50's) and she was so against it that we weren't allowed ours done until we were 16. This meant that I waited and waited and finally had them done (with a needle)aged 16. It was therefore my own decision, not my Mum's, I later had my nose, navel and upper ear pierced. Now I don't ear earrings lots but the holes never close, even if I don't wear them for months. My nose has healed over completely and you can't see where it was. My navel unfortunately got messed up in a freak jeans accident (the hoop in it got caught on the inside of the rivet when I was rushing to the loo during a concert, I may have been a little tipsy and ended up ripping almost all the way through the skin) - it later 'grew' out due to scar tissue forming behind the piercing. Although when I was 14 I was mad with Mum because everyone else had their ears pierced I now appreciate it - if I was to have a child I would not let them have any piercings until they are old enough to make the choice themselves - it's not for me to take such massive risks on their behalf and potentially damage them in the name of vanity.
KT
Oh KT - about the belly ring..........OOOOOWWWWWIIIIIIEEEEE!!!!!!!!!KT, OMG my belly button just turned itself inside out in empathy when I read about yours
I have to admit that my belly button didn't really hurt much after I did it - it was just where it scarred up that the ring fell out, I've been told that can happen - if scar tissue starts to form behind the piercing it can grow and 'push' the piercing out but it's not painful - it took months in my case and one day it just fell out in my hand! That was my fault not the piercer's because I pulled it almost fully through... Next time I'll make sure I go to the loo in plenty of time! Don't want to put anyone off having their belly button pierced
Copyright ArthritisInsight.com