Ear piercing instrument

An ear piercing instrument, also sometimes called an ear piercing gun, is a medical instrument used to pierce earlobes by forcing a sharpened starter earring through the earlobe. Ear piercing instruments come in both disposable and reusable models that are primarily of two different designs.

The traditional design is built around a spring that stores potential energy when the ear piercing instrument is pulled into the cocked position. Pre-sterilized starter earrings of the stud earring design, are typically provided in pairs by the manufacturer in sealed plastic containers. One starter earring is loaded into a receiving tube in the cocked portion of the instrument, and its matching friction back is loaded into a holder closer to the main part of the instrument. The earlobe is inserted between these two parts of the instrument, and the trigger is squeezed, releasing the spring, and causing the instrument to close with considerable pressure, forcing the sharpened stud earring through the earlobe, engaging it into a friction back.

The newer design uses a similar concept, however, instead of using potential energy stored in a spring to force the starter earring through the earlobe, energy is provided directly by the operator through a hand grip. This provides an additional level of control. Also, these models usually provide the starter earrings in special capsules that allow the pre-sterilized earrings to be loaded into the instrument without the operator touching them.

Ear piercing instruments are designed to pierce using 20- or 18-gauge earrings, normally made out of surgical steel, 24 kt. gold plated surgical steel, 14 kt. gold, or titanium.

These instruments have become controversial due to the difficulty (or impossibility) or properly cleaning the reusable models, and the use of ear piercing instruments for piercing body parts for which they were never designed, such as ear cartilage, nostrils, or even navels. For this reason, most professional body piercers actively discourage the use of ear piercing instruments, and stickers with a graphical silhouette of an ear piercing gun with the international "no" symbol (a red circle with a diagonal slash) can be seen at some body piercing shops.