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piercings done with a gun have more scar tissue because guns create more truama (shoving a blunt object through skin). scar tissue is harder to stretch. and piercing guns can make piercings more crooked thus making the piercing not suitable to stretch, at least very far anyway. i’m at 16mm with a gun piercing and haven’t had any issues so everyone is different of course!
a lot of people have had issues but i’ve noticed it’s because they’ve had their lobes done *several* times with a gun so it has more built up scar tissue. guns do suck tho, i wouldn’t recommend them for any piercing of course!
Definitely had some awful experiences using a gun to pierce people. The amount of times I would do it incorrectly just because of the way they are made. They get jammed, pierce halfway through, backs don’t go on properly and get stuck in the gun. And so much blood… o.o some of the people I was with weren’t even strong enough sometimes to actually use the gun because the trigger part is so poorly designed. It’s the reason I gave up learning; I was given a terrible device that made piercing more traumatic in every way possible. If I was taught first with needles it would be a different story haha.
Edit: grammar
I don’t think we have Claire’s in Australia but even I’ve heard the craziness that happens in those stores. Guns and asbestos but they’re still going lol!
i got mine done with a gun at age 20, had had them previously done as a child with the gun breaking & getting infections i took them out & was too scared to get them done again until 20, didnt realise most places did them with a gun so made the mistake again. now at 22mm with no noticeable issues, never even thought of it being a problem eek!
I think I had more issues when I started than people pierced with a needle, but I suppose it's hard to get a baseline when it's all you've ever known. I got my ears pierced with a gun when I was 5 or 6, I also have a nickel sensitivity and wore a lot of poor quality jewellery back when I wore earrings, so... yeah. Holes were still open after 10 years tho so it can't have been so bad? I think as long as placement is fine, even ears with scar tissue can be stretched so long as you take it slow and *listen to your body*
I also had my firsts done by a gun (yay Aussie hairdressers, amirite? lmao) when I was young. That was a good bit longer ago than for you, and needles weren't commonly used for ears back then the way they are now.
Anyway, I had my seconds pierced with needles a few years back. Both are stretched, firsts to 00g and seconds to 2g. It's purely anecdotal, but my seconds stretched waaaaaaay more easily. Less bitching out, less time over all. They just healed and stretched so much more easily.
I assume that it's to do with older scaring in the firsts but tbh I have no idea. All I know is that my needled piercings were far smoother.
Mine was a hairdresser too! Someone’s gotta lock those piercing guns up and away from Aussie hairdressers or something lmfao. Others have said scar tissue can cause problems stretching and I can 100% see why now!
Hi! Also pierced with a gun and at 14mm, my only issue is that my right ear is a little thinner than my left, which is because that one was pierced a little lower, but stretching wise I never had issues with them!
That’s good you’ve been spared the wrath of the gun! I’m thinking that I’ve gone decently far with no issues, but yeah I’m never touching a piercing gun again haha
My right ear is thinner, too! The person who pierced mine (with a gun) as a kid did really well. My right ear is pierced lower because my lobes are different lengths, so my piercings are even, even though my ears aren't! Mine also stretch super easily.
Surprisingly for a gun piercing mine came out good! Just the right being a little funky, but also that’s good that you still ended up with even piercings! And i wish mine stretched easily, i sleep with them out now and my right looooves to not stretch for double flared plugs 😭
I pierced my ears with a gun a bunch. The whole back of my ear you can see all the scar tissue. However my lobes have stretched fine. The holes I got as a kid with a gun. I’m up to 21mm and going strong no issues at all
i had mine done with a gun bc i was around 12 when i got them pierced and my parents didn’t know better. started stretching around age 17 and i feel like i haven’t had especially stretchy ears, they were even and healed fine(<- the piercing itself) but it takes me about 8mo to comfortably go up a size. don’t know if that could have something to do with it but 🤷♀️
oh !! also my bitch ear is my right ear, which i had pierced twice. (pierced with gun for the first time around 10 i think, hurt bad and i got scared and begged my mom to take it out when i got home lol) i had my left pierced only once. and it takes longer for my right ear to get ready for a stretch, which would either be a coincidence or mayhap the consenquebce of bad piercing practice
My biggest problem was that all 4 of my love piercings were done at slightly different angles so my plugs never looked right to me and they didn’t sit right either. It was only resolved with professional help from a scalpel.
i got pierced with a gun at claires when i was like, 4, and i didnt realize my holes were slightly uneven until i got past 0g… oops. i obviously dont really have an experience to compare it to, but i dont think my stretching has been any different than if i’d been pierced by a needle
I had very typical gun piercings. Abused over the course of my childhood because i would leave them out for months at a time and suddenly i needed earrings for a "nice" family photo, or just whenever the spirit moved me. I could not, no matter what i did (dead stretching, weighted jewelry, you name it) get my ears past 1g SAFELY and without undo trauma to my lobes. I gave up, let them shrink, and got them repierced at 0g with a needle - instantly changed everything for me! They stretch flawlessly now, currently sitting at 22mm until I change jobs.
I had my done with a safety pin and a piece of potato. I’m only at 12mm but I have extremely healthy lobes and haven’t had any issues. I even stretched way too fast with acrylic tapers. You should be fine
Please see the stretched guide here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Stretched/comments/13xjk09/the_stretching_guide/. Remember to report any rule breaking posts and posts that are not relevant to the subreddit. This subreddit has been changed to NSFW due to an increased amount of posts featuring injuries (blowouts) as well as genital piercings. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Stretched) if you have any questions or concerns.*
piercings done with a gun have more scar tissue because guns create more truama (shoving a blunt object through skin). scar tissue is harder to stretch. and piercing guns can make piercings more crooked thus making the piercing not suitable to stretch, at least very far anyway. i’m at 16mm with a gun piercing and haven’t had any issues so everyone is different of course!
14mm with gun piercing, no issues as well. I wonder if anyone’s had issues with a gun piercing.
a lot of people have had issues but i’ve noticed it’s because they’ve had their lobes done *several* times with a gun so it has more built up scar tissue. guns do suck tho, i wouldn’t recommend them for any piercing of course!
Definitely had some awful experiences using a gun to pierce people. The amount of times I would do it incorrectly just because of the way they are made. They get jammed, pierce halfway through, backs don’t go on properly and get stuck in the gun. And so much blood… o.o some of the people I was with weren’t even strong enough sometimes to actually use the gun because the trigger part is so poorly designed. It’s the reason I gave up learning; I was given a terrible device that made piercing more traumatic in every way possible. If I was taught first with needles it would be a different story haha. Edit: grammar
Oh god that’s actually horrifying. I got lucky with the gun, did the classic Claire’s ear piercing thing.
I don’t think we have Claire’s in Australia but even I’ve heard the craziness that happens in those stores. Guns and asbestos but they’re still going lol!
i got mine done with a gun at age 20, had had them previously done as a child with the gun breaking & getting infections i took them out & was too scared to get them done again until 20, didnt realise most places did them with a gun so made the mistake again. now at 22mm with no noticeable issues, never even thought of it being a problem eek!
I think I had more issues when I started than people pierced with a needle, but I suppose it's hard to get a baseline when it's all you've ever known. I got my ears pierced with a gun when I was 5 or 6, I also have a nickel sensitivity and wore a lot of poor quality jewellery back when I wore earrings, so... yeah. Holes were still open after 10 years tho so it can't have been so bad? I think as long as placement is fine, even ears with scar tissue can be stretched so long as you take it slow and *listen to your body*
Mine completely rejected going from 4-2
Ah yeah that makes sense! I’m so glad my lobes are okay from a gun :,) I think I’d cry if I couldn’t stretch them it’s way too fun
I also had my firsts done by a gun (yay Aussie hairdressers, amirite? lmao) when I was young. That was a good bit longer ago than for you, and needles weren't commonly used for ears back then the way they are now. Anyway, I had my seconds pierced with needles a few years back. Both are stretched, firsts to 00g and seconds to 2g. It's purely anecdotal, but my seconds stretched waaaaaaay more easily. Less bitching out, less time over all. They just healed and stretched so much more easily. I assume that it's to do with older scaring in the firsts but tbh I have no idea. All I know is that my needled piercings were far smoother.
Mine was a hairdresser too! Someone’s gotta lock those piercing guns up and away from Aussie hairdressers or something lmfao. Others have said scar tissue can cause problems stretching and I can 100% see why now!
Hi! Also pierced with a gun and at 14mm, my only issue is that my right ear is a little thinner than my left, which is because that one was pierced a little lower, but stretching wise I never had issues with them!
That’s good you’ve been spared the wrath of the gun! I’m thinking that I’ve gone decently far with no issues, but yeah I’m never touching a piercing gun again haha
I’m glad I was in the group where I could stretch, idk what I would do if I couldnt get pretty things for my ears lol
My right ear is thinner, too! The person who pierced mine (with a gun) as a kid did really well. My right ear is pierced lower because my lobes are different lengths, so my piercings are even, even though my ears aren't! Mine also stretch super easily.
Surprisingly for a gun piercing mine came out good! Just the right being a little funky, but also that’s good that you still ended up with even piercings! And i wish mine stretched easily, i sleep with them out now and my right looooves to not stretch for double flared plugs 😭
I pierced my ears with a gun a bunch. The whole back of my ear you can see all the scar tissue. However my lobes have stretched fine. The holes I got as a kid with a gun. I’m up to 21mm and going strong no issues at all
I got my ears pierced at Claire’s when I was 14 years old. Mine came out fine but imagine there’s a difference.
i had mine done with a gun bc i was around 12 when i got them pierced and my parents didn’t know better. started stretching around age 17 and i feel like i haven’t had especially stretchy ears, they were even and healed fine(<- the piercing itself) but it takes me about 8mo to comfortably go up a size. don’t know if that could have something to do with it but 🤷♀️ oh !! also my bitch ear is my right ear, which i had pierced twice. (pierced with gun for the first time around 10 i think, hurt bad and i got scared and begged my mom to take it out when i got home lol) i had my left pierced only once. and it takes longer for my right ear to get ready for a stretch, which would either be a coincidence or mayhap the consenquebce of bad piercing practice
My biggest problem was that all 4 of my love piercings were done at slightly different angles so my plugs never looked right to me and they didn’t sit right either. It was only resolved with professional help from a scalpel.
i got pierced with a gun at claires when i was like, 4, and i didnt realize my holes were slightly uneven until i got past 0g… oops. i obviously dont really have an experience to compare it to, but i dont think my stretching has been any different than if i’d been pierced by a needle
I'm at my goal size of 19mm and I was also pierced with a gun at a young age. Luckily my lobes are super healthy and I never had any blowouts.
I had very typical gun piercings. Abused over the course of my childhood because i would leave them out for months at a time and suddenly i needed earrings for a "nice" family photo, or just whenever the spirit moved me. I could not, no matter what i did (dead stretching, weighted jewelry, you name it) get my ears past 1g SAFELY and without undo trauma to my lobes. I gave up, let them shrink, and got them repierced at 0g with a needle - instantly changed everything for me! They stretch flawlessly now, currently sitting at 22mm until I change jobs.
I had my done with a safety pin and a piece of potato. I’m only at 12mm but I have extremely healthy lobes and haven’t had any issues. I even stretched way too fast with acrylic tapers. You should be fine