You might think that a piercing only requires a needle to penetrate the skin, but special tools are required for specific and proper jewelry placement. Most of these piercing tools are made with surgical steel, which can be autoclaved for protection from infection. When it comes to body piercing, there are four main types of tools:
Ball-holding or bead tweezers are used to hold beaded jewelry. Most of these tools are made with grooves on the plier parts to hold beads and balls. They make it easier to manage parts that are too small to hold or clamp with your fingers. The tweezers will hold the bead without scratching it while the rest of the jewelry piece is connected together.
Piercing needles have a large variety of shapes and sizes. Straight, hollow piercing needles are the most common, while a cannula (or catheter) and a curved needle are other options. The type of needle and size depends on the type of piercing. All of these needles come in different gauges, and the size used will be the closest to the size of the jewelry selected.
Commonly used in the medical field for surgeries, forceps help hold the skin in place. This is also true in piercing. During a piercing session, forceps will grasp the skin and pinch it together while the piercing needle makes a puncture. Special forceps are also used for smaller septum piercings. Most are made from surgical steel, which can be autoclaved for sterilization, and there are also disposable forceps.
Ring-opening and closing pliers are used for jewelry insertion. These piercing tools do the work that fingers cannot. There are special indentations on both of these types of pliers to open and close ring jewelry without leaving behind any scratches on the surface.
