In my experience with both options, I've found that it doesn't hurt any more or less than a gun, but the healing process is MUCH less painful with a needle piercing and much less likely to heal weirdly or get infected.
In my opinion less pain with a needle. But definitely there is less trauma than with a gun so healing is easier. Also with a needle, there's more control. My early lobe piercings from when I was a child were done with a gun and they aren't very precise. Wish I had known better then.
If you go to a shop that uses a gun rather than a needle, run. There is no good way to sanitize them (even if you dunk them in alcohol) so they tend to build up a lot a bacteria. The guns also tend to heal poorly and get more easily infected because of the poor hygiene of the gun. Needles always! Wont feel much at all!
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