The first time I pumped up a presta valve, I bent it quite a bit. Fortunately, I was able to bend it back.
I'm being a lot more careful from now on. My tires are rated to like 145 PSI so I have to pump quite hard. Having a hose helps a lot. If I was using the pump directly on the valve, I'd probably mangle it like you did.
Using this:
http://www.mec.ca/product/5016-153/f...-gauge/?q=pump