quote:

ORIGINAL: rainbowtvp

Thought I'd start another thread, since the other got me thinking!

So... all you with experience in piercing... If my dd does go back for another piercing, what questions should we be asking? What should we be looking for? What really is good aftercare?

For instance- I had never thought to ask about jewelery and just assumed it would be surgical steel.

Her piercer told her wash with dial for 3 days, turn the jewelery each time, use antibiotic ointment... but then on the internet, I saw various others (who seemed knowledgeable) say betadine is better than soap, oitnments should be avoided as they block the air, never turn it in the first few days...?

She seems to be healing just fine, but I did worry. We have animals and I just kept imagining all the bacteria that must be crawling on our furntiture, etc. (I'm a bit OCD anyhow).

WHat I didn't like, but may have been unreasonable- there was no sink in the room where they did the piering. I did ask them if they had washed their hands (who knows if they were honest, though!) and they wore gloves.

So next time (if there is one) what should I ask, what should I look for? What things should make me run? What are clues that they are really on the ball?

Tara P

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ORIGINAL: womaninchrist

Look for the display of any applicable certificates/certifications - those from the health department in particular - along with cerfitication of important equipment like the autoclave and and certifications or awards for the piercer/artists you'll be using. Also, a good tip is often the general cleanliness of the shop - if they're not sweeping or dusting or similar, why believe that they're doing the major stuff? I'd definitely never use a shop where *I* can't see the sink.

Ideally, you want to also look at examples of prior work. A good shop will have albums available. Another good idea is to speak to people whose piercings you like and see which artist at what shop did their piercings - or to ask locals with piercings if there's anyone (or shop) they suggest you avoid. You can find online forums too, but they're often rather, um, adult so I don't recommend them - esp. not for children or teens.

quote:

ORIGINAL: womaninchrist

Look for the display of any applicable certificates/certifications - those from the health department in particular - along with cerfitication of important equipment like the autoclave and and certifications or awards for the piercer/artists you'll be using. Also, a good tip is often the general cleanliness of the shop - if they're not sweeping or dusting or similar, why believe that they're doing the major stuff? I'd definitely never use a shop where *I* can't see the sink.

Ideally, you want to also look at examples of prior work. A good shop will have albums available. Another good idea is to speak to people whose piercings you like and see which artist at what shop did their piercings - or to ask locals with piercings if there's anyone (or shop) they suggest you avoid. You can find online forums too, but they're often rather, um, adult so I don't recommend them - esp. not for children or teens.

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ORIGINAL: spdrgrl.603

umm you just said exactly what i just did.....

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ORIGINAL: womaninchrist

Yup. I did. And it was the one time I neither looked at the artist's album nor asked about his references. I just knew people that had used the shop for tattoos and since the place met the basic requirements (AAP recognized, piercer in AAP, etc.), I went for it. First and last time I'll do that. Fortunately it was a minor mistake and all that happened was the jewelry eventually fell out because he'd used an iffy sized barbell and definitely too small a closing ball. At least it wasn't like a major infection or anything disfiguring, just seriously disappointing.

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ORIGINAL: womaninchrist

The piercers I've spoken to that explained what went wrong said that the piercing I had was one of the trickier ones to "size" and that the prior piercer had been off "by a size or two" wasn't all that uncommon especially if they weren't REALLY experienced in that particular piercing, but that they'd used the wrong size ball was a good reason to never use that piercer again because they clearly either didn't pay attention at all or they had no real clue how to do things correctly and needed to repeat most of their training (fortunately I've moved since then - but I have told a few friends still in the area not to see that piercer).

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ORIGINAL: womaninchrist

I haven't yet, but I still might. If I do, I'll follow all my rules this time.

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ORIGINAL: stellaluna

I'll just repeat everything I said in the other thread.

Piercings are actually more risky health-wise than tattoos, although they are more often gotten haphazardly. Tattoos heal more consistently across the board. Piercings, on the other hand, do not. For example, you might never have a problem with jewelry in your earlobes, then you get a navel piercing and it rejects steel. You needed titanium. You get a tongue piercing and your tongue swells more than average and the long barbell in your mouth is too small, even though it was just the right length for dozens of other people. I could go on and on.
(And if your piercer says you shouldn't change your jewelry for six months, guess what? THAT MEANS YOU SHOULDN'T CHANGE THE JEWELRY FOR SIX MONTHS.)

(While I'm thinking about it, NEVER get pierced with acrylic. And never get pierced with a gun.)

There are reputable jewelry makers (like Industrial) and not-so-reputable. There has been a trend the last few years for shops to buy cheap jewelry in bulk because clients balk at paying the price for good jewelry. You even have to be careful with titanium these days because it's not always fully titanium. Titanium is the most expensive body jewelry, if it's pure, and people are cheap.

I've never been pierced with anything but surgical stainless steel and I've never had a single problem, but I have always been pierced in the same shop and I know they buy really high-quality jewelry.

There has also been a trend to let the client do too much picking of jewelry. Back in the day, nearly every piercing was done with a ring. Rings have more smooth surface, better allow for swelling and are easier to clean. But people want fancier stuff, barbells and whatever, so a lot of piercers started giving them what they wanted. It increases problems with healing for sure.

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ORIGINAL: miasma

Everything Stellaluna said (I do agree with her, honest) and here is some further reading, in the second group of links.

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ORIGINAL: stellaluna

Tongue piercings are generally done with a long barbell, then you go back for a shorter one after the swelling has gone down.

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ORIGINAL: stellaluna

The original jewelry is yours to keep. If you want to use it somewhere else, just wash it off.

And tongue piercings are usually healed in less than two weeks.