Precautionary Measures before Piercing and Tattooing

Tattoos and body piercings have become very common. While everyone is busy thinking about the design they want, the place to get a tattoo and how it is going to look later, the safety precautions and the potential risks of getting one done are usually overlooked. The same goes with body piercings, we may be too anxious and excited about the place and look of the piercing, safety precautions and health risks are usually forgotten. What, at the time, seems like a cool idea may turn into regret later. It is important to take necessary steps to protect ourselves from possible health risks.

Risks of Tattooing and Piercing:

Tattoos are permanent designs or marks made on the skin by pigments of dyes injected into the top layer of the skin through one or more needles pricked repeatedly. They breach the skin which can lead to complications like infections, allergic reactions, bleeding and damage to nerves or teeth.

• Allergic reactions: Red dye in particular can cause allergic skin reactions resulting in itchy rashes even years after getting a tattoo.
• Skin infections: Tattooing can lead to local bacterial infections characterized by redness, swelling, pain and a pus-like drainage.
• Blood-borne diseases: If the equipment used to create a tattoo is contaminated with infected blood, various blood-borne diseases including hepatitis B, hepatitis C, tetanus and HIV can be contracted.
• Damage to nerves: There is a possibility of the loss of the sense of touch in the area pierced.
• Keloids: Thick scarring at the piercing site can cause keloids, which is nothing but raised scar tissue due to excessive skin damage.

Safety precautions to be observed:

Before getting a tattoo or piercing, make sure to check off the following safety measures:

• Go to a trustworthy tattooing/piercing studio with properly trained and certified employees.
• Make sure the studio and staff are very clean. It is better if the studio has different work areas for tattooing and body piercing.
• Make sure the studio uses an autoclave to sterilize the instruments.
• Make sure the artist washes his or her hands and wears a fresh pair of protective gloves for each procedure.
• Make sure the artist removes needles and tubes from sealed packages before your procedure begins and the needles should be opened from sealed packages and thrown away in a biohazard container after use in front of you.
• The ink used in tattooing should be taken in a disposable cup and be disposed after use. It should never be taken directly from the bottle or returned to that bottle.
• Avoid piercing guns for body piercings as they cannot be sterilized and should not be used for body piercing.
• Jewelry used for piercing should be non-allergic and should be available in a variety of sizes.
• Gather information regarding after care and understand it before tattooing or piercing.