At A Glance
Author	anonymous
Contact	[email protected]
When	N/A

Working as a professional body piercer is not easy, and it's not for everyone. For all those out there who have considered becoming one, here are some things you need to know about the business.

First off, let me tell you, you are not a rock star, and should not think like one. This is one of the biggest mistakes I've seen so far. People think that just because you're a body piercer, you'll become super famous, and everyone will know and love you. Those people are groupies, and want things for free. As soon as you stop handing out free stuff, they too will go away. Also, with that big head that you've created for yourself, you will not be able to concentrate on the task at hand, and that is to pierce conscientiously, in a sterile environment, and have it come out like you hoped it would. You will end up going through your apprenticeship, thinking that you've already learned all you need to know, when in actuality, you don't know jack, and then you'll be stumped once something doesn't go your way, or you can't figure out how exactly it's done. You don't know it all, and you never will. Being a body piercer, you are constantly learning new things. You're educ ation just doesn't stop at a certain point.

You need to have a lot of patience as well. Please understand that the majority of the people that come to you to get pierced are going to be new to this type of experience. Most of your clients will be women wanting their navels pierced because they think it looks cool, sexy, and trendy, etc. Please notice I said women and not girls. There is a reason why girls should not be pierced. One of those things is moral obligation. You will have to sit down with them and explain to them everything that's involved. The cleaning procedures, maintenance, why they can't change it out in a week to put in something different, things of the sort. There are also a lot of na�ve people that don't understand what is involved. All they care about is that it looks pretty, and they don't want it to hurt. Anybody who at least has one piercing (earlobes excluded) knows what I'm talking about in reference to the "does it hurt" question. You need to be able to relax the client. They need to understand that the pain that is involved is minimal, and will subside once it's done (which is usually a fraction of a second).

A very important factor that I haven't mentioned yet, is that you need to be able to educate yourself properly. You really need to know what you're doing, either by getting an apprenticeship, or reading a lot of books and materials on the subject. Bug the crap out of a local piercer whom you trust with a bunch of questions. Go through anatomy books. Figure out what's where and how it'll work with certain jewelry. Know the why's in everything, because you will be asked by your clients.

There are so many mistakes that I have seen from other piercers, whether they are local piercers, piercers out of state, or international. Most of the mistakes which are very simple, and correctable, like placement, or proper jewelry. Learning these two things are the basics that you will need. Proper sterilization techniques are the most important thing to know, above and beyond anything else. I'm sure you don't want to be the one responsible for giving someone HEP C or HIV, so please, know what you are doing in at least this area. I have heard a lot of horror stories about people being pierced at a so called piercers house, and he's done it on his dining room table, with his dinner still sitting there, in cars, in dorm rooms, in the back room of a Pac Sun. None of these people remember where the needle came from, or if it was even sterile. There's a reason why a lot of states have laws in place prohibiting things like this, and it's not because they want to be assho les. It's because there is a need for it because it could turn into a potential health risk. If there are enough dirty piercers out there, than there very well could be an epidemic of sorts, and this is something nobody wants.

One other aspect about the business I think you should know is that it's full of very shady people. There are people who will steal customers, money, and equipment, whatever they can to better themselves, and then talk shit about you behind your back. There are a lot of back stabbers and cut throats. Ideally, you should be able to find a place to work where everyone gets along, shares ideas, and doesn't try to rip each other off, but as far as I know, that place doesn't exist. There will always be someone to come along and ruin it for you. Also, customers almost always talk shit about you. If they had a little bit of lymph come out of their piercing, then, according to the customer, the piercing is infected and it's the piercers fault. You will always have a customer who feels that way, no matter how much you try to educate them, and educate you must! They will go to your competitor, or the piercer across town with which you're friends with, and they will tell them w hat a terrible job you did because their piercing got infected. Never mind that they touched the piercing every single day with their dirty little fingers or they over cleaned the piercing, or wore really tight clothes on top of it and/or slept on it. But it will always be YOUR FAULT, so don't fight it. Educate them as much as possible. Tell them what they can and can't do, and make sure you tell them they YOU are their piercer NOT their friends who through peroxide on everything.

The most important thing to remember is educate, educate, educate. Educate yourself, your clients, your mom, your pastor, you doctor. Educate as many people as you can, and maybe body piercing will become a little more tolerant in our society, and we might be able to get rid of bad, uneducated, arrogant piercers all together, or educate them on what they need to do to be good piercers.