As an introduction, I am a long time professional body piercer. I make a strong effort to know something about everything, but everything about what relates to my job and daily life. That said a while back at did a ton of research into chemical disinfectants hoping to better the cleanliness at the shop I was working at, we were very clean but you can always be cleaner right.
At A Glance Author dan Contact [email protected] When A week ago Studio 450 Central Ave, suite 104, the xray and ultrasound place Location London Ontario So fast-forward a couple years and I find myself with a girl that discovers a lump in her breast. Nothing very serious probably a cyst or something else treatable, but you want to get it checked out and have an ultrasound done to be sure. So she asks me to come with her, as I know more about those kinds of things then she does, as well I am paranoid about cleanliness. We agree beforehand that I am to remain calm and to try not to be overly aggressive (anyone who knows me knows that I can get aggressive with ignorant people).
The day of the appointment comes and I go with. We go in and right away I am uncomfortable by the people walking around seemingly not paying any attention to what they are touching. She gets called back and I go to head back with her, I understand being turned away due to privacy issues, so I made it clear (and Id like to think as politely as I could be) that I just wanted some questions answered about the cleanliness and sanitation of the place. They said ok and went to get someone to answer my questions. When the person came out to talk to me they told me that they spray things with Cidex which is a disinfectant. I know that cidex is not good for spraying around it is extremely toxic and has been known to cause cancer. I didn't say anything about that but asked how often they use it, I was told they get sprayed once in awhile. Now that is not acceptable it should be sprayed after every patient no matter what right? So I asked if I could watch them set up and be s ure that things were done at least remotely right. At this point I was getting a sinking feeling of these people being incompetent and I could feel myself getting mad. I did my best to relax and decided to just be politely firm about having things done in front of me and give them the benefit of a doubt.
In the exam room... The nurse picks up a spray bottle (unlabeled, big no no) and begins spraying the table, looks at me and says " I should be wearing a glove for this" I almost lost it. If one knows better why does one not do so? I felt like grabbing my girlfriend and dragging her out but I knew Id be in trouble later for that. Instead my tone changed, and I was a bit aggressive. She told me that they leave it sit for a full minute. I looked at her and flat out questioned her about the instructions of said chemical. She said that this was omega so one minute was good, (omega is another chemical I researched) I said I was pretty sure that it was 10 minutes. I was bluntly told no, one-minute is enough. So instead of arguing I asked if it was a gluteraldehyde, alcohol, or peroxide base? She said she didn't know and offered to show me the bottle. I was all to pleased at that offer since I was going to ask anyways. Now I knew already it was gluteraldehyde that's why I choose not to use it in the first place and I wanted to prove the 10 minutes thing. So as soon as I got it I skimmed the directions and sure enough it said right on it "allow 10 minutes wet time" I pointed this out to her and she said she was just doing what her manager told her to do. I found this blatant disregard for the instructions totally offensive. I decided that she had sprayed down the table and there was a paper barrier and blood isn't let here I can let it go a bit because I was getting really mad. She asked me to leave so she could do the exam, I replied that I wasn't going anywhere till I seen her properly wash her hands.
We (the nurse and I) both left and I watched her wash her hands while she told me that if a probe is ever used they put a condom on it, to that I actually laughed. I informed her of the ass scopes that have caused so many problems due to the fact they were only using a condom. A condom does not stop something that penetrates someone from becoming contaminated. Then I watched her turn off the faucet and grab a paper towel to dry her hands. I pointed out that by touching the dirty faucet with her hands then drying them she may as well rub them on everything in the place and its the little things like that that get people sick. She told me if I had any more questions I should speak to the manager, that just so happened not to be working that day... perfect. So I filled out one of those comment cards and am currently awaiting a response.
Lesson to be learned? Never assume that somebody is doing everything right. Ask, do not take words as fact, make them show you everything you want to see. Never be afraid to confront someone like that (doctor, nurse, paramedic, piercer, tattooer, anyone that could endanger your health). Never assume that because they should know better that they do and never assume that because they know better that they do better. It's your life and your body you only have one and it can be very easily stolen from you. Doctors and clinics do not usually get questions about how they clean things and from what I have seen a good tattoo shop is probably much cleaner then the average clinic. All the questions that you should be asking going into a new tattoo or piercing shop should be questions you ask any doctor or nurse going into a clinic or an office. Its just as likely they expose you to bad things as a respectable artist. Ask about spore testing in autoclaves, ask what they dis infect their surfaces with, and ask what precautions they take against cross contamination. Also know a bit about what you are going in for before hand. Doctors will and do lie a lot. Sometimes they think it's in your best interest not to know or that you don't need to know but never let them force that on you!!