One of the first things you get told when contemplating piercings is that you should go to a studio which looks clean and sterile; all reusable tools should be autoclaved, needles should be one use only and the piercer should wear gloves at all times. Reading experiences on BME however, you notice that a lot of people self pierce in the kitchen or bathroom using non-sterile equipment in equally unsanitary conditions. There are of course many reasons for this; lack of money, lack of parental consent, but those of us in the body mod community with a bit more experience shake our heads and tut at those who risk getting infections by doing things the wrong way.
At A Glance Author wolfbane Contact [email protected] IAM wolfbane When N/A If those people self pierced using sterile equipment in a clean environment, though while still in the kitchen or bathroom, would we make such a fuss? My argument is that while piercing studios are the best places to get pierced it is still possible for piercings to be done by yourself or a friend in any clean area.
Out of my twenty-three piercings eight have taken place in a studio, seven were gunned and nine took place in either mine or a friend's kitchen. Of those the gunned piercings were by far the least sterile as it is impossible to sterilise the areas on a gun that touch the ear. However I am going to exclude the gunned piercings from this article and concentrate on the proper piercings I've had in studios and houses.
The key thing to focus on when getting any piercing is the cleanliness of the area in which you are being pierced and the sterilisation of the tools. Usually a piercing studio will have the lead in this area; it is a place specifically designed for relatively invasive procedures to be carried out and as such has sterile surfaces which can be wiped down with cleaning agents suitable for areas that come into contact with humans, has an autoclave, has a specific place for tools, jewellery and equipment to be stored, has a seat that can be wiped down with cleaning agent after use and may be covered with paper towels, has a sharps box for the disposal of used needles, has a sink and several boxes of latex gloves, has a separate area marked off, or in a different room for the disposal of other materials (swabs, etc.) and should display health and safety regulations and certificates. In any reputable studio all of these, and more, would be in place. Compare that to the average kitchen or bathroom. Kitchens are areas where food is prepared and so should be at least relatively clean, however in any kitchen there can often be found a build up of dirty plates and washing up, cat or dog bowls, dirty work surfaces, a greasy grill and uncleaned oven and of course a rubbish bin. A bathroom is often far less clean that a kitchen, being the place where people go to clean themselves, wash their teeth, put on their make-up, do their hair and perform their ablutions. Why get pierced in an area where you are putting yourself, and your piercings at risk? My answer is that if you are self piercing but still have the correct equipment and carry out the right cleaning methods, you can be just as clean as piercing studios.
Let me go back to my own piercing experiences for a minute. One of the first piercings I had which didn't take place in a studio were my nipples. I had these pierced in a friend's kitchen, where the surfaces that were being used had been cleaned with the same agent used in many piercing studios. Paper towels were then placed on the surfaces, onto which were then rested the tools to be used. The needles came ready sterilised in plastic packaging, and the CBRs I had bought already autoclaved. The only area of possible less-than-cleanliness were the tools which hadn't been autoclaved, but had been soaked in boiling water and cleaned with sterilising agent. I watched while my friend set everything up so was able to see how clean things were. Afterwards I watched the needles being placed in a sharps container and had problem free nipples until I met my current boyfriend (which is another story altogether).
After that I had three eyebrow piercings done in the same kitchen, followed by an industrial and a nostril piercing done in my kitchen by a piercer friend who didn't have a studio. As with the nipple piercings I was able to watch as he cleaned the surfaces (in this case the top of the fridge and hob) and laid out his tools. Sterilised needles were pre-packaged and went into a sharps box, jewellery was autoclaved and pre-packaged, and Mike's autoclave itself sat on top of the oven.
In all of those experiences I was happy with the cleanliness and sterility of the tools and surfaces that were being worked with and on. I saw the same things I have seen in piercing studios and was satisfied that nothing was dirty or unhygienic. In that situation I believe that getting pierced in a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, dining room or anywhere else for that matter, is perfectly fine. The main problem I, and I'm sure other readers have, with self piercing is that most of the time it is carried out in a substandard, dirty way. As I mentioned earlier, piercings can be carried out in unsanitary conditions in a piercing studio � the location itself isn't the most important factor. People can be saved by having tracheotomies in the middle of a crowded street but die from having the same thing done using dirty tools in an operating room. While it's slightly different with piercings, the analogy still stands. Self piercing, as long as done in a hygienic matter, is just as safe in the kitchen as in the piercing studio. It's the cleanliness that counts.
Nb. While I do believe that piercings studios are the best places in which to get pierced, and while I am not recommending anyone get pierced in a dirty kitchen, the standard of hygiene and cleanliness is the most important factor. Your well being is the most important thing.