With 11 on her lip, ears, nose and naval, Stephanie Deangelis is a piercing pro.
“It makes me feel so much more comfortable having tattoos and piercings on my body,” said Deangelis, an undecided sophomore at Columbus State Community College. “It makes me feel like a piece of art.”
But now, Deangelis said she is ready for the next step: a nipple piercing.
She is not alone – many college students are considering getting their nipples or genitals pierced.
“It’s definitely for sexual purposes,” Deangelis said, adding she feels “less attractive without my piercings.”
According to piercers and some doctors, with proper aftercare and thorough research of the piercing parlor and piercers, nipple and genital piercings can be a safe and unique form of self expression. Without the proper preparations, piercings can go badly.
“So many people do it as a spur-of-the-moment thing,” said Tony Terrell, manager of The Mighty Stained Skin and a professional piercer with 13 years of experience. “That spur-of-the-moment thing could cost you a trip to the hospital.”
In order to avoid potential problems, those interested in piercings need to – research the piercer, make sure they follow proper sanitation procedures and follow proper aftercare directions to avoid infection.
ResearchTerrell emphasizes the importance of researching your piercer before committing to letting them alter your body.
In Franklin County piercers are only required to have a Red Cross certification and a bloodborne pathogens certification. No other training is required, so there is the very-real possibility of piercers having little-to-no experience, let alone experience piercing sensitive areas such as nipples or genitalia.
In the industry, reputable piercers are required to do an apprenticeship in which they study anatomy and musculature before they pick up a needle. Terrell said he was an apprentice for 11 months.
Terrell said he corrects bad piercings done by others at least once a week. He said he sees many people with crooked piercings which he takes out and re-pierces.
Terrell said he recommends looking at a piercer’s portfolio to make sure the person has examples of the specific piercing a client desires. Danger signs to look for are photos of swollen piercings or ones oozing pus. Look for the placement of the piercing and make sure they aren’t crooked or oddly placed.
Michelle Domingues, a senior in biochemistry at Louisiana State University, was a victim of an inexperienced piercer. She researched studios online before choosing an established shop where she got her nipple pierced. She didn’t ask the piercer how long he had been piercing or to see his portfolio. A short while later, she said the piercing site started to look weird and wasn’t sitting like it should.
She researched another shop and talked to the piercers before going in. They fixed her piercing and told her it was being rejected by her body because of the small size of the gauge the other piercer had used.
“Always talk to the piercer and make sure you feel comfortable with them,” Terrell said. “Make sure the shop is clean, people aren’t smoking (and) there aren’t any animals.”
SanitationTattoo and piercing parlors have very strict sanitation procedures they must follow to be licensed. They must have a separate room labeled as a biohazard for cleaning their equipment. The shop must have an autoclave in this room, which is a hospital-grade sterilizer that uses steam and pressure to kill bacteria, viruses, fungi and spores. All equipment sterilized by the autoclave should be placed in sealed plastic bags. Terrell’s bags include color-change indicators that show when equipment has been sterilized by steam.
All needles are one-time use and must be disposed of in biohazard sharps boxes that are picked up and disposed of by an outside company. Sterile gloves must be worn at all times.
To ensure the shop you choose follows all of these procedures, Terrell said he suggests asking for a tour of the shop, asking to see the sterilization room and sharps boxes and asking to watch them set up and tear down their equipment.
Because of these strict sterilization procedures, Dr. John Hedge, who specializes in family medicine, said genital and nipple piercings aren’t necessarily unsafe.
“Make sure you shop around,” he said. “Go to the place and look around. Decide after that.”
Reducing risksHedge said the biggest risks with these types of piercings are infection, allergic reactions to jewelry and rejection by the body. These problems are often because of faulty aftercare on the part of the person being pierced, he said.
Terrell attributed most infections to not following aftercare instructions. He said he doesn’t see infections in genital piercings as much because of the location. Because genital piercings are protected from outside forces and are exposed to urine, which is sterile, Terrell said these piercings are less likely to infect as opposed to ear or navel piercings.
Another common concern is nipple piercings affecting nursing. Terrell said there are thousands of mammary glands that secrete milk, and piercing doesn’t do enough damage to prevent milk flow.
Hedge said he has never seen damage to mammary glands from piercing, but he warns nursing mothers to remove jewelry before nursing.
Now the owner of 13 successfully healed piercings, Deangelis said, “infection is not the piercer’s fault. If you take care of your piercings and clean it, it’s going to heal.”
Terrell said rejection, such as Domingues’, occurs most often because of wrong jewelry size. If the jewelry is too small it will force itself out of the body.
Nick Wolak, owner of Evolved, stopped piercing with hoops five years ago because, in his experience, hoops had a 30 percent chance of rejection as opposed to a 5 percent risk with barbells.
As Hedge spoke of allergic reactions from jewelry, Wolak said to avoid cheap jewelry. At Evolved they only use the highest standard of jewelry – titanium. Another quality option is 316LVMF steel jewelry. Terrell uses 316LVM, which is implant-grade surgical steel.
“Price is not always a clear indication,” Wolak said. “But a lot of times the more experienced studios are priced more expensively. Studios are priced that way because jewelry is of much higher quality and the piercers are better educated and trained.”
Meg Greene can be reached at [email protected].
