As the popularity of tattoos and piercings grows, students need to keep up-to-date on the hazards posed by improper tattooing and piercing procedures.

Reverend Charles Cain, tattoo artist at Mark of Cain Tattoo Art in Boone, is one artist concerned with the stereotypes and health restrictions involved in tattooing.

“First of all, I do not have a mullet,” Cain said. “My hair is long and I have it pulled back under my hat.”

Cain said a lack of competency testing brings on other stereotypes in the tattoo industry.

Cain said he petitioned six years ago or competency tests to be required of tattoo artists.

He said any tattoo artists use their job to support drug habits, which reflects poorly on the rest of the industry.

“People who work at hair salons have to take competency tests that prove they can do the job, while tattoo and piercing artists don’t. I think this is just wrong,” he said.

Cain said there are 38 health requirements evaluated in a tattoo parlor. “Blood aerosols drift through the air, making people getting tattoos within 48 feet of each other in an open space basically exchanging bodily fluids. It’s a cross-contamination hazard,” Cain said.

Rosa, who prefers to go by her first name, is the piercing specialist of Primalisms Body Piercing, the piercing half of Mark of Cain Tattoo Art.

Rosa said she is concerned with the health risk of piercing with “piercing guns,” which many establishments still use to pierce.

The guns that they use to pierce with studs are mostly made of plastic, which you cannot autoclave, which means to sterilize surgical instruments, Rosa said. She also said that every time a gun shoots a stud through someone’s ear, there is a “microspray” of blood and blood plasma onto the gun, which usually is wiped off with rubbing alcohol.

Rosa said the main problem with rubbing alcohol is that it does not kill most of the blood-borne pathogens that contaminate the gun, and piercing guns are often not wiped down at all.

Piercing guns also push studs through skin, which tears and splits the skin pierced, which Rosa said is hard on cartilage because the cartilage is pushed out of the way.

However, a needle is hollow and actually removes the little circle of skin and/or cartilage where the jewelry will be, providing room for it and reducing the swelling.

Rosa said another problem many piercing parlors have not addressed is the “butterfly-style” backings on many earrings.

Rosa said this wide “butterfly” traps hair, discharge, dirt and bacteria and holds it against the wound that is made from the piercing.

Rosa and Cain suggest rings, which are circular and allow natural swelling.

“Rings are better because you can put soap on them and move them through the piercing to clean it out; with studs you can’t do that,”

Cain said.

The Student Health Services in the Miles Annas Student Support Building sees students with infected piercings and tattoos, Director of Health Services Dr. Pat A. Geiger said.

“Often times we can give them antibiotics to cure these infections, and sometimes the piercings need to be removed,” Geiger said.

“The most serious complication would be the passage of a blood-borne virus during the piercing or tattooing process. Hepatitis B and C and HIV have been passed when proper techniques were not used. Sterile equipment should always be used,” Geiger said. Here’s a list of tattoo and piercing safety tips: perhaps use a graphic?

There are many things you can look for in tattoo and piercing parlors for safety and health. Some of these are:

• Check out the Newsgroup REC.ARTS.BODYART online. It can help you check tattoo artists’ portfolios to see what kind of work they have done. Do not accept the first artist you come across, and definitely do not go for simply the cheapest rates.
• * Make sure the artist sterilizes and bandages the tattoos right after completion.
• Make sure the artist(s) always wear latex gloves when performing procedure, and make sure they wash hands when arriving and between jobs.
• Make sure the artist answers any questions you have, and explains entire procedure and before and after-care.
* Watch out for smoking, animals or other hazardous health signs (an artist with open wounds, etc.)
• Be sure you let artist know of any medical conditions you have, including allergies, blood pressure problems and diseases.
• Make sure they use a new needle on each person.
• All items that the tattoo artist should use should be new for each person. These include disposable razors, swabs, ink caps and needles.
• Betadine is the solution that should be applied before tattooing.
• Always ask to see the portfolio of the tattoo or piercing artist.
• Watch the artist perform on another individual. It is also a good thing to know someone who has been tattooed or pierced by the person before and satisfied with the results.
• If in doubt, check with your local health department on the place you are investigating. Ask them if they have inspected it recently and if there are any causes for concern.