These are practices which, to the best of our knowledge, are the current “Best Practice” for the field. Please do your homework before you get any piercing done.
- Clean hands are donned with single-use latex, nitrile, or vinyl gloves.
- The skin is disinfected using a betadine solution dispensed from a bottle into a disposable ink-cap. This is applied to skin with a clean cotton swab. All disposables are used.
- Marking the skin is done by using a gentian violet dye in an ink-cap; by dipping into this with a toothpick, the mark may be made without use of pens.
- For facial and oral piercings, interior facial suraces are cleansed by having client rinse the mouth with antiseptic mouthwash, external surfaces are cleansed using the betadine solution.
- All piercings are accomplished using new, sterilized, hollow piercing needles and receiving tubes – instead of corks.
- Immediately following the piercing, the needle is disposed of in an approved sharps container.
- Forceps, Receiving tubes and insertion tapers are all both disinfected using a high-level solution, and are auto-clave sterilized before use.
- Jewelry and ring-opening and ring-closing pliers are also autoclave sterilized before use.
- All piercing is done with jewelry made of an appropriate material. Implant grade, surgical stainless steel is the metal most often used in our piercing practice.
- Any jewelry brought in by a client is considered suspect; rare cases where the make and material can be confirmed may allow it to be used in initial piercing. Change-over in a healed piercing allows for more variance in material.