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"Being Smart about Body Art"- Piercings and Tattoos

Submitted by How I learned t... on Mon, 2005-10-17 23:56. Health

Over the break was very daring and got a body piercing! It wasn’t planned, I was just wondering the village in NYC and I walked into a tattoo parlor wondering about them and decided I’ll get a naval piercing. I hadn’t researched or looked up the dangers of piercing until now… I recently read an article that pointed out a growing trend of body art in teens. I though about it and said to myself, that’s always been something pretty popular. However, the difference between me and the teenagers spoken about in the article is that they were getting amateur piercing, from friends,instead of from a licensed professional.

The growing trend of teens getting amateur piercing has spurred so much in certain states that campaigns have started, so that teens are aware of the dangers of piercing. A piercing in general is not easy to take care of. You have to clean it and make sure it isn't at any risk of infection. It easy for the body to catch infections through body piercing. Here’s a story that happened to me two years ago. I was attempting to get my second hole on my ear lobe and went to get the piercing done at a jewelry shop. Two weeks later it was infected and I had to go to the doctor and she had to scrape out the infection. It got pretty bad. Piercing can be a pretty dangerous thing to do to your body. I however didn’t think of that when I pierced my naval the other day, so now I’m being careful and I’m on antibiotics, just in case. You can never be too sure. The point is that a piercing is not something you go and tell your friend to do. “Hey can u please pass a needle through my eyebrow?” is defiantly something you don’t want to trust any of your friends with. The article suggests thinking about it, and listening to the warning signs. It does not prohibit or demean piercing but it does raise alertness. So if your thinking of getting a tattoo or piercing, think it twice, and make sure you get it done the right way. Do what the slogan says and : “Think smart about body art.”

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Tats and Piercings...watch out

Submitted by Girl Meets World on Tue, 2005-10-18 01:22.

I couldn't agree with you more. I have personaly seen friends of mine pierce themselves and others and it is not pretty. I don't care who you are, it costs less to get it done professionally then to have to pay for all of the doctors visits and medicines you will need when it gets infected.

Also, you have to be especially careful when it comes to tattoos. I got a tattoo about two months ago but it was not a rash decision. i had been researching tattoo parlors for almost a yera and a half. I actually got the State of New Jersey's report on the health inspections of tattoo parlors. I ended up picking a parlor that was the only tattoo parlor in New Jersey that had never failed a health insection. Although this was this an extremely comforting thought, I thought of my friends who had gotten tattoos in the heat of the moment without any thought or research as to the cleanliness of the tattoo parlor. So the moral of the story, I suppose, is to do your research and, no matter what your best friend says, she is not an expert on piercings. Seriously.

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I've always loved body art

Submitted by Jhaleh Melomane on Tue, 2005-10-18 10:18.

I've always loved body art of all sorts, and love watching those shows on Discovery about the tattooed man and such, so I found your post really interesting. Unfortunately, I do have to say that personal, rather than professional, piercings will always happen. My older brother, during his teen years, pierced his ear with a shower curtain hanger and an ice cube. Before, during, and after, he knew it was an awful idea, and yet, he still did it. After this experience, I thought he would do anything to his body, but he seemed to have learned his lesson. He is an artist, and when he wanted a tattoo of one of his own designs actually put on his body, he used some restraint and waited 6 months to see if he still wanted that same design on him for his whole life. As a tattoo designer by night now, he recommends to anyone he works with to do the same: come up with your idea, then put it away in a drawer somewhere for a long period of time, research reputable establishments, then decide if it's still what you want. The actual tattoo itself can cause more damage to the owner than the physical aspects of taking care of it and avoiding infection.

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