Insist on safety steps

To make sure your piercing is done safely, ask these questions:

• Who does the piercings? Go to a piercing studio or store that has properly trained employees. Don't try to pierce yourself. And don't let a friend who doesn't have training do the piercing.

  Piercing rules and licensing vary from state to state. Check with your city, county or state health department for information on local licensing and regulations.

• Does the piercer wear gloves? People who do piercings should wash their hands and wear a fresh pair of disposable gloves for each piercing.
• Does the piercer use proper equipment? Some stores use piercing guns for earlobe piercing. But the Association of Professional Piercers warns that reusable piercing guns can't be properly sterilized. That raises the risk of infection. Reusable guns also may damage ear tissue. Look for a piercer who uses a fresh, sterile, disposable needle to create the hole and then inserts a piece of jewelry into it.
• Does the piercer sterilize equipment that must be reused? Make sure that the piercer has a heat-sterilization machine, called an autoclave. After each piercing, the machine should be used to sterilize any equipment that has to be reused.
• Does the piercer use hypoallergenic jewelry? Jewelry that's hypoallergenic has a low risk of causing an allergic reaction. This type of jewelry tends to be made of metals such as surgical stainless steel, titanium, niobium, or 14- or 18-karat gold.