Whether I write and FAQ or not, people are going to pierce themselves at home. Not writing an FAQ will not stop that process, and writing one will not encourage it. This FAQ is written with the hope that it will make clear that home piercing is difficult to do properly, and that in all but the most extreme circumstances, the person would be better off seeking the aid of a professional.

There are a thousand reasons a person might not want to go to a professional. Their state might not allow piercing, or they might be below the legal age required. There might not be any qualified piercers in their area, or they might be uncomfortable having someone else invade their space in this way. They might want to do the piercing in a sexual context, or they might simply not be able to afford going to a piercer. The validity of these reasons is of course debatable, but the point is that many people do not want to go to a piercing studio to get their piercing, and they have that right.

Underage people are not stupid. Some are, but there are plenty of stupid adults as well. This FAQ will give kids a little more knowledge about the piercing progress and allow them to make an informed decision. If anything, this FAQ discourages underage piercing.

Physically, there are a few piercings that shouldn't be done on growing tissue; primarily this means nipple piercings, but if you are still growing it certainly could include things like navel piercings as well. The other reasons for not getting pierced underage are largely the same as for "overage" people, including (and this is only a tiny percentage of the risks, see BME/Risks for more information):

* The long- and short-term social implications. It's not right, but you will probably take some abuse for your piercings if they are visible. You will need to work twice as hard to get equal access to schooling, employment, and general services.
* There is a strong chance that you will get some scarring (or a lot of scarring) and that this scarring will not go away without expensive surgery (and even then there are no promises).
* You will probably be forced to go to either a low-end studio or do the piercing outside of a studio, both of which are undesirable options because you won't be getting the best piercing possible.
* If you stretch the piercing and change your mind you will be left with an ugly deformity that can only be corrected with the aid of cosmetic surgery, and even then you may be left with a nasty scar.

The argument over what age is acceptable for what piercing varies greatly from place to place. Most of the United States sets that age at 18, although many studios, including legitimate well respected ones will do many piercings at 14 or 16. In Canada, the age is legally set at 16, although many studios will pierce at younger ages, and still other studios require you to be 18. Still other countries have no legal age at all, and leave it up to the discretion of the studio.

Outside of the few body parts that shouldn't be pierced while they are still growing, the debate over age requirements is largely political. Assuming that the person is mature enough to properly take care of their piercing and understand its implications, there is no real reason why a young person can't handle a piercing.

Never, never, never do this! Obviously, there's always the chance that you could get in trouble yourself, but more realistically, you might be screwing over the studio in some states. Many places put the onus on verifying the validity of a piece of ID on the studio. What that means is that if you get pierced using a fake ID, and then your parents freak out, that the studio could be in major trouble. It is not unheard of for one stupid kid with a fake ID to actually put a studio out of business. Don't do it.

A piercing studio that doesn't concern itself with ID is probably a low quality studio that should be avoided. If they don't care about taking ID (which is the law almost everywhere), then how far can you trust their ethics -- how do you know that they care about keeping you safe?

Very few quality studios will pierce a minor with just a note from their parents since it's not verifiable. That said, many quality studios that would not otherwise pierce a minor are willing to do so if your parents come in with you and sign in person. You'll need to bring ID showing that they are your parents of course.

From my point of view, having your parents come along to the studio is by far the best option for a minor, and I'm sure that for many parents, seeing the level of cleanliness that a professional piercing studio works at will be very reassuring. The studio will be glad to show and explain to your parents how their sterilisation process works as well as any other questions they might have (and if the studio can't answer these questions, avoid them!).

Obviously this varies from parent to parent, but, as a general rule, educate yourself about the piercing and about the risks. Tell your parents you want it, and explain to them why in a rational and mature way. They'll probably say no. Make a fair deal with them, for example "If I still want it in 6 months and I get a B+ in my history class this term, then I can get it" may well work with most parents.

Your parents, even if they're wrong in this case, do in theory have your best interests in mind. As such, you need to show them that the piercing you want isn't a symptom of drug use (hey, they're old) and that you're a "good kid" who knows what they're doing and can be trusted to make the right choices.

Some piercing studios are willing to sell needles to the general public (typically at a huge markup), and most larger cities have a tattoo or piercing supply shop. You can also buy hypodermic needles and remove the hub, or you can buy catheter needles and do a reverse insertion. That said, probably the easiest way to get piercing needles is via an online vendor such as BMEshop.com or any one of hundreds of suppliers.

A hollow needle has proved itself to be an excellent (and non-traumatic) design, but the real reason people use hollow needles is that it makes follow-through (the insertion of the jewelry) a simple process. If you use something like a safety pin, you will be able to make a hole, but getting the jewelry into this hole will be needlessly complicated and will probably do peripheral damage to the piercing.

First of all, most home piercings can be done with nothing more than a needle and jewelry. The simpler your procedure, the less you need to worry about -- and the less places there are for something to go wrong.

However, if you're piercing yourself regularly or in awkward spots, any first aid, sports medicine, or home care supply shop can sell you clamps (although these shops generally stock high-quality German tools which you will pay a premium for). Penningtons are the ones with the triangular heads, and Foerrsters are the ones with the oval heads. You can also buy these clamps from a multitude of online vendors including BMEshop.com.

Of course you can buy it at any piercing studio, but if you're seriously considering the subject of this FAQ, that might not happen! Online vendors are your easiest options, but stick to reputable vendors selling high quality jewelry. Unfortunately the easiest way to recognize high quality jewelry is by it's matched high price. If this jewelry is going to be in you for any extended period of time though, the money is well spent.

Cheap jewelry is easy to find online. It's not uncommon to see rings and barbells selling for only a few dollars. However, there's a reason this jewelry is so cheap. To generalize, it's been mass-manufactured (ie. made by machine) to a far lower standard than high-quality hand-made jewelry. This is especially apparent on barbells or other threaded jewelry; threads are usually short, rough, and external. In addition, the jewelry is often made of slightly lower quality materials, increasing your chances of an allergic reaction.

All that said, most people can wear low-end jewelry with only the most minor complications.

Yes, but it will take an investment in tools and supplies. To be perfectly honest, it would be cheaper to just buy. Don't consider making your own jewelry unless you're doing it because you enjoy it.

To make body piercing jewelry you will need first of all access to high quality materials -- even very slight deviations in the grade of stainless steel for example can have a monstrous effect on reactions. You'll need to be able to shape your jewelry, and properly finish it (that probably means a buffer and an ultrasonic). If you're making threaded jewelry, you'll probably need a lathe as well as experience working with miniature taps and dies.

Nothing in body jewelry is outside of the range of someone with basic machining knowledge, and the pieces are so simple that the techniques for making them will be obvious to anyone capable of it. However, if you don't have these skills, not only will you be throwing your money and time away, but you'll likely produce substandard jewelry that will complicate the healing of your piercing.

Finally, I should add that the market for piercing jewelry is already flooded, and attempting to start a new jewelry company at this point would be financial suicide.

Sure, using your piercing implement as the jewelry seems like a great idea because it eliminates the follow through, and insertion is very easy. However, the simple fact is that safety pins are not made of an appropriate material. They are not usually stainless steel, and I think it's safe to say they are never made of an implant-grade stainless steel or titanium. As such, your body will probably react, perhaps simply by the surrounding tissue inflaming or even the surrounding tissue bonding to the pin as it begins to rust and break down from the body's chemicals.

Our bodies are very good at attacking foreign substances. Overall, our bodies don't like being pierced and will do what they can to stop you. As such, it's important to use high-grade biocompatible materials that you body isn't going to try and reject like a splinter.

Generally no; ear piercing jewelry (ie. the gold hoops and studs that the mall ear-piercing industry uses) are not designed to work in body piercings. They are usually the wrong size both in length and gauge, are often flimsy, and are often made of lower grade materials. It's strongly urged that you make the small investment of decent quality jewelry.

Used jewelry should never be put in someone else's piercings unless it is "made new" again. That means that it should be fully cleaned, polished, and sterilized again -- essentially going through its last step of manufacturing a second time. If you leave out this step, it is very easy to pass disease from person to person.

Other than that, the only real concern with using someone else's jewelry is that you don't neccessarily know where they got it or what the quality is. (And of course the "gross out" factor of wearing old jewelry... would you wear a used condom if it had been cleaned out first?)

All of the information presented in this FAQ is also available from other sources. For excellent practical information on home sterilization issues, search for resources on home healthcare related to infectious diseases -- AIDS family support groups are one such source for this information.

Using fire to sterilize will utterly contaminate the item and is not an option.

Boiling tools is an accepted time tested technique among field medics, but it's far from acceptable as anything other than a "no other options" type solution. You will get partial sterilization if you boil for an hour, but there are many, many microbes that you will not kill. This might be an acceptable way to clean tools and jewelry that have been used on either no one or only on you, but this is definitely not an acceptable way to clean tools that have come in contact with anyone else.

You can take this a notch up by using a pressure cooker (since one could argue that a steam autoclave is essentially just a fancy pressure cooker). However, realize that because a pressure cooker doesn't have the gauges and monitoring ability that an autoclave does, you'll never really know how effective your sterilization cycle was.

Rubbing alcohol will disinfect and to some extent sterilize. However, most of the microbes we worry about (things like Hepatitis) aren't going to be killed using rubbing alcohol. Rubbing alcohol might be a marginally acceptable way to clean your own supplies, but if these supplies have been handled by or used on anyone else, alcohol isn't going to cut it. That means that if you use a pair of clamps to pierce a friend, that alcohol isn't going to get rid of their cooties.

Bleach is far a more powerful anti-microbial agent than alcohol. Drug treatment clinics regularly advise addicts to immerse their syringes in a thinned down bleach solution. However, they are starting to move away from this because the bleach kits often don't kill Hepatitis, and sometimes don't even kill the relatively fragile AIDS virus.

An autoclave sterilizes through a combination of pressure and heat. While it might be difficult to justify the cost if you're just piercing yourself or your fluids-exchanged partner from time-to-time, there is no excuse for not using an autoclave if you're piercing friends. A used autoclave can be bought for a few hundred dollars. No special paperwork is required to buy them -- consider them essential.

That said, as with all things, you have to use them properly. They must reach and sustain the required heat and pressure. They must be packed properly. They must have water in them. They must be spore tested from time to time (to make really sure they're working).

Officially it should be put into an approved sharps container and disposed of as local laws require. Most hospitals can help you with that. It's certainly not recommended, but you could just put the needles in a hard pill bottle and ask a local hospital how you are required to dispose of it.

Please don't just throw old needles in the garbage. You have every right to pierce yourself and put yourself at risk, but you have no right to put others, including garbage men, at risk.

In theory new jewelry is not contaminated and could be put in after disinfection. Realistically, rubbing alcohol should be enough (remember though, if you put alcohol on acrylic you will break it)... but...

While the above is true in a perfect world, there's nothing saying that the jewelry isn't seriously contaminated. For example, how do you know that the machinist who made the jewelry doesn't have Hepatitis C? How do you know that they didn't cut their hand the day they were making your jewelry? How do you know that some of that blood didn't get on your jewelry? The odds may be slim, but do you really want to take the chance?

The odds of new tools being contaminated is probably less than the odds of new jewelry being contaminated, but you should always take into account that even though the odds are slim, it's definitely possible. Low level should be adequate if the tool has never been used on anyone (including you).

Certain bacteria can encase themselves in a protein coat, forming a spore. This bacteria is then extremely difficult to kill and may resist autoclaving. As such, after the tools are used, if you plan on re-using them on yourself (or anyone else) clean them thoroughly.

If the tools are being used on anyone other than you, they absolutely must be autoclaved or be subjected to a high-level chemical sterilization process. Always remember that while you do have the right to do stupid stuff to yourself and put your own life at risk, you don't have that right if it's someone else's life. If you work on a friend and something goes wrong, you can be held criminally liable, even if they agreed to the piercing.

If your hands are clean, and you touch something dirty, then your hands are dirty. Think of it as cooties. Cooties will spread to anything they touch. As such, if you touch something that has cooties, you'd better wash your hands (or change gloves if you're using gloves) before touching anything clean.

A 5% to 10% solution (one tablespoon of bleach to one cup of water) can also be to disinfect potentially contaminated hard surfaces and clean off blood. A 1% solution (one tablespoon of bleach to one quart of water) can be used for general cleaning. As with most chemical cleaning agents, discard it after 24 hours as that's its effective lifetime.

It is important to take this step because in an uncontrolled environment things will sink to the lowest common denominator. To generalize, your procedure will quickly become as dirty and contaminated as the most dirty thing you come in contact with during the procedure, even second-hand. For example, if you put your clamps down on a dirty counter, they are then totally dirty as well and will contaminate anything they come in contact with.

The single most effective way to reduce the amount of contamination in your procedure (but certainly not the only thing you'll need to do) is to wash your hands. Whether you wear gloves or not, you must wash your hands. As with using an autoclave, you have to do this step right though; interdigitate and clean fully!

As far as rubber (latex or nitrile generally) gloves, if you're just piercing yourself, you can probably get away without them, but by using gloves you give yourself much more control over cross-contamination issues.

No. A piercing gun is not appropriate. Obviously it can not be properly sterilized, but more importantly it is simply not accurate or appropriate for body piercings. The jewelry is inserted using blunt force trauma, and is often too short for the piercing, crushing (and killing) the tissue.

There is no advantage to using a piercing gun, and many disadvantages. Avoid them.

I suppose you could, but there's no good reason for doing this - why do extra damage when you don't need to. Ear piercing studs are sharp enough that if you really want to do this you can. However, ear piercing studs are too short for pretty much anything other than ears. Ears are relatively resilient, so the additional trauma probably won't lead to problems, at least in lobes. However, cartilage is much more sensitive and it would not be in your best interests to mistreat your ears like this.

While the vast majority of people can put an ice cube on their ear, use a carrot as a backing, and push a stud through without any real problems, it will increase the chance of complications for everyone. For those people who are sensitive to cartilage damage, using a method like this makes it far more likely that you'll have problems.

Overall, this is one of those things where the answer is "yes... but why?" There is no advantage to piercing like this, and many disadvantages.

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If it's a piercing that has a cultural history, you can be pretty sure it's safe even when you barely understand the relevant anatomy. That is, if this piercing has been done for thousands of years, it's probably inside the range of what can be attempted by an amateur. This includes the basic ear piercings, nose piercings, lip piercings, and many of the basic genital piercings.

(more coming soon)

Realistically, no. However, if you present a profile that makes doctors (or your parents) believe that you are a danger either to yourself or to others, you might find yourself committed against your will. If you are also a cutter (ie. if you scar yourself), you should keep this risk in mind.

If your area has laws about piercing (age requirements, autoclave requirements, etc.) you will be required to meet these laws. If you don't, you can and will be charged. In addition, if something goes wrong during the procedure, you could be criminally charged with anything from simple assault on up to murder.

You are putting them at risk instead of you. Once you have multiple people involved, contamination risks rise dramatically. If you pierce your friends at home you are putting them at undue risk. My official answer is, and probably always will be "DON'T DO IT".

You can't. Setting up a studio at home where you can safely pierce your friends is a venture that requires at least a thousand dollar investment, if not far more. There is no way for you to reasonably do this. If you want to pierce your friends, become a piercer.

First of all, you should know that being a piercer isn't as fun as it might seem. You often don't even make enough money to even meet the poverty line. You are at the whims of both laws and fashion trends -- you could very well find yourself without a job or even a job market. If you spend the years you would have spent in college or at the start of a tradition "career path", as a piercer, you may well find yourself very much SOL when you hit 30. In addition, the work itself is extremely emotionally demanding, as well as putting you at constant and serious medical risk.

That said, there is one acceptable path to becoming a piercer that far outshines the other options. While it is true that a number of the top piercers are entirely self-trained, these are exceptional individuals that beat the odds. Realistically, you MUST seek an apprenticeship with a qualified piercer (if you apprentice under an idiot, you'll be an even bigger idiot than they are).

You can take a piercing course first, but understand that these courses are not training to be a piercer -- they are preparatory courses intended as an introduction for those seeking an apprenticeship. In no way do they make you qualified to pierce the public. To get an apprenticeship, first find the best studios in your area (or best studios in areas you're willing to travel to). Get to know the piercers, and then let them know you're seeking an apprenticeship. Of course, they get a hundred kids a year asking this same question, so you may need to show perseverance and patience.

Good luck!