Tattoos and body piercing: Stay healthy!

Guidelines for preventing infections

Tattooing and ear or body piercing are becoming more and more popular. However, some procedures may increase the risk of contracting a blood-borne disease, such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV, AIDS, herpes and some bacterial skin infections.

To avoid risk of transmission, make sure that the needles used are new, sterilized for each treatment and properly handled by the tattooist.

Observe the person's working habits: tattooists should wash their hands before and after procedures, after handling contaminated items, before opening and handling sterile supplies, and before putting on and after removing their gloves. The work area must be clean and brightly lit.

Finally, you can minimize your own risk of infection by taking these precautions:

• Broken skin. Never tattoo or pierce skin that has a cut, pimples, warts, or other abnormalities.
• Disinfection. Make sure that the practitioner disinfects the skin area with a skin antiseptic before the procedure.
• After the procedure or when rotating the jewellery - Wash your hands thoroughly before applying lotions or ointments to the pierced or tattooed area. If you are concerned that the tattoo or piercing is infected, contact a doctor or a CLSC immediately.
• Allergies. Find out about the risks of skin allergies: some alloys or metals in jewellery are more likely to cause infection.
• Piercing or tattoo site. Think carefully about where you want to get the tattoo or piercing. Some areas, like the mouth or nose, are more prone to infection.

Source: Health Canada and KidsHealth.org (The Nemours Foundation)