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A word of warning to those ladies considering exotic piercings.
Not every piercer knows what they are doing when it comes to female exotic piercings, even more so in northern B.C.. Our real professional body piercer, John has been piercing professionally since 1994 and wants you to know there are hacks out there working it what may appear to be a legitimate facilities.You need to know that "price" should never sway you toward making a bad decision, nor should "gender". Just because the so called "piercer" is female, doesn't mean she knows what she is doing.
Price is what you pay for a piercing provided by an "experienced professional piercer". You are paying for the knowledge, skill and experience of the person providing your piercing services, jewellery is inexpensive, knowledge and skill is what you are paying for. Good piercings, done correctly are not cheap, cheap piercings are not good.This just solidifies John's opinion that these novice individuals doing the piercing don't have a clue what they are doing almost to the point of bordering on criminal fraud.
John has, over the last four years here in Prince George, had to fix screw ups caused by these so called "piercers". Client's stories of experiences in "other shops" are enough to make one sick. Needlessly painful piercing procedure, improperly placed, incorrect jewellery used for the piercing and outrageous aftercare products that do nothing other than cause needless pain for the client. A novice piercer is not a good thing when it comes to exotic piercings.
Here's what you need to know:
You need to have a consultation with the piercer before you get any exotic piercing done.
You need to know that there are no training requirements for body piercers in Canada, however studios do need to clear a local health inspection in order to obtain a business license to operate a body piercing/tattoo studio in every province in Canada. That doesn't mean the person doing your piercing is actually the one who signed the Health Inspection Report for the shop or studio.
Ask questions like where did they learn to pierce, where did they work in the past and do they have proof of thier experience and claims of knowledge?
- Is the facility inspected by the local health authority, with a current health inspection report available for examination?
- Is the facility licensed by the city, municipality or regional district, the license should be posted for inspection by the public.
- Does the facility have an autoclave and is it spore tested at least once a month with the results available for inspection by the public.
- Disposable single use equipment? If they say they use single use disposable tools they should show you the "plastic tools" in sealed plastic packages showing sterilization information on the packages. If the show you metal instruments, they are not "disposable single use" and are more than certainly being reused and must be disinfected and sterilized* (*autoclaved) between uses.
There is a difference between disinfected and sterilized.
Disinfecting is the washing and cleaning or soiled equipment to remove matter and body fluids from instruments AKA: cleaned, however "clean" doesn't mean sterilized.
Sterilized means the "cleaned" instrument is placed into a special package that ensures the instrument remains "sterilized" once it has be run through a "sterilization cycle" in an autoclave. Only the high pressure and heat generated by an autoclave can kill the spores and bacterial life still on the "cleaned" instrument, ensuring that once the cycle is complete and the packaging is dry and unopened the contents is classified as "sterile".
While we are on the topic of sterilized and disinfected. One shop claims to have a "sterile environment", well just so you know there is no such thing as a "sterile environment", clean yes, sterile no. Not even the hospital operating rooms are sterile, again clean yes, sterile no. So don't buy into the big story you see on advertising and websites about the shops "level of hygiene". From these shops it's hype nothing more, if they can't be honest on there advertising, chances are good they can't be honest about there skill sets either. This is why you need to book a consultation with the piercer before you get anything done, trust your eyes, ears and that little voice. If you get the information in a clear easy to understand terms, feel comfortable and at ease then book your appointment. If you are rushed, talked down to or the piercer seems too busy to talk to you then look somewhere else for that piercing you want. Remember you are interviewing them for the job, not them interviewing you.
Now when asking about the exotic piercing you are interested in, base your questions on the research you have done. Yes, you need to make yourself knowledgeable about what you want to have done (that may explain why your reading this). Ask questions about the healing time, piercing process, aftercare routine, possible complications.
Not everyone is up on there own personal anatomy, but the piercer you choose should know the anatomy inside and out and be able to explain it to you in easy to understand terms. You don't need to learn Latin to understand the anatomical terms for your body but it helps you decide if the piercing studio you choose is the right place to be and in the case of your piercer, the right one for you.
The female anatomy is quite simple to understand, the areas that are considered for piercings are:
Labia Majora: The outer "lips" of the vaginal opening.
Labia Minora: The inner "lips" of the vaginal opening.
Clitoral Hood: The labial "hood" covering the clitoris above the vaginal opening.
Clitoris: The clitoris is the sensitive tissue "bulb" under the clitoral hood.
Vestibule: The tissue at the bottom of the vaginal opening between the labia Minora.
The internet will offer a plethora of various names for piercings but at the end of the day the above locations are the typical locations for these various named piercings.
Vertical Clitoral Hood (VCH) Piercing.:
Healing time: 4 ~ 8 weeks for a light heal.
Initial Jewellery Style: Straight or Curved Barbell, Captive Bead Ring or Circular Barbell.
The Princess Diana Piercing.:
Healing time: 4 ~ 8 weeks for a light heal.
Initial Jewellery Style: Straight or Curved Barbell, Captive Bead Ring or Circular Barbell.
The Horizontal Clitoral Hood (HCH) Piercing.:
Healing time: 6 ~ 8 weeks for a light heal.
Initial Jewellery Style: , Captive Bead Ring or Circular Barbell.
The Triangle Piercing.:
Healing time: 3 ~ 4 months for a light heal.
Initial Jewellery Style:, Captive Bead Ring or Circular Barbell.
Outer Labial Piercings.:
Healing time: 3 ~ 4 months for a light heal.
Initial Jewellery Style: Curved Barbell, Captive Bead Ring or Circular Barbell.
Labia Minora (Inner Labia) Piercings.:
Healing time: 4 ~ 8 weeks for a light heal.
Initial Jewellery Style: Curved Barbell, Captive Bead Ring or Circular Barbell.
The Fourchette Piercing.:
Healing time: 6 ~ 8 weeks for a light heal.
Initial Jewellery Style: Curved Barbell, Captive Bead Ring or Circular Barbell.
The Christina Piercing.:
Healing time: 6 ~ 9 months for a light heal.
Initial Jewellery Style: PTFE Barbell, Bioplast Curved Barbell.
The Clitoris Piercing.:
Healing time: 4 ~ 8 weeks for a light heal.
Initial Jewellery Style: Straight Barbell, Captive Bead Ring or Circular Barbell.
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| The Smoking Gun The Smoking Gun Piercing guns have been the rage for many years prior to the advent of the modern body piercing movement, even then they were looked upon with an amount of disgust by the medical profession. One of the early versions of a professional "physician grade" autoclave safe piercing gun is depicted below. At the least this gun was operated by hand pressure and was used by a physician to insert metal studs into ear lobes. |
The Great Debates The Great Debates From aftercare to jewellery preference, there will never be a time when two piercers will agree on absolutely everything. Is a piercer wrong or unprofessional because s/he prefers to use bent barbells instead of rings for navel piercings? Recommends Listerine instead of Oral-B? Uses 14 gauge barbells for tongue piercings? |
| I want to get a Piercing I want to get a Piercing! Shop around, visit the shops you have interest in and talk to the piercers, look at the studios ask some smart questions. Don't price shop, use your head, we are talking about your body and putting a hole in it somewhere. Do your research on the piercing you want then ask the piercer about the piercing and the aftercare for the piercing. Use common sense and gut instinct. |
It's Infected, now what? It's infected now what? Professional piercers know much more about body piercing than the average person, so this in mind, you have to pick a course of action. Start by seeing your piercer as soon as possible. Infections are easy to treat so long as they are handled quickly and properly.. |
| Common Sense Aftercare Aftercare is a simple procedure in the care of any body piercing from simple ear piercings to the extreme piercings, but you have to remember some common points with all aftercare instructions. Many clients quickly forget half of what they are told in the studio after getting a piercing, partly due to the excitement of the piercing and partly from the rush of having just got what they wanted for a while. |
It's an Art form, It's what we do.Our body piercer is among some of the most experienced piercers in British Columbia. Our senior piercer is from the old school of piercing and studied various piercing methods at length as well as many variations offered by other senior piercers in the industry. Instrument use, technique, sterilization methods and metals used for the process of piercing were looked at in great detail. |
