AboutBrian Skellie Expertise I can answer questions in regards to and not limited to: jewelry safety, specifically material, shape, proportion, and related issues; aseptic technique and sterilization as it applies to piercing safety; ethical issues of technique and bedside manner; the aftercare and recovery process for piercings.
Experience
Past/Present clients
Tens of thousands of one on one client experiences. http://www.piercing.org/ Body jewelry design and safety expert: Member ASTM committee F04(www.astm.org)
Member AAMI (www.aami.org)
Research advisor and educator for the APP for over a decade(www.safepiercing.org) teaching advanced studio setup, sterilization and equipment management, freehand piercing, aseptic/sterile technique and much more.
Distributor for SciCan StatIM sterilization and cleaning products. http://www.piercing.org/statim/
Expert: Brian Skellie Date: 6/18/2008 Subject: Should I get a get a nose piercing?
Question Okay so I have been wanting a nose piercing for a while now. My mom has decided that I cannot get one until I am 18 because my doctor said that he has seen the piercing site create horrible concave scars because of infection. I still want one, a small one at that, but if I get one what can I do to prevent such scarring to happen?
Answer Read about safe piercing, and try to find a studio that will use appropriate titanium jewelry, such as we use shown at http://piercing.org/shop/
In your area there are not yet any practitioners who maintain the minimum level of safety precautions and jewelry quality. We would love to take care of you if it is at all possible, as our safe and gentle techniques and unparalleled jewelry options are worth the wait until you are 18. We also have qualified colleagues in San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, LA, and Corpus Christi who could help if you are headed in any of those directions.
As for finding a piercer, I suggest that you go to http://www.piercing.org/pexy/guidelines/guidelines.html for the CDC standards for infection prevention. As of now, I do not know of anyone in the world outside of a dozen or so people who actually practice these standards. This puts a big crimp in my ability to suggest another studio.
Please take the guidelines that we posted, which are CDC guidelines adapted from those mandated for dentistry and minor surgical sites and use them as a rubric to judge those whom you would have put jewelry in for you. We cannot guarantee any piercer, even an APP member, to meet the same level of practice that we apply.
This sort of practice is still gaining ground, and NOT something found in many studios at all, even among the APP. Most piercers rely upon standards based on opinions and untested practices that may be unsafe instead of approaching the issues to systematically and scientifically eliminate the risks involved. They may give you a plausible story to support their assumptions, but this often compromises your personal health and safety.
