Cheri Hubert, owner of Lovedog Tattoos, says she has no problem with basic sterility requirements. Good hygiene includes a work area that can be wiped down with antiseptics. A good tattooist or piercer uses sterile rubber gloves and paper towels, and sterilizes needles, piercing tools, jewelry, inks and pigment tubes in an autoclave. Some also use ultrasonic cleaners. Ken Coyote, a body piercer at Curiosa, says the piercing industry needs regulation, too.
Any idiot can open up a shop tomorrow.
As for technique, that's another story. There's no one way to pierce correctly, although there are things you don't do. Coyote says the worst problems he's heard of have involved people going to the hospital to have a badly infected piercing removed. And some piercings, particularly of the clitoris, can be dangerous if a person is not highly experienced, says Coyote, adding that he will pierce clitoral hoods, but not the clitoris itself. Every local tattooist and piercer interviewed by Nuz claims to use good sterile techniques, including single-use needles.