What you should know

In this era of blood-borne diseases you MUST be very careful who you have perform your piercing, you MUST consider  the equipment being used, the general piercing environment and the overall hygiene standards used in the establishment.  

We advise that you research alternatives and only use a piercer with a proven history in the successful delivery of safe, sterile procedures.

For over 15 years Elegant Image have provided safe and sterile body piercing. We pride ourselves on the level of care we provide and ensure that not only do we comply  with, we exceeds all regulatory safety requirements associated with body piercing procedures.

You should never be misled into believing piercing is easy. It takes time and dedication to acquire the ability to correctly place and skilfully perform piercings.

When undergoing body piercing there is some advice we strongly recommend you to follow:

1. Use your eyes, when you walk into a piercing area be critical, confirm to yourself items such as; Are the premises clean and tidy?; Do the staff appear to be neat and clean ie. examine their clothing, finger nails, general appearance, etc?; Is the piercing area clean and tidy?; Are all reusable items autoclaved and maintained in sterile single-use-only sachets.  If you are not satisfied with the inspection, don't proceed with the piercing.
   
2. How professional are the piercers?  Elegant Image piercers are all paramedically qualified aestheticians, they have undergone further formalised training in body piercing through a medically supervised recognised training body, We do not employ self taught or unqualified piercers and recommend that you should avoid them. We also invest quite heavily in their continued education as this is the hallmark of any reputable skin care organisation. Understand it is your right to know how long your piercer has been piercing, how they learned to pierce, and what they have done to keep their knowledge base current, i.e., courses on Anatomy, Aftercare, Aseptic Technique, etc
   
3. How is sterilisation achieved? You also have the right to know exactly how the jewellery, tools and equipment to be used in your piercing procedure has been sterilised and maintained after sterilisation until use. At Elegant Image our premises are regularly inspected by the ACT Health Department ensuring we meet their guidelines, furthermore we use a (Health Department monitored) autoclave to sterilise (eliminate bacteria and spores) all jewellery, tools and equipment required to perform piercings. We use the most effective sterilisation unit available in that it uses a combination of steam and pressure
   

4. Does the piercer carry Professional Indemnity?, in the majority of cases you will be required to sign a waiver before and piercing, whilst this document gives the piercer some protection in the event that a piercing goes bad it may not cover them for a actual or perceived negligence. For our own protection Elegant Image maintains professional indemnity insurance, we believe this to be responsible precaution that all piercers should take it also protects you if in that very rare occasion the worst happens. Our insurance covers piercings we perform on clients from the belt up and this is why we will not undertake piercing of sexual organs. You should enquire with any prospective piercer about their levels of professional indemnity and its limitations. 

 Be aware that ”Dry Heat” and/or chemical baths/alcohol wipes are NOT considered appropriate for effective sterilisation and that no piercing should be performed using such poor sterilisation procedures.

What are the piercing procedures? Elegant Image enforces strict policies and procedures with regard the set-up and operation of a piercing;

1. the piercer first washes and glove their hands,
2. all equipment sterilised items are maintained in sealed individual sterile envelopes,
3. all items to be used in the piercing are maintained visible on a tray,
4. the piercer must change gloves if they touch anything in the room other than you and the sterile equipment,
5. all needles to be used are maintained stored in their individual factory sterile packages and are only opened while you are present,
6. after use all needles are disposed of in a "Sharps Container" (usually a small yellow box marked "Sharps" and "Biohazard"), and
7. furthermore we only use disposable needles that are discarded after they have been used on a single client.

Piercing Guns

Are they using a Piercing Gun? A number of US and European states have made it illegal to use piercing guns for body piercing and we believe with good reason. Most ear guns (as they are called) can't be adequately sterilised in an autoclave and therefore do not meet what should be minimum requirement for the use of sterile disposable equipment We cannot overly stress dangers of piercing guns, simply put, the needle used should be sterilised (autoclaved) after each If it is possible, the gun iteself should be single use or autoclaved after each use as it is impossible to stop serum from the skin contaminating it. With the bulk of these guns an acceptable sterilisation process is simply not possible and for those more sophisticated guns that use pre-sterilised earrings and studs, the same criticism applies, serum from the piercing is liable to contaminate the bolt and other sections of the gun that squeeze the skin. These guns are impossible to adequately sterilise their use should be avoided at all costs.