Body Art & Hepatitis C

BEWARE OF BACKYARD OPERATORS!

The greatest risk for transmission of potential infections comes from operators who avoid the notice of a professional body or government supervision. They might operate from their home or offer to come to your home. They might have an unregistered studio; these operators are not monitored by the health authorities, and therefore not complying with hygiene and sterilisation requirements. They may not care about their professional reputation or business, and while they may be a lot cheaper, the risks of infection or poor work are much higher. You should always go to a professional studio.

BEWARE OF PIERCING PARTIES!

At a piercing party, a number of people get pierced at the same time, sometimes by a friend. There is a high chance that the needle or piece of piercing equipment will be reused, and that proper sterilisation of other equipment and jewellery will not be carried out—after all, how many homes have an autoclave? Even the ice used to reduce swelling can transmit hepatitis C if infected blood gets onto it. Alcohol or drugs may also be involved, leading to risk-taking behaviour. Peer pressure may also influence people to take risks they would normally avoid. Just because someone else isn’t concerned about the possibility of infection with a blood-borne virus, it doesn’t mean that you should endanger yourself.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Hepatitis SA

1800 437 222

www.hepatitissa.asn.au

SA Health

www.health.sa.gov.au/pehs/PDF-files/ ph-factsheet-tattoo-piercing.pdf

The Association of Professional Piercers (International)

www.safepiercing.org

Australian Medical Association

Body Piercing & Health ama.com.au/node/5286

SA Health has contributed funds towards this Program. Artwork in this pamphlet created by young artists for the C-Pix Project: see http://cpix.notlong.com

Body Art & Hepatitis C

Deciding to have a part of your body pierced or tattooed is very significant. It may cause serious and permanent damage to your health if it’s not done properly, exposing you to the risk of infection with hepatitis C. Hep C attacks the liver over time and can cause many problems, including causing cirrhosis and liver cancer.

The hepatitis C virus is transmitted from blood to bloodstream. A speck of blood too small to see can carry the virus. That speck of blood might be on an unsterile needle, on previously used disposable gloves, or even a fingertip.

This is why sterilisation is so important. Sterilisation is a process which kills all living bacteria, viruses and parasites from the equipment which will be used to perform a piercing or tattooing.

There are some questions you should ask the tattoo artist or body piercer before you get a tattoo or piercing.

• Do you have a sterilising unit?

Many studios and body artists use prepacked, sterilised equipment. If they do, make sure that everything that is used to penetrate your skin (including body-piercing jewellery itself) comes from a sealed bag which is opened in your presence. Tattoo artists should use new ink containers, and not dip into large, unsealed containers that have been used for other customers.

If the equipment is not prepacked, you need to find out whether the body artist uses a sterilising unit called an autoclave. Only an autoclave ensures appropriate sterilisation.

Body artists should also wash their hands and wear new disposable gloves for each procedure.

• Do you use single-use, disposable needles?

If the studio reuses needles and other equipment, this can increase your chance of being exposed to a blood-borne virus or other infection. Simply soaking needles or body-piercing jewellery in a disinfectant or other cleaning solution is not safe enough. All needles should be new, single-use, come from packaging, and be opened in front of you.

INFORMATION FROM THE BODY ARTIST

Talk to the tattooist or piercer about how long they’ve been doing this work, and how they learned how to do it. Piercing and tattooing are difficult and skilled jobs, and the body artist really needs to know what they are doing to avoid infections and scarring.

INFORMATION FROM A DOCTOR

The studio and the operators should be clean. If it doesn’t seem right to you, trust your instincts and go elsewhere for your piercing or tattoo. If you just say ‘It’ll do!’, you may end up with a serious liver disease for the rest of your life.

INFORMATION FROM FRIENDS

Ask your friends where they got their tattoos or piercings done—they can be a great source of information. But remember that their own experiences do not make them experts. Find out if they had any problems, like an infection during the healing process. Would they honestly go back to that body artist for more work? Did the studio give them enough information about the process and after-care? Did anything happen during the process that made them feel uncomfortable?

If you feel comfortable talking to your GP about tattooing and body piercing, your doctor may be able to advise you about the risks, warn about some of the after-effects (like allergies, keloid scarring and infections), and teach you how to take care of your body art, and how to help it heal quickly and cleanly. They can also help you look for any problems and help you if something does goes wrong with the process.

WHAT SHAPE ARE YOU IN?

Drugs and alcohol can impair decision-making, so don’t get a tattoo or piercing done while under the influence. It can make it a lot harder for you to spot any warning signs about the studio or body artist, and a lot easier to make a bad decision about the kind of piercing or tattoo you get.