OUR STANDARDS & BODY JEWELRY QUALITY

October 23, 2020

Written by sammi marchese

October 23, 2020

Written by sammi marchese

At Prestigious Piercing we choose to carry only the highest quality biocompatible materials for your piercings. Since we are working with fine jewelry rather than costume jewelry, when you get a piercing with us you are not limited to a small selection of “plain” or “starter” pieces. You can wear a stylish piece of jewelry whether it be a diamond stud, a fun design, or even a gold hoop in your piercing.

We prefer to only use Nickel Free* 14k solid gold, Implant Grade Titanium, and in some cases glass jewelry for clients needing retainers to create a less noticeable look. We will never use any plated, hollowed or fake gold, externally threaded, “surgical steel” or other dangerous, non compliant non certified jewelry materials in your piercings.

Choosing jewelry for a new piercing is obviously quite different from shopping for a ring to wear on your finger. Because body jewelry is worn inside a wound and is in contact with your internal tissues, only certain products are suitable.

The look of the jewelry that is placed in your fresh piercing must be secondary to aspects that affect safety and compatibility with your body. The size, style, material, and quality of the initial piece of jewelry all affect your ability to heal. Remember that the piercing location is fixed, but the jewelry can be changed after you have successfully healed.

Consider the following when selecting body jewelry for a new piercing:

Because the body jewelry industry is saturated with substandard products, piercers and clients alike may forget that cost alone should never be the key factor in your purchase.Of the numerous materials available, few have been proven appropriate for wear in fresh body piercings. Some metal alloys (mixtures) have been approved based on medical usage (often as medical implants) and have specific designations that represent a precise standard for the alloy and its quality as determined by the American (now International) Society for Testing and Materials Standard (ASTM) and/ or the International Standards Organization (ISO). Other materials, such as gold and obsidian (natural glass) have a long history of use in piercings dating back hundreds—and sometimes thousands—of years.

The material worn in a healing piercing:

• Should be able to withstand the heat and pressure of autoclave sterilization.

• Should be inert and compatible with the body so it doesn’t cause irritation, allergy, or infection.

Steel is made of a variety of alloys (mixture). Many of them are used for body jewelry, but only a few specific grades are proven biocompatible: steel that is ASTM F-138 compliant or ISO 5832-1 compliant; ISO 10993-(6,10, or 11) compliant; or (EEC [European] Nickel Directive compliant. The term “surgical steel” will almost never be used by qualified piercers as this term is generally used as marketing gimmick language due to the fact there isn’t such a thing as surgical steel. This is a general term for the few specific certified steel grades proven to be safe to wear in the body and do not cause localized argyria or other nickel related reactions. Because this material is relatively cheap, unfortunately most of the jewelry sold on the market today through malls, big name retail, and even local tattoo and piercing shops, is this dangerous mix of metals coined “surgical steel” but don’t be fooled by the name.

• Titanium is a lightweight metal that is ideal for people with concerns about nickel sensitivity. This material can be anodized to create jewelry of different colors without affecting the safety. Look for implant certified titanium (Ti6Al4V ELI) that is ASTM F-136 compliant or ISO 5832-3 compliant, or commercially pure titanium that is ASTM F-67 compliant.

• Gold (yellow or white) is appropriate for initial piercings if it is 14k or higher, nickel-free, and alloyed for biocompatibility. Gold higher than 18k is too soft for body jewelry because it can easily be scratched or nicked. Gold plated, gold-filled, or gold overlay/vermeil jewelry is not acceptable for fresh piercings. All of these involve coating a base metal with a layer of gold. The gold surface (which is very thin—measured in millionths of an inch) can wear or chip off.

In order to achieve sterilization, all of the necessary steps must be done thoroughly and correctly. This includes sanitation, disinfection, and thus finally, sterilization.

HEALTH AND STERILIZATION PRACTICES.

As professionals our number one focus is your health, happiness and the successful healing of your piercing. We believe in limiting your risk of infection by practicing aseptic techniques at all times and cross contamination prevention techniques. One of the steps we take to reduce your risk and make things more comfortable is a free-hand technique used for almost all piercing services. Sometimes tools can be helpful or even necessary, so when we do need to use them we make sure they have already been cleaned and sterilized properly.

Needles: We are huge advocates for safe piercing and the use of needles vs piercing guns, it is important that these instruments are also used correctly. All of our needles are single use, meaning after we inspect each new needle for imperfections, sterilize and use each needle, it is then thrown away in a sharps container which is kept locked and mounted on the wall in a designated area of the piercing room.

Tools: The tools a piercer needs consists of ring bending tools, receiving tubes, insertion tapers, forceps and hemostats to aid with grabbing small pieces of jewelry to get in tight areas. After each use these tools are soaked in an enzymatic processing solution that breaks down blood proteins, bodily fluids that carry viruses and pathogens, and provides a lubricating bath to avoid the buildup of debris and bacteria in the tools. The tools are then individually scrubbed by hand in a hot bath of this enzymatic processing solution and disinfected using our medical grade disinfectant, which is proven to be the most efficient disinfectant on the market, even proven to destroy the presence of the covid virus.

After this step tools are transferred to an ultrasonic bath in which ultrasonic cleaning kills bacteria and other pathogens through a physical reaction, by releasing ultrasonic electric waves through the solution the tools are soaking in. The tools are then rinsed, disinfected again, dried and packaged for sterilization. Along with the tools, jewelry, and needles needed to pierce, we also sterilize the materials we use for skin prep and post piercing clean up. This includes gauze, a single use marker, q tips, rubber bands, and sterile draping.

Steps

Sanitation is more than just cleaning and scrubbing, removing visible contamination and debris dramatically lowers the number of germs on the surface. However, a proper sanitizing product will be able to greatly reduce the amount of viruses on the surface that scrubbing in soap and water can leave behind.

Disinfection is the destruction of viruses, bacteria, and fungi on surfaces that have come in contact with a client’s skin. Proper disinfection leaves a surface highly unlikely to transmit infection or cause disease. Disinfection is only for non-living surfaces because disinfectants are damaging to living skin and may lead to irritation or allergic reactions.

Sterilization is the complete destruction of all microscopic life on a surface including the elimination of disease causing pathogens and viruses. Tattoo/piercing studios, salons, spas and hospitals should use a universal safe sterilization method and should all be held to the same level of cleanliness..

At Prestigious Piercing we use a Statim G4 autoclave that vacuums out any non sterile air first, and propels hot, sterile steam through the chamber to effectively sterilize all surfaces of the tools or jewelry inside. The sterilization process only takes about 4 minutes, with prep and dry time the whole process takes about 15 minutes.

After all materials, tools, and jewelry needed is sanitized, disinfected, and packaged it is then processed in our vacuum Statim G4 Autoclave for approximately 15 minutes at 260 degrees and is complete once all of the steam has been dried out from inside the chamber.

We test our autoclave each use in addition to a weekly spore test. Which not only makes sure our autoclaves are reaching effective temperatures, but also that there is not any bacteria present on the spore strip, to ensure all bacteria is effectively eliminated.