Honesty is The Best Policy

Why being honest on your release form is so important.

When you come in to get pierced, you will be required to fill out a little bit of paperwork before heading back to get your piercing. This paperwork is required by the state/health department, and we are required to keep them on file for a number of years.
Many people think that if they answer “yes” to any of the questions, that they will automatically be disqualified from being able to get pierced. With this thinking, they’ll go through and circle “no” to every question without even reading it first. This defeats the purpose of the paperwork and it is supposed to be an honest look into things that could affect your healing, the piercing procedure, amongst many other things.

Let’s dive into the questions – –

Have you eaten in the last 4 hours? It is almost more of a positive if you answer yes to this question. Having food in your stomach when getting a piercing can prevent you from feeling nauseous and/or fainting. If you sometimes do get light-headed after events dealing with needles, we usually recommend bringing a sugary drink or a light snack to have afterwards to bring your blood sugar back up.

Have you had any alcoholic beverages in the last 24 hours? This question is very much dependent on the amount of alcohol that you have consumed. If you had a drink earlier with a friend while out at lunch, this is typically okay. If you’ve had more than a couple or are clearly inebriated, this is absolutely not safe. Alcohol thins your blood and it can make it difficult to stop the bleeding after a piercing if you’ve had enough.

Are you prone to epilepsy, seizures, fainting, or narcolepsy? Knowing these things can help us in the event that you experience a seizure or a narcoleptic episode. Sometimes people faint from piercings when they do not have any history of fainting. Sometimes the build up of adrenaline is so much and then the piercing is done so quickly, that for the body to dump the adrenaline, it results in fainting. We are always prepared for these things but having a heads up can quicken our reaction time.

Do you have hemophilia, anemia, or a family history of heavy bleeding? Hemophilia is when your body has a hard time forming blood clots which is needed to stop bleeding, especially after a piercing. Sometimes we can still do a piercing on someone with hemophilia but we would need a doctors note saying that it is controlled by meds and that they approve. Anemia doesn’t pose much of an issue with a piercing and the heavy bleeding part of the question just helps us to be prepared. If you circle yes to this, we may grab a few extra cotton swabs.

Have you taken aspirin, ibuprofen, or anticoagulants within the last 24 hours? These types of medications can thin your blood and can make it so that you bleed more and so that we have a tough time getting it to stop/clot. If you’ve had a small amount (i.e. 200-400mg to help a headache It’s okay to have had a small amount of these so we will just ask how many milligrams you have taken and when.

Do you have any latex allergies? This question used to be more relevant because we used to use both latex and non-latex gloves. Now we have made the switch to being latex free completely.

Do you have any other allergies? Or nickel sensitivity? We typically ask if you have any nickel allergies before you go back to the piercing suite. This way, if you do, we only show you nickel free options which is our wide selection of titanium-made jewelry. Titanium is completely hypoallergenic so it works for everyone – the safest option if you’re unsure. Our 14k gold jewelry and surgical stainless steel jewelry has just traces of nickel, if that, so if you don’t break out from watches, belt buckles, etc, we typically say that these are great option as well!

Do you have diabetes, high blood pressure, or heart disease? None of these pose a huge issue. They just slightly or significantly delay healing time. We’ll be sure to talk about this more in depth.

Are you pregnant? This is one question where a ‘yes’ results in us not being able to pierce you. A persons body has to work so hard to grow a human that it would delay the healing of a piercing significantly. Also, if a person’s piercing were to get infected, the infection could go straight to the embryo. All of this is to say that it’s just not safe. However, we would be more than happy to pierce you afterwards!

Do you currently have a contagious disease such as Tuberculosis, Mononucleosis, pneumonia, or an STD such as HIV, Aids, or Hepatitis? None of these things will disqualify you from getting a piercing but we really really appreciate a heads up on these so answering honestly is a must. This is so that we know and can take extra precautions if we feel like we need to. We already make every piercing service as safe as possible for us and as safe as possible for you.

Are you taking a prescription medication *other than* routine antibiotics, allergy medication, or birth control? Allergy medications and birth control are absolutely okay and don’t pose an issue with getting a piercing. Most prescription medications are okay as well with the exception of blood thinners of any sort. If someone is taking these, we would need a doctors note.

Do you have a history of skin diseases, easy scarring, open sores, easy bruising, skin lesions, or skin sensitivities to soap or disinfectant? Any of these things dealing with the skin may just make it so the healing phase takes longer. If you bruise easily and you’re getting a dermal, surface piercing, or anything with a clamp, you may bruise quite a bit more than the average person. We have to pinch up the skin quite a bit with any surface piercings and the clamp holds a body part/skin in place while we do the piercing. This isn’t an issue and won’t affect healing, it’s purely just aesthetic. If you scar easily, this is just something to keep in mind when deciding to commit to a piercing. Scarring is a possibility with any piercing on any part of the body. If a person has sensitivities to soap, you are all good when getting pierced with us. We work hard to find the most gentle, yet effective products. Our ‘Wash-It!” glycerin soap that you get sent home with as a form of aftercare is also very gentle and works well on just about everyone, even those with sensitive skin.

As you can see, answering these questions honestly won’t prohibit you from getting a piercing. The only one that will is question #9 and it’s only temporary. Believe us when we say that we WANT you to get pierced so we will do all we can to help you be able to do so. In return, we just ask for honesty on the release form. It helps us to help you and do our job to the best of our ability.

If you have any questions, feel free to give us call at any of our 8 store locations, message us on any of our social media platforms, or email us at [email protected]. We’re always happy to help!