The January 2003 issue of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal stated that doctors are reporting incresing numbers of people developing infectious endocarditis after body piercing. The article included an example of a thirteen year old girl who became seriouslly ill one month after piecing her own navel. She was born with a heart malformation that been surgically corrected when she was tre years old. The girl said that she had removed her piercing after two days because it looked infected. A month later, she went to the doctor after running a fever for three days. Tests revealed that she had an infection in one of her heart’s valves. The girl was treated with heart surgery and antibiotics and realease from the hospital after twenty two days.

In addition to individuals with congenital heart disease, people with medical conditions such as diabetes and hemophilia are at a greater risk than most when getting pierced or tattooed. Diabetics take longer than nondiabetics to heal from cuts. The lengthier healing time increases their chances of getting an infection. While a diabetic’s main risk is infection, the danger for a hemophiiac is that he or she will lose excessive amounts of blood when getting pierced or tattooed. Typically when a person is cut, the blood’s ability to clot heals the wound, but a hemophiliac’s blood does not clot properly. This can result in great blood loss.

Like hemophiliacs, people taking mediciations that thin the blood are at risk of their blood not clotting when cut. Blood-thinning medications can make a person more likely to bleed heavily during and afer the tattoo or piercing process, and to experience excessive scabbing afterward.

Piercing have a greater tendency than tattoos to become infected. According to a Mayo Clinic article, studies show that up to 30 percent of piercings result in infections. This is because often the piercing result in infections. This is because often the piercing needle goes through flesh, whereas tattoo needles only penetrate the skin. Piercings are also prone to infections because they have long healing times, ranging from six weeks for an earlobe to six months for a navel piercing; because they rub against clothing; and because unsterilized jewerly may harbor bacteria. Navel piercings are among the most common piercings to result in infections because tight-fitting clothing inhibits air circulation, allowing moisture to collect in the piercing.

The American Academy of Dermatology warns people to be careful when getting any form body piercing, except ear piercing, because of possible skin infections. Typical symptoms include redness and swelling of the skin around the area that has been pierced and pus discharging from the piercing. Ointments are often used to cure minor infections.

More serious infections may require antibiotics or surgery and can result in long-lasting effects. For example, nipple piercing infections may affect a woman’s ability to breastfeed. Infections in the upper ear can also be very serious. Upper-ear cartilage does not have its own blood supply, so taking antibiotics is often ineffective because drugs cannot travel to the infection site. Upper-ear skin infections may require surgical drainage of pus. The most serious of these infections can permanently deform the ear.

Hepatitis B can cause lifelong infenction, cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver, liver cancer, liver failure, and death. Like those of AIDS, hepatitis B symptoms are treatable, but there is no known cure. According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, there have been cases of hepatitis B being transmitted through tattooing.

A recent study by a former Centers of Disease Control (CDC) researcher also suggests that getting a tattoo can significantly increase a person’s chances of getting hepatitis C. Hepatitis C is an incurable disease that is transmitted through blood. It is a viral infection of the liver that often leads to fatal liver disease. “People who had do-it-yourself tattoos have a three times greater risk for hepatitis C than people without tattoos, and people tattooed in jail have an even higher risk. But the greatest risk comes from commercial tattoo parlors,” states Robert Haley, chief of epidemiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. “People who get tattoos at commercial tattoo parlors have a nine times greater risk.” Haley’s risk calculations are based on a study of over 600 people who were patients at a spine clinic in the early 1990s. His evaluation included information about lifestyle risk factors and blood tests. Haley found that out of 113 patients who had at least one tattoo, 22 percent tested positive for hepatitis C. Only 3.5 percent of the patients with no tattoos had hepatitis C.

The most dangerous health risk associated with permanent body art is getting infected with a bloodborne disease, a disease that is passed by contamination of blood. This happens if the tattoo needle or piercing who has a disease. Pathogens, disease-causing organisms, can live in dried blood for several days and in liquid blood for even longer. An individual receiveing a tattooo or piercing can come into contact with a pathogen if the equipment used has not been sterelized since its last use. Because of the risk, the American Red Cross requires that people wait a year after getting a tattoo to donate blood. The Red Cross also requires that people wait to donate blood for a year after they are pierced if they are unsure whether sterile needles were used during the piercing.

The most feared bloodborn diseas is HIV. HIV is a mutating retrovirus that attacks the human immune system and has been shown to cuase acquired immunodefiency syndrome (AIDS). AIDS results in the progressive descrution of a person’s immune system, eventually leaving him or her unable to fight off colds and infenctions. Many AIDS symptops are treatable, but the disease itself is incurable and leads to death. To date, there have been no documented cases of tattooing or piercing resulting in HIV, but people fear this because the possibilit exists.

Ancient people’s reasons for getting tattoos or body piercings varied depending on where they lived. For example, the ancient Aztec and Maya of Central America practiced tongue piercing as a way to create an altered state of consciousness so that they could communicate with the gods. The New Zealand Maori tattooed themselves both to commemorate rites of passage and as a way to display their tribal status. Japanese men would tattoo themselves with intricate Irezumi designs, designs that displayed heroic figures, gods, and mythical creatures, as a way to decorate their bodies.

Today people get pierced or tattooed for many of the same reasons ancient people did. Their reasons range from getting tattooed to commemorate a particular accomplishment, such as graduating from college, to getting their nose pierced to be fashionable. Ultimately, people endure the pain of permanent body art so that they can outwardly display parts of their inner selves. “A tattoo is never just what the appearance is, anyway. You can only really know about the tattoo by getting to know the person wearing it. Tattoos are indicators, or little vents to their psyche.” states Don Ed Hardy, a well-known tattooist and former editor of Tattootime.

Some Simple Reasons:

• Enhancing Beauty
• Identifying Oneself
• Commemorating Others
• Taking Control
• Modern Primitives
• Rebellious Acts
• Pushing Boundaries
• Body Makeovers
• New Modifications

However, statistics show that permanent body art may not be just a passing fad. Instead, like cosmetics, it could become a long-term fashion mainstay. In recent years, the number of people getting tattooed or pierced has increased annually. A may 1996 issue of the medical journal Physician’s Assistant estimated that in the preceding twenty years, tattooing among women quadrupled. The number of tattoo studios throughout the United States has also increased. In 1994 there were 137 tattoo studios registered in Texas, for example. Eight years later that number had increased to over 600. In addition, the Alliance of Professional Tattooists (APT), a national organization of registered tattooists, reported that its membership grew from 1,800 members in 1999 to 3,000 members in 2004.

The body piercing industry is also experiencing growth. According to International Collection, a New York City body-jewelry wholesaler, the wholesale body-jewelry industry was an estimated $3 billion business in 2003 and is projected to double or triple in the next few years. States have also reported evidence of piercing’s popularity. According to the Portland Mercury, in 2001 there were 695 licensed body piercing technicians in Oregon, an increase of 250 percent since 1996.

Many people believe that tattooing and body piercing have continued to grow in popularity because an increasing number of people are getting tattooed and pierced for personal reasons rather than because they are following a fashion trend. Whether or not body piercing and tattooing will continue to gain popularity depends on how strong these personal reasons are.

Today, tattooists are often from artistic backgrounds and have chosen the field of tattooing as a way to practice art. Carl Williams, who has a master’s degree in art form the University of Hawaii, is an example of a typical modern tattoo artist. “My original intention was to teach college art, but I started hanging out at nights at tattoo shops,” Williams said. “After you’ve worked in different mediums, you can tell a big different. I can get the skin to do more than paper.”

Pat Fish is another example of tattooist with an artistic background. She earned degrees in studio art and film studies from the University of California Santa Barbara and taught drawing there after graduating. Fish opened a tattoo studio in Santa Barbara in 1984 so she could practice art full-time. She is best known for her Celtic designs, which are defined by intricate knotwork, braids, spirals, and circles. Clients come from all over the country for a Pat Fish original work.

The art community is beginning to consider tattoos as a legitimate art form. Galleries and museums, such as the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, are displaying photos of tattoos and b body piercings along with living examples of body art. Art journals have also taken notice of body art. For example, the July 1997 issue of Art in America featured an article on the work of Artist Tony Fitzpatrick, founder of the World Tattoo Gallery in Chicago. Fitzpatrick’s etchings an drawings are based, in part, on tattoo art.

A typical client today wants a more detailed and artistic tattoo than those of the past. According to Clinton Sanders, author of Customizing the Body: The Art of the Culture of Tattooing, “Coming from a higher socioeconomic back ground than the traditional tattooee, the new client commonly has more disposable income, emphasizes the decorative/aesthetic function of the tattoo over its affiliative/self-definitional function, and shares the tattoo artist’s interest in the production of a uniquely creative and innovative custom-designed image.” In particular, custom designs of Japanese, tribal, and Chicano tattoos, all of which require detailed work, have become popular.

Japanese tattoos are large, often full-body, tattoos using bright colors. These tattoos are typically of heroic images from Japanese myths, such as samurai, dragons, and the phoenix. Tribal tattoos originated in areas such as Samon and Hawaii. Their characteristics include heavy black lines and shading of geometric designs. Chicano tattoos are fine lined, having little color, and are highly detailed. They include photo-realistic portraits of people.

Rodney Robinson, an executive at an international consulting company, has a tattoo of an archangel on his upper arm. He believes that tattoos are no longer automatically considered a detriment to a person’s career. “Having a tattoo is viewed differently now,” Robinson stated. “It is more acceptable and not considered outside of the norm.” How ever, Robinson acknowledges that body art can have a negative impact in the workplace if it becomes a distraction to others. For this reason, he chose to place his tattoo on his upper arm, which is typically covered by his shirtsleeve.

Decades ago, the most popular locations for men’s tattoos were the front or back of the forearm. Today, men like Robinson often choose the upper arm or chest for tattoo locations because these areas are easier to cover with clothing. Women often ask that tattoos be placed on their ankles, hips, or lower backs, locations that can be concealed with clothing or are not immediately visible to other people. For example, at age twenty, Debra Knickerbocker got her tattoo, a white-sided angelfish, on her hip. “I specifically got it in an area that would rarely if ever be seen,” Knickerbocker said. “I can even wear bathing suits that don’t show it. I wanted to have the ability to hide if from my grand kids. I also didn’t want my tattoo showing at my wedding.”

Many people who decided to get pierced in places other than the ear also take into consideration potential controversies. As with tattoos, people often choose to get pierced in areas that can be covered up with clothing. According to a survey reported in the November 2001 issue of Clinical Nursing Research, after the ear, the most popular body piercing locations are the tongue, nipple, and navel, all of which can either be covered up or are not immediately visible to others.

In 2004, for example, the yearbook for Crothersville Junior-Senior High School in Crothesville, Indiana featured a two-page, full-color spread titled “Body Decorations.” The spread contained photos of both students’ and teachers’ tattoos and navel and tongue piercings. Many parents and school officials were upset by the photos. They believed that displaying the tattoos and body piercings was in poor taste and a disruption to the classroom; for those reasons, they felt the pictures should not be featured in the yearbook.

School officials were quick to react. Ralph Hillenburg, a Crothersville school trustee who received calls from people upset about the photos, stated that the photos should not have been allowed in the yearbook because such images violated the school dress code. Although the dress code did not ban facial piercings or tattoos, it did ban students from showing their navels at school.

Tom Judd, the principal of Crothersville Junior-Senior High School, said that he would review all yearbook pages in the future and that a yearbook spread like “Body Decorations” would not happen again. Other schools throughout the United States have dealt with similar controversies.

Dress Codes

One such issue is whether students should be allowed to have tattoos and body piercings at all. Another is what to do if a dress code forbidding body art is violated. These questions arose in 2004 in Henry County, Georgia.

On September 21 of that year, his second day at Dutchtown High School, fifteen year old Corey Rager was placed on in-school suspension for wearing eyebrow, nose, chin, and tongue piercings to school. The school’s policy is that body piercing on any visible part of the body other than the ear, including the tongue is prohibited. School officials believe the piercings disrupt school and are unsafe to its students.

A first offense of the dress code policy can lead to a one day in-school suspension, in which a student comes to school but is placed in an isolated setting under supervision and is not allowed to attend his or her regular classes. A second offense results in a three-day suspension, but students can return to class if they remove the piercing. If they continue to violate the policy, they can receive an extended in-school suspension for over a month, until his mother, Kati Monahan, decided to teach him at home.

Parents like Monahan believe that the decision to allow their children to wear piercings and tattoos should be up to them, not school officials. Several schools agree with Monahan’s viewpoint and allow their students to wear visible piercings and tattoos. For example, in Fayette County, Georgia, high school students are allowed to wear multiple piercings provided they do not disrupt the learning process.