In looking through the forums, i haven't seen anything recent about tattoo and piercing protocols. In writing something up for someone on the forums who recently got her nipples pierced, i thought maybe, just maybe, some info about conditions of the enviroment you get work done at (be it tattoo or piercing) might be important. This is what i've got down so far, and i will be adding to it in the comming days. This all comes from either my personal experience from multiple tattoos done at different locations and multiple piercings, also done at different locations, and some help from experiences from some of my friends.

After going through piercings and tattoos myself, I don't want to see anyone get hurt from it. If/When you do decide to "take the plunge" please please PLEASE be wary of sanitary conditions of the place you do your peircings and don't let some asshat who says something like "I boiled my stuff" or doesn't open new, sterile packages in front of you. Those are HUGE red flags!!! Another one (and i only mention this because an old friend of mine got in trouble with this) is that there should not be ANY type of animal in the building where you get any type of piercing or tattoo done. My moronic friend got a labret (lip piercing) done at a place and there was a mother dog and her litter in the next room. His piercing got MAJORLY infected and it wasn't pretty. You should be able to request to view any professional facility that you're thinking about getting work done at. You should see things like spray bottles of body safe cleaner, plastic wrap (this is usually laid over any counter surface that the artist will be putting tools on), new packages of UNUSED disposable razors, movable, comfortable chairs (especially for tattooing as you'll need to sit for a while). When I got my right ankle tattooed, the first place i went to told me that i could just put me leg up on the artists leg, well that's monumentally stupid as anything that's on his clothes is now going to be very close to the skin that's getting opened up by the tattoo needle, never went back to that place again, nor did i get my tattoo there. You should also ask about aftercare for any type of body art BEFORE you get it done, i've found that each artist will tell you something just a little different (though the general care is the same), please make sure that whatever aftercare is advised, that it's something that you're committed, willing, and able to do for as long as it's advised. For every piercing, i've had to buy certain cleaning materials, for each tattoo, certain healing materials. They're not usually expensive, but this should still be brought into consideration in advance. Thinking back, the most expensive thing i had to buy was a special mouthwash when my tongue was pierced, if memory serves, it was about $5-$6, but that was on top of a GOOD regular mouthwash. So for the aftercare of my tongue, i probably spent a little less then $10, not too bad. What can get tiresome is the frequency of aftercare involved. With tattoos for example, they need to be kept "wet" almost constantly for quite some time (by wet, i mean greased with some type of healing ointment), so depending on what you want and where you want it, you may need help in keeping up on proper aftercare, when i had my second tattoo done right above my left buttock, it wasn't exactly easy to keep applying ointments, there were plenty of times Draco had to help me. I wouldn't suggest a back tattoo for someone who lives alone and doesn't have a trusted friend or loved one to help them out. Oral piercings are probably more tiresome then that though, everytime anything but water enters your mouth, you need to use mouthwash and thoroughly clean out your mouth for at least 3 weeks. (If you're considering a tongue piercing, i STRONGLY suggest buying at least one travel bottle of mouthwash and be prepared to refill it often!) There's a variety of other things that i'm just too scatterbrained to think about right now but will make an effort to add in the comming days. Additionally, every 'good' shop i've ever been in has a slight dentist's office smell, that nice sterile smell.