Expressing oneself can be an important part of the growing process. Not just as a teen that needs to find ways to let the world know who and what they are but as an adult searching for ways to show how you feel. There are many ways to do this self-expression, some write or draw. Others may sew, making clothing that reflects who they are. But still others feel that tattoos and body piercing are a viable method of self-expression. Piercing has certainly changed in the last twenty years, a time when it was common for a woman to have her ears pierced. Now its common to pierce just about any place on your body, once or many times, and instead of having a woman's ears pierced with one hole in each ear, women, and men, may have multiple piercings on a single ear. It is a time of self-expression that has become almost conformity.
Tattoos used to be something only the rough crowd had. Ex-cons showed off their prison tattoos with pride. But now anyone might have a tattoo. It may be a simple tiny rose on a spot always hidden beneath a woman's clothing. Or it may be anything from something small and unobtrusive, to armbands, full sleeves or on some people, most of their bodies.
It does not matter if we talking about tattoos or body piercings there is one thing they have in common other than self-expression. That is that they put a person at higher risk of contracting the Hepatitis C virus.
That may seem odd to many people who have had either of these procedures done. But it is how they are done that really makes the difference. To begin with, it's a bad idea to do them either on your own or to have a friend do them. Prison tattoos, while considered very macho, are probably one of the worst situations in which a tattoo or piercing can be done. That is because the Hepatitis C virus is spread by the passing of blood to blood and if the needles used for piercing or tattooing have been used before, and so remain unsterile, they can pass this very infectious disease.
If you want a tattoo or body piercing, and this includes anything from your ears, your tongue, naval or eyebrow, then pick a place that looks good and check them out before you get the work done. You want to be certain that they use sterile needles from an unopened package. You will also want the tattoo artist or piercing expert to wear gloves while they are working on you. This is just added protection for fear that they have open cuts that could spread any disease. When getting a tattoo you will also want clean inkpots to be used. These precautions may seem excessive to some, but anything that can be done to protect a person from the risk of the infectious Hepatitis C virus are more than worth acting upon.
