Hello, this weekend I got my tragus repierced. The tragus is the little flappy part at the front of your ear above your lobe. Well, shortly after while at lunch, the ball to the hoop fell off. As the balls are really hard to screw on, we went back the the piercing place. She sterilized the tiny ball, but what kinda freaked me out is that she took out a tray that did not have the paper on it. It had a suspicious stain on it, and another piece of hardware, it looked like a broken lip ring. I was a little freaked that she would then put my ball on this tray. I decided to think nothing of it, as we have gone to this establishment for years and they have always been really professional and clean. Ok so then she could not get the ball on with just her hands (she had gloves on), so she took a special tool used to help hold jewelry so they can get things hooked better. Well, the cup thing she took it out of did not look very clean, but I did not get a really good look, for all I know it could have had sterilization stuff in it. So I am just really scared that I could have gotten hepatitus from this. She did not actually pierce anything at this point. However I am pretty sure that tool she used touched my piercing. My ear bleed a bit from her poking and prodding to get the ball back on. What do you think? I am a total worry wart!

Hello, this weekend I got my tragus repierced. The tragus is the little flappy part at the front of your ear above your lobe. Well, shortly after while at lunch, the ball to the hoop fell off. As the balls are really hard to screw on, we went back the the piercing place. She sterilized the tiny ball, but what kinda freaked me out is that she took out a tray that did not have the paper on it. It had a suspicious stain on it, and another piece of hardware, it looked like a broken lip ring. I was a little freaked that she would then put my ball on this tray. I decided to think nothing of it, as we have gone to this establishment for years and they have always been really professional and clean. Ok so then she could not get the ball on with just her hands (she had gloves on), so she took a special tool used to help hold jewelry so they can get things hooked better. Well, the cup thing she took it out of did not look very clean, but I did not get a really good look, for all I know it could have had sterilization stuff in it. So I am just really scared that I could have gotten hepatitus from this. She did not actually pierce anything at this point. However I am pretty sure that tool she used touched my piercing. My ear bleed a bit from her poking and prodding to get the ball back on. What do you think? I am a total worry wart!


what i think, you probably won't enjoy hearing. piercing is a long-suspected vector for transmitting hep c and other blood-borne illnesses. this must go double or triple for the type of outfit you are dealing with.

you needn't faint in fear--hep c is rarely the horrible disease that its been imagined as--but you should get yourself tested after about two months (before that it likely would not show), and then again about two months after that. (this level of testing is quick and cheap--your gp or the local health clinic can draw the blood).

Then, if these tests are negative, you should write 500 times "I will never get a piercing again." and mean it. At least until they have a true cure for hepatitis B and C, anyway.

my opinion only, of course.

sean