Tattoos and piercing - wildish jewelry for a civilized body.

Sensual self-expression for some, provocative - for others, tattoos and piercing make the progressing success and are applied to several hundred thousands of times a year today.

Artists on a human body have till today's time of no professional recognized status, and their instructions are not surrounded with any sanitary regulation. It is a problem which continues to disturb as the normal authorities, both tattooers, and their clients.

Same ancient as mankind, paintings on a body had and have the supporters. Even if the fashion passes, they all the same remain. Not important, it is about tattoos or about piercings, these letters of beauty are applied on a body, with all consequences which attract health hazard. And today possible to proclaim itself the tattooer to everyone just because no professional regulation and sanitary standards for this profession kind of exist.

Risky practice!

Tattoos and piercing are a subject of disputes at physicians for a long time. Also there are reasons on it! Really, these acts can be hazardous to health. The potential risk of transfer of local bacteria (staphylococcus, a streptococcus, pyocyaniques) is huge. Fortunately these infections are in most cases complacent, except for that rare a case when the tattoo leads to sepses and endocardites (inflammation of a cardiac muscle). Also viral infections (VICH-INFEKTSIYA, VHC and VHB), for the lack of antiseptics or their transfer from the expert and to his client and vice versa are not forgotten.

If recently reported about the only case of transfer of hepatitis C in media owing to ear piercing, then the risk is procedures was recognized as rather important that the rule followed: to exclude blood draw at any donor who would have a piercing, a minimum one year prior to the procedure of blood sampling.

In case of a tattoo, the sanitary risk comes also from composition of paints at which both the quality, and origin still are not defined by any norms. It will be necessary to expect, however, the new case which entailed hospitalization concerning a bone infection later on pollution by a fungus (Acremonium fungi) that the agency of the French Sanitary Safety of Healthy products (Afssaps) forbade release and use of paints of the incriminated brand.

Administrative complexity.

This business happened, by the way, in several days after the French legislation for the first time paid attention to tattoo products, inserting their definition and the provided resolutions on their use into the code of laws on health care. But again nothing new was told rather professional status of artists (as they define themselves) as well as about a sanitary regulation of this practice.

While, doctors and other experts of health care have clear and exact sanitary directives, experts of a tattoo and piercing I have in general no requirements while they also well realize dangers of such state of affairs.

According to the questionnaire of the sanitary safety which is carried out by inspectors of health care 3 years ago among tattooers many of them recognize existence of serious gaps of the hygienic plan in the work. The most part from them want to have and ask more information in a question of sanitary precautions.

For democratization of a tattoo and increase in number of small salons, the National labor union of tattooers decided to take a question in hand, having created already a few years ago own Insurance Company in cooperation with surgeons and dermatologists.

And the long-awaited regulation of work of tattooers developed under control of Public charity of the Parisian hospitals would have to come into force at the end of 2005. Only thing but: these sanitary directives of Head department of Health were developed without consultation with tattooers.

"None of us were invited to take part in discussion of this project under the pretext of the fact that our profession is not recognized lawfully" - Sandra Tuvenot, the member of National labor union of tattooers speaks.

If specialists in a tattoo and piercing think that they have the opinion, then it because the specified working rules, leave at them more scepticism concerning the future of this profession, than optimism. Some of these directives will oblige, for example, each tattooer to continue auxiliary education by rules of antiseptics, to follow strict and expensive rules of registration (the statement in the prefecture), to the general examinations in use of sterile material.

"The main problem of these directives - expensive functioning which consequence only closing of small little shops will be that will drive tattooers into an underground" - considers Sandra Tuvenot.
And clients after all can be quieter at these new rules, regulating the state of health of the tattooer, quality of paints and working tools.

Though for clients pobedeny can be on a pocket now only some semibasement salon "MOTHER AFRICA" where will apply it an exotic tattoo on a shoulder with not less exotic paints …