PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- The Czech trade authority has ordered the withdrawal from sale of two U.S.-made tattoo inks after they were found to be contaminated with mold, an official said Thursday.

Tests on the inks called StarBrite Black Magic and StarBrite Colors, which were imported to the Czech Republic earlier this year, allegedly showed contamination with acremonium, a mold often found on plants, said Miloslava Fleglova, a spokeswoman for the trade inspectorate.

The tests were ordered after a man had to be hospitalized with a severe inflammation in his arm after being tattooed with StarBrite earlier this month in Brno, 125 miles southeast of Prague.

It was not immediately clear how much of the ink, produced by Tommy's Supplies, LLC, of Enfield, Conn., has been imported to the country.

Tommy Ringwalt, the company's vice president, said he removed the alcohol content from a small lot of StarBrite black ink after reading an article that claimed alcohol caused fungus, but he has since learned that alcohol actually kills fungus.

"Unfortunately, that's been an embarrassment to us and we've put the alcohol back in there," he said.

Several people in the United States also reported mold infections after using the product, he said.

The Czech inspectorate will place a warning against using the ink with RAPEX, the European Union's alert system for dangerous consumer products, Flegova said.

www.stamfordadvocate.com

Former inmate alleges jail worker removed piercings; jail supervisor rebuts claims

When Sharon Lea was pulled over last month for running a red light in Joplin, she didn't know the night would end in her arrest, or that her tongue piercings would be removed with what she described as "a pair of rusty pliers."

Lea, 40, of Fayetteville, Ark., said she also had to rip out her nose ring, causing her to bleed.

The woman's story apparently is not unique. Stories similar to hers have been circulating through Joplin's piercing community for years, those who work in parlors say.



T.J. Demery, a piercer for three years at Body Accents in Joplin, said that almost every week, she has clients who say they have been arrested, and that their jewelry has been clipped, removed with pliers or taken out improperly. She said jailers apparently have the most problems with hoops.

"It's like they can't figure out how to get it out, so they just tear them out," Demery said.

Lea, who said she suffered a swollen nose and tongue after the incident, filed a complaint with the Joplin Health Department on May 20, several days after her arrest, alleging that jail personnel removed her piercings in an unsanitary way.

Becky Heffren, environmental health and epidemiology coordinator with the Joplin Health Department, conducted an investigation through e-mail, phone interviews and by visiting the jail to take a look at the alleged "rusty" pliers.

On June 8, Heffren submitted a recommendation to police Sgt. Geoff Jones, who is the contract administrator between the city and GRW Corp., the private company that runs the jail.

She wrote: "Our basic recommendation on the body piercing, jewelry removal policy is if the jewelry is imbedded to the point of requiring pliers for removal, it should not be done."

Painful night

Lea said she was arrested on a warrant filed 2 1/2 years ago in Arkansas on a charge of driving under the influence. She said she had the ticket sent to a Missouri address, and that when the charge was taken care of in Arkansas, there was still a warrant for her arrest in Missouri.

She said that when she was taken to the Joplin jail, she was told that all of her piercings would have to be removed or she could not be booked or make phone calls, which meant she wouldn't be allowed to post bond.

Lea said she had two piercings in her tongue, one in her cheek, one in her nose and numerous rings in her ears. She said she was most concerned about the one in her nose because skin had grown over it and she knew it would bleed if the piercing were removed.

She said a woman who booked her at the jail did not mention any policy about embedded piercings not having to be removed.

"The lady's exact words were, 'You can just rip it out,' and I said it was going to bleed, and she said, 'Then you can just clean it up,'" Lea said.

Lea said she pulled the piercing through her nose, resulting in torn flesh and bleeding. She said there was no way for her to remove her tongue piercings on her own because they were screwed too tight. She alleges that the woman who was booking her used pliers to remove the tongue piercings.

J.D. Shrum, administrator of GRW, would not provide the name of the employee who booked Lea. Although he was not present at the time of the booking, he was skeptical of Lea's account, as well as the other stories recounted by workers in Joplin parlors.

"I guess you have to listen to what you have to listen to, but I strongly suggest that you have to consider the source," Shrum said. "No one who comes here is happy."

Jones, with the Joplin Police Department, said the pliers cited in Lea's complaint are now gone.

"We have since replaced those pliers," he said. "I don't know if a non-rusty pair of pliers would be any more sanitary when it gets down to the microscopic level. I really don't know much about piercings."

Shrum said the jail's policy gives inmates the opportunity to remove their piercings themselves.

Shrum said the jewelry is removed as standard procedure for the safety of the inmate and the security of the inmate's possessions. He said that if the jewelry is embedded or too difficult to remove by hand, the inmate is allowed to leave it in.

Jones said that in Lea's case, he was under the impression that she used the pliers herself. Shrum said it was Lea who wanted to take her tongue piercings out.

"They (jail employees) did not remove them for her; she asked for a pair of pliers," Shrum said. "My officer presented her two pair of pliers. My officer gave them to her, and she selected one and did it herself."

Lea said that is ludicrous.

"Why would I have wanted to remove anything if I could've left them in when I was going to be bonded out in a few hours?" she said, adding that she would not have chosen to use rusty pliers on herself.

"There's no way with the type of pliers they gave me that I could've done it by myself. It took having one underneath my tongue on the ball (of the piercing) and one on top of my tongue because you have to hold one of the balls still while you unscrew."

Lea said the woman who booked her used gloves, but she also used two pairs of pliers taken from a desk, one of which was rusty.

"Just sterilize the stuff," Lea said. "She used gloves, but that doesn't compensate for a pair of rusty pliers."

'Horror stories'

Employees in Joplin piercing parlors say they have heard stories like Lea's for years involving inmates who claim jailers have removed their body jewelry improperly, either destroying their jewelry or causing them pain.

But Shrum said a jailer becomes involved in removing piercings only when an inmate asks for help.

"The only time the jailer removes the jewelry is if the inmate cannot do it themselves and requests assistance," Shrum said, adding that even when inmates refuse to remove their jewelry, it is still not done by jail personnel. "They're instructed that the jewelry is removed for the safety of the inmates and their jewelry, and generally after a brief discussion they remove the jewelry themselves."

But, the stories in parlors persist.

"I've seen a lot of people come here who have been arrested, and that's where I've heard a lot of these horror stories," said Stan Boman, the senior piercer at Punkteur, a Joplin piercing parlor.

"It appears that they (Joplin jail employees) normally cut the larger gauge jewelry because it's difficult to remove, and when they do, it creates a sharp edge that can cut the person when it's pulled through the hole," he said.

Chad Terry, who has been piercing for close to 10 years and works at Electric Art, said he hears these stores about the Joplin jail all the time.

"I constantly have people coming in with missing jewelry, jewelry that's been cut and ruined," Terry said. "I've personally seen them (Joplin jail employees) do this, and they'll wear gloves, but the tools they use are like what you'd find in a toolbox."

Terry said the one time he was arrested, he removed his own jewelry, but he has heard of others whose jewelry was removed by the jailers.

"A lot of people are just being stubborn, saying they can't get their jewelry out, but a lot of jewelry is also hard to get out," he said.

Jim Peters, the owner of Ink Illustrations in Joplin, said he talked to Lea when she came by his shop after leaving the jail. He said he told her he has seen evidence numerous times of piercings being mishandled at the Joplin jail.

Peters said that in one case, he could not put a man's piercing back in place.

"I had a person come in one time, and they (jail employees) ripped his nipple piercing completely out," Peters said. "It couldn't be put back; they tore the skin. They shouldn't be taking them out if they don't know what they're doing."

Elsewhere

Shrum again disagreed, saying the Joplin jailers do not cut jewelry, but jailers elsewhere say they have.

"Well, it just depends on what kind of piercing it is," said Bruce Strain, a jailer at the Fayetteville, Ark., jail. "If it can be used as a weapon or can be used to hurt someone or escape, we normally cut it out or do what we can to take it out."

Strain said that if the jewelry is embedded and doesn't appear dangerous, inmates are allowed to keep it in.

Lea said she was arrested in Fayetteville 2 1/2 years ago on the DUI charge, and that the jailers allowed her to keep most of her jewelry in, including her tongue rings. That's one of the reasons, she said, that she was confused when the Joplin jailers insisted that her piercings be removed.

Jasper County sheriff's Capt. Kevin Blaukat said that 99 percent of the time, those booked into the county jail remove their own jewelry. He said the jail rarely has inmates with body piercings, but that at times jailers have used wire cutters to cut jewelry off.

Said Shrum: "It's strange they (Joplin piercing parlors) say Joplin does all this, and it appears we're the only ones that don't. It's amazing."

Lea said she is still angry over her experience at the city jail.

"I wish I could just keep my mouth shut," she said. "But I hate injustice and unfairness."

www.joplinglobe.com

You're enamored of your barbed-wire tattoo but are pretty certain your potential employer or mother-in-law won't share that sentiment.

Lucky for you, cosmetics firm Covermark has introduced its Tattoo Cover Kit ($30), billed as a "painless, temporary alternative to laser surgery which allows clients to restore their tattoos to full glory after (an) event is over."

The kit's foundation, primer and finishing powder come in three skin shades: fair/medium, medium/dark and deep.

We conducted several tests on black- and colored-ink tattoos, using all three hues, and found the concealment factor to be excellent - much better than that of our own department-store cosmetics.

But buyer, beware: It's imperative that the foundation match your skin tone exactly, or else you'll end up with a fairly obvious (and ridiculous-looking) cover-up job.

www.journalnow.com

Mookie, a tattoo artist at Top Notch Tattoos who doesn't like to be called Marcus Raferty, flips through a photo album of his professional work, pointing out the more popular designs at his U Street shop these days. Koi fish, praying hands, the old-school Americana of thumping hearts and landing eagles -- big favorites, Mookie says -- flipping along, flipping along.

Wait a minute -- flip it back a page. There's a photo of a kid with a tattoo of the D.C. flag sprawled out on his back, the red stripes and stars stretching from shoulder to shoulder.

"Those are real popular here," Mookie says. "I've done four in the last couple of months."

So what's going on here?

Mookie raises his eyebrows as if to say Are you joking? "Represent!" he says. "Punk-rock city, yo!"

He's referring to the growing legion of kids roaming the city's punk and hardcore pavement, with their loyalty to their hometown sound planted firmly in their hearts, and on their skin.

"The D.C. flag has been a symbol for D.C. punk for some time," says Erik Gamlem, 27, who first came to Washington when he was 13 and now carries two District of Columbia flag images on his body. He got the first one four summers ago shortly after attending a Fort Reno concert, where the hot weather that day revealed several flags inked on the arms and backs of D.C.'s 'core constituency. For Gamlem, he spotted a nation among a community.

"When I go out of town," he says, "I like to let people know where I'm from and who I am, and that I'm a part of an incredible music scene."

How did it all start? Well, you first get your footing in the city's punk music history by knowing the likes of Minor Threat, Fugazi and the influence of Dischord Records. But then you let flag-bearers like Gamlem show you where the music is today: groups like Mannequin, Homage to Catalonia, Majority Rule and Beauty Pill top Gamlem's list.

"I got mine in 1999," says Ryan Nelson, drummer of Beauty Pill and former member of D.C. stalwarts the Most Secret Method. He says he saw his first D.C. flag tattoo back in the early 1990s on a couple of local rockers who definitely gave the trend a high-voltage stage: Seth Lorinczi and Jesse Quitslund, the former Vile Cherubs band mates who were then part of an incarnation called Please.

"Actually, there were four of us, and we all got the tattoos the same night, on Jesse's birthday," says Lorinczi, who is from San Francisco, home turf of his new outfit, the Quails. "We just had huge pride in the D.C. scene," says Lorinczi. "And it's graphically interesting, too."

Dischord Records thought so, too, when the label released its seminal compilation of D.C. hardcore in 1981 called "Flex Your Head," where the original cover art subverted the D.C. flag by featuring three X's in place of the stars. (In the same decade the X would come to signify the city's "straight edge" punk scene, but the straight-edge kids who got X tats would invariably gravitate to the triple-X design.)

Over the years local bands, particularly the Nation of Ulysses, were co-opting the flag's design left and right; as Washington's punk music reached way beyond its borders, so did the flag's design. Nelson, who also works for Dischord Records, says it's doubtful that many of today's punk and hardcore kids living in, say, the Midwest know anything about the D.C. flag derivation of their three-star or three-X tats.

But for Nelson, a nation of ubiquity just doesn't rock. "It actually makes me feel terrible -- I don't want the D.C. flag tattoo being the new Tasmanian Devil. You know what that is?" Yes, it's a Looney Tunes character who can spin into a dust devil. "Yeah, my dad has one."

www.washingtonpost.com

An Italian court ruled that a social worker who showed his pierced privates to a rest home resident was not guilty of obscene conduct.

A prosecutor in Trento, northern Italy, moved to drop charges against the male rest home employee because the incident did not take place in public and the female viewer was over age 14. (cont'd)

The 80-year-old woman was shocked at the stint of show-and-tell by the care giver and filed a police report against him. The man defended himself stating that he bared his pierced penis to the elderly woman in the spirit of "fun and games," not to offend.

Piercings have become increasingly popular in Italy. In the first three months of 2004 some 70% more Italians adorned themselves with piercings than the previous year.

www.zoomata.com

Jun 23 (Reuters Health) - A woman developed a serious infection one week after piercing her tongue, demonstrating one of the risks of the procedure, according to experts.

People who choose to pierce their tongues "are getting a medical procedure done by a non-licensed professional," Dr. Melvin K. Pierson, spokesperson for the Academy of General Dentistry, told Reuters Health.


Pierson explained that anytime people undergo dental procedures, they open themselves up to life-threatening infections from mouth-dwelling bacteria.


And if people have a history of heart defects, they are at risk of endocarditis, a particularly serious infection that spreads to the heart. Consequently, their doctors or dentists will often give them antibiotics before tooth cleanings and other oral procedures, Pierson said.


A tongue piercing should be treated no differently than any other dental procedure, Pierson argued, and people who are planning to get one should first visit a dentist or doctor to determine if they need antibiotics beforehand.


"If the public is going to get a tongue piercing, they should be evaluated by a professional," he said in an interview.


Research has shown that tongue piercing increases the risk of another potentially deadly infection known as Ludwig's angina in which the jaw swells, sometimes to the point of closing off the windpipe. In addition, according to the National Institutes of Health, piercing can transmit hepatitis B, C, D and G.


In the journal General Dentistry, Dr. William J. Dunn and Dr. Teresa Reeves of the Lackland Air Force Base in Texas describe the case of a young woman whose pierced tongue had become inflamed and was oozing pus. She was also having trouble speaking and swallowing.


The doctors removed the barbell inserted into her tongue, cleaned the wound and gave her a course of antibiotics. Two weeks later, she had healed.


Although the woman featured in this report sought help for her infection, many newly-pierced people may not because they are told to expect a certain amount of soreness and swelling from the procedure, and do not recognize what is abnormal, said Pierson, who was not an author of the study.


Consequently, "anyone who goes in for a piercing can have these two severe medical problems (endocarditis and Ludwig's angina), and won't know it," Pierson warned.


He added that the same risks of tongue piercing apply to any type of oral piercing, such as the cheeks and lips.


Dunn and his co-author also advise anyone planning to pierce their tongues to make sure that their piercing parlor uses disposable or sterile needles and sterile gloves.

www.heartcenteronline.com

Columbus - Life imitates (body) art?

On Blaine Wilson's calf is a tattoo of The Tick, a blue cartoon figure who achieved cult popularity on the Fox Network and Comedy Channel from his adventures with the likes of Die Fledermaus, the Bi-Polar Bear, and the Mother of Invention. Faster than you can say, "Don't count your weasels before they pop," which the Tick once did, the veteran gymnast explains its importance.

"The Tick is a superhero," said Wilson, a for mer Ohio State gymnast and a five- time U.S. champion. "He's very powerful. He also is dumber than rocks. Look at gymnasts powerful, but dumb as rocks to be continuing in the sport."

Wilson is coming back after tearing his left biceps tendon off the bone on Feb. 28. The minimum healing time for reattaching (with a titanium wire) a biceps is supposed to be six months. Bart Conner, one of the superheroes of the 1984 U.S. Olympic gold medal-winning team, overcame a similar injury. Conner, however, tore the tendon at the shoulder, not the elbow, as Wilson did, so Conner's was easier to fix. Conner also had eight months, not five, in which to recover.

But when the U.S. Gymnastics Trials begin Thursday in Anaheim, Calif., Wilson will be there. With The Tick, and with his additional Chinese tattoos that spell out Year of the Tiger and father, as well as his Egyptian sun god Ra tattoo that has the zodiac symbol for Leo (Wilson was born Aug. 3, 1974) as its eye, he is a Sino-Egyptian-animated synthesis, a living, breathing mural, broken and now mending, of human determination.

"I like body art," shrugged Wilson, who also has had a tongue ring.

Said OSU men's gymnastics coach Miles Avery, Wilson's personal coach, "Talk about sacrifices. Look at the ones he's made. The pain, the commitment in time. His days have been spent nowhere but in the gym: workout, morning practice, rehab, lunch, second practice, every day, every minute. On the seventh day, he gets to rest, like God."

"Back in the day, Olympians were considered gods," the 1996 and 2000 Olympian said, smiling, as he rested on a mat at OSU's Steelwood Gym.

Wilson will be old for a gymnast, 30, when the Athens Olympics begin. "Each year in a gymnast's life is like a dog's year. It counts seven," he said.

No package so small (he stands 5-4) has ever taken such a licking and kept on Ticking. After five shoulder operations, Wilson knows the drill: Sleeping sitting up, nothing feeling comfortable, the appalling drop in strength and range of motion, the howl of pain that has to be choked down.

He knows the dimensions of his task at the trials. Men's gymnastics has evolved into a sport with a he-man element. The cameras might love the flexible flyers on the bars, but the competition is mainly one of strength. In the still rings, Wilson's best event, the strength premium is at its highest. He must perform four maneuvers that only the strong survive. "You have to be a brute," Avery said.

Wilson must compete on all six apparatuses at the trials and finish in the top two to be sure of a spot in Athens. But his experience and leadership, combined with a team need for points-maximizing single-event specialists, make the lord of the rings a good bet.

"I feel it burning in me, the Olympic medal, like a physical presence," Wilson said. "With it, all the pain and doubts are gone. They're temporary. The medal lasts."

www.cleveland.com

Robert Mark McKee opened new studio just 3 months ago
A longtime Huntsville tattoo artist was killed Saturday evening in a robbery at his Cocoa, Fla., studio.

Robert Mark McKee, who opened the Altered Images Tattoo and body piercing shop there three months ago, was shot twice in the chest after struggling with robbers and attempting to chase them into the parking lot, police said.

The robbers - believed to be three men in their 20s - entered the shop about 7 p.m., when all the other businesses in a strip mall off U.S. 1 were closed. McKee, 41, was working alone.

Police are still searching for the suspects, believed to be connected to at least three other robberies of isolated businesses.

The robbers seem to have become more violent with each holdup, said Cocoa police officer Barbara Matthews.

Employees at an adult video store and a fish shop, both robbed recently, complied with the robbers. McKee, she said, did not. "And all his friends say he was not a guy to give in easily to anyone."

Officers found his body in the parking lot just south of the tattoo shop, not far from U.S. 1.

Now, David Jones, an artist at Huntsville's Hot Rod Tattoos, wishes he had a tribal tattoo by McKee.

"As long as I've known him, I've never gotten a tattoo from him," Jones said. "We'd get bored and say, 'Sit down,' and give each other something. I've had like two appointments with him, but it always ended up being a real busy day."

Jones worked with McKee for about three years at Hot Rod and several other local studios. He said McKee once owned a studio here, where he had lived for years.

McKee was a father, an artist, a martial artist and loved motorcycles, Jones said.

"Mark was the best dude I have ever met in my life - the most honest, down-to-earth," Jones said. "Out of every tattoo artist in Huntsville, I had the most respect and the most love for him."

Jones said McKee did mostly tribal tattoos, and an "ungodly" number of Huntsville residents sport tattoos by McKee.

"Now, every one of my friends has something from him," he said. "And I've got nothing."

McKee left four books of hand-sketched tattoos at Hot Rod. His former co-workers are considering making copies of the originals. But for now, his books are shelved.

"A buddy of mine just stopped by and let me listen to" McKee's answering machine greeting, Jones said. "And it said, 'I'm either tattooing or surfing.'

"That's him. Either tattooing or surfing."

www.al.com

New code broadens existing code for tattoo artists, adds new language to include piercings- First District Health Unit is proposing body artists and piercers meet certain qualifications and safety standards to practice in its seven-county region.

That's fine with some of the licensed tattoo operators, who want stricter controls on the profession.

No one expects a tougher code to eliminate the home shops that are most likely to violate the rules, but environmental health director Jim Heckman said First District will continue taking action if it learns of such operations.

Bill Norby, owner of Lizard Design Tattoo in Minot, said he likes the new code, which broadens the existing code for tattoo artists and adds new language to include piercings.



"There are a couple of things in there that seemed a little higher-end than what we would really need for this area," he said. But he added, "I am happy with it."

A hearing on the proposed code will be held Thursday at 10 a.m. at First District Health Unit in Minot.

The national tattoo industry has been trying to get more licensing rules, Norby said. It's too easy for a young person to order a tattooing kit off the Internet and tattoo several buddies, risking the spread of disease and not always doing a good job, he said.

"I do a lot of fixes," Norby said.

Heckman said the health unit has heard from a few parents who have had concerns about lack of regulations over piercing operations. He said other people have voiced concern that tougher regulations will accelerate the black market. The health unit looks to control safety where it can, he said.

"We are going to make sure the people that are licensed - that are doing a good job - meet our regulations," he said.

Eight shops are licensed.

Heckman said health unit staff will be inspecting hair salons in Minot to determine whether they do any piercing that might fall under the code. The new code addresses piercing of ear cartilage or other parts of the body. It doesn't cover common piercing of earlobes.

Karen Marter, owner of Michael Jays Tattoo in Bismarck, said she welcomes a tougher code in Minot. Her business is licensed by First District because it has operated at Rockin' the Hills.

"I am thankful that North Dakota is finally doing something," she said, noting that the state is one of the last to pursue regulations. She said she would like statewide regulations someday.

Justin Marter, also of Michael Jays, said often, in North Dakota, codes are too weak to be effective and inspectors aren't knowledgeable in what to look for.

"But I am just happy that they are doing something about it to stop all these people tattooing out of their homes and friends tattooing friends," he said. "They need to make the punishment a little bit harder than a slap on the wrist and a tiny, little fine."

Licensees particularly want to see controls over who can be licensed.

Norby also said the proposed requirement for apprenticeship is a good one. Many schools are just quick courses, and an extended apprenticeship is the better training, he said. Competition for the limited number of apprenticeships is keen, but he has worked with nine apprentices over the past 11 years.

Justin Marter said professionals also get annual training to stay current in their field. Professional associations offer standardized tests for artists who want their skills documented.

Heckman said First District designed its code based on ordinances of various cities, recommendations of a national association of tattoo artists and input from local businesses.

www.minotdailynews.com

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A woman developed a serious infection one week after piercing her tongue, demonstrating one of the risks of the procedure, according to experts.

People who choose to pierce their tongues "are getting a medical procedure done by a non-licensed professional," Dr. Melvin K. Pierson, spokesperson for the Academy of General Dentistry, told Reuters Health.

Pierson explained that anytime people undergo dental procedures, they open themselves up to life-threatening infections from mouth-dwelling bacteria.

And if people have a history of heart defects, they are at risk of endocarditis, a particularly serious infection that spreads to the heart. Consequently, their doctors or dentists will often give them antibiotics before tooth cleanings and other oral procedures, Pierson said.

A tongue piercing should be treated no differently than any other dental procedure, Pierson argued, and people who are planning to get one should first visit a dentist or doctor to determine if they need antibiotics beforehand.

"If the public is going to get a tongue piercing, they should be evaluated by a professional," he said in an interview.

Research has shown that tongue piercing increases the risk of another potentially deadly infection known as Ludwig's angina in which the jaw swells, sometimes to the point of closing off the windpipe. In addition, according to the National Institutes of Health, piercing can transmit hepatitis B, C, D and G.

In the journal General Dentistry, Dr. William J. Dunn and Dr. Teresa Reeves of the Lackland Air Force Base in Texas describe the case of a young woman whose pierced tongue had become inflamed and was oozing pus. She was also having trouble speaking and swallowing.

The doctors removed the barbell inserted into her tongue, cleaned the wound and gave her a course of antibiotics. Two weeks later, she had healed.

Although the woman featured in this report sought help for her infection, many newly-pierced people may not because they are told to expect a certain amount of soreness and swelling from the procedure, and do not recognize what is abnormal, said Pierson, who was not an author of the study.

Consequently, "anyone who goes in for a piercing can have these two severe medical problems (endocarditis and Ludwig's angina), and won't know it," Pierson warned.

He added that the same risks of tongue piercing apply to any type of oral piercing, such as the cheeks and lips.

Dunn and his co-author also advise anyone planning to pierce their tongues to make sure that their piercing parlor uses disposable or sterile needles and sterile gloves.

www.reuters.com

Health Bureau studies regulations elsewhere; at least 5 parlors in Bethlehem

Jennifer Stringer wanted a permanent reminder of her son seven years ago when she had a teddy bear tattooed to her shoulder.

But, just as important, she wanted to stay healthy for her little ''bear'' and quizzed her friends for the names of reputable studios where she would not contract diseases from unsterilized needles.

Stringer returned the favor last week when she accompanied her friend Wayne Nicklas for his first tattoo. They spent their lunch hour one day window shopping, and the next day Nicklas got a black cross tattooed on his upper arm at Outrageous Unlimited in south Bethlehem.

''You have to look for cleanliness, certifications on the wall, sterilized needles — shop around,'' said Stringer, 29, of Allentown. ''Regulations would definitely help the search.''

Although the state is mulling regulations, only a handful of Pennsylvania municipalities, such as Philadelphia, monitor tattoo and body piercing. Parlors in most communities, as in Bethlehem, just need to secure a local business license.

As tattoos and body piercing become more mainstream, south Bethlehem restaurateur Lucy Lennon, who has tattoos, made a public plea before City Council earlier this month for the city to keep an eye on health risks in tattoo parlors as much as it does in restaurants.

Since then, the city's Health Bureau has been compiling research on how other municipalities regulate parlors and whether such regulations are necessary for Bethlehem, which is home to at least five studios and probably more underground parlors.

Health Director Judith Maloney said she will have recommendations by the end of summer.

''We need to do comprehensive research and will respond with a presentation to council,'' Maloney said.

Regardless of the outcome of the research, Maloney said, the city probably will launch an educational campaign about sanitary studios, clean needles and disease risks.

In addition, she said the city will discuss stepping up enforcement of state laws. Recent laws prohibit the tattooing and body piercing of minors without a parent's consent.

Problems with tattooing minors seem to be one of the motivations behind Philadelphia's drawing up regulations two years ago, Maloney said.

Philadelphia's regulations took seven years of research after officials noticed that tattoo and body-piercing parlors had multiplied from about four to 40 seemingly overnight, said Richard Zipin, chief of the environmental engineering section at the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.

''The commissioner at the time wanted to protect all health groups, not just the mainstream,'' Zipin said.

After poring through various community regulations for seven years, Philadelphia in 2002 came up with a 24-page document regulating body artists. Among the requirements are completing a course in blood-borne pathogens, serving an apprenticeship and keeping the facilities clean.

But one of the kickers, Zipin said, is that the 48 licensed studios must report ''scratchers'' — underground shops usually run out of homes or garages — any time they see them. The city learns of about 10 to 15 underground parlors a year, he said.

Scratchers are what Bethlehem will have if regulations emerge, said Mac McMahon, owner of Imperial Tattoo in Bethlehem.

Legitimate businesses, he said, follow many of the procedures set forth in regulations, but city certifications will add to the cost of a tattoo. There will be so much overhead that the legitimate body artists will flee the city, and Bethlehem will be left with those who have very little training, he said.

But Walt Garrett, who owns three body art shops in the Lehigh Valley, including Outrageous Unlimited in Bethlehem, said regulations may not add a lot of overhead costs. He spends money making sure his artists are certified for completing such courses as the American Red Cross' class on disease transmission prevention.

If implemented, regulations could help people have more confidence in the parlors they choose. But Garrett doubts Bethlehem could stop underground parlors or even be able to pass effective regulations, considering the state has spent years submitting regulations without it getting anywhere.

State regulations, similar to Philadelphia regulations, were passed 190-0 in the state House, and the bill was referred to a Senate subcommittee in May.

However, tattoo artists monitoring the legislation said similar bills have died before in the Senate.

Tim Azinger of Pennsylvania Coalition of Professional Tattooists and Body Piercers said no matter what the government comes up with, people will be doing things ''under the radar.''

''These are folks who don't have a license or pay taxes,'' he said. ''What makes think that will comply with regulations?''

Bethlehem health officials say they should have some answers in a few months.

www.mcall.com

Tattoo and piercing, an old way to brand the body, move off the fringe and make waves in modern China.Here are some crucial points for people keen on branding the body:
Make good preparation for the lengthy and excruciating process.
Select the pattern of tattoo discreetly, which comply with your character, work, and values...
The word ‘Tattoo’ springs from the Tahitian “tatu”, meaning “to mark something”. 12,000 years of history spread across the worlds four corners have seen every possible variation of tattooing and body piercing develop. All can be enwrapped in the overall title ‘body art’. Ritualistic, superstitious or merely decorative, body decoration is intrinsic to human societies.

Tattooing is not new to China. Never a positive thing except amongst minority groups such as the Dai, imperial China saw tattooing used as a marking for criminals, a branding of eternal guilt and shame. Post 49 China saw body decoration off limits to all and is the best explanation for the older generation’s almost complete distaste for tattooing per se.



Only the Drung and the Dai have a consistent tattoo tradition in China. The Drung, a minority people from southern China and prominent during the Ming dynasty some 350 years ago, historically tattooed the faces of their women to make them too ugly for kidnap when the tribe was attacked by others. Tattoos in the form of small dots between the eyebrows and on the cheek were also used as a symbol of maturity.

The Dai people also utilized tattoos as a form of defense; in their case to ward off monsters who were said to be scared of the jet black colored tattoo’s made from black plant juice. Today tattoos are still carried by men on their muscles to emphasize their masculinity and by women on their hands and eyebrows to emphasize an idealised and delicate femininity.

Modern China, despite the unanimous tuts of the older generation and a not exactly warm welcome from society in general, is experiencing an upsurge in the popularity of tattoos. Young people wanting to ape their NBA favorites (35% of whom have tattoos), pop stars and other idols are all taking to the tattoo parlors in increasing numbers.

And tattoo parlors themselves are no longer necessarily on the darkened fringes of society. The China Association of?Tattoo Artists (CATA) was established on the 3rd Oct, 2002 under the steam of well known Chinese artists. Members of CATA will join the 6th annual Northern Ink Xposure Tattoo convention and Trade show in June 2004 in Canada.

Body piercing, of the face, the naval and even more eye watering places is also on the up is also on the up. Anti-mainstream, a rejection of the stifling conformities of society, body piercing gives a sense of individuality to those who do it. Yet Self- mutilation although defiant, individualistic, is also a way of creating your own sense of belonging; the people who do it tend to stick together.

What many Chinese are keen to point out is that tattooing and piercing can be very dangerous, not to mention painful. Un-sterilized needles can transmit infectious diseases from Hepatitis all the way through to Aids, piercing may lead to infection and Henna tattoos can also lead to allergic reactions.



If the above is not enough to make you a little squeamish about body art then the methods of tattoo removal might well push you over the edge. Apart from Scarification, which uses acid to burn away the tattoo and leave a scar in its place, there are dermabrasion and salabrasion respectively. The former involves a wire brush and the scrubbing away of two layers of skin whilst the second involves using an extremely high volume salt solution to dissolve the tattoo away.

Not nice, but despite the risk of a painful middle aged reversal process for a rebellious young decision, Chinese seem to be ever more keen to mark themselves apart with tattoos or body piercings. (Text by James Luke and Pan Jingjing)

channels.crienglish.com

DOVER -- In between giggles Tuesday, the House of Representatives approved a bill to limit the latest fad in "body modification" called tongue splitting.

The bill, which now moves to the Senate, would make it illegal for anyone other than a doctor or a dentist to perform the procedure that involves splitting the tongue down the middle to give a lizard-like appearance. Violators could face up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine, if the measure becomes law.

Rep. John F. Van Sant, D- Woodcrest, who sponsored the measure, said he has never seen anyone who had their tongue split, nor does he know of any medical difficulties associated with the procedure. But he said he wanted to stop it before it caught on in Delaware.

"This is irreversible," he said.

But other House members found the topic amusing.

Giggles escaped when the "tongue splitting" bill was announced, and Rep. Bruce Reynolds, R-Country Woods, feigned a heavy lisp, as though he had a split tongue, when he rose to ask whether the bill was retroactive.

Rep. Bruce Ennis, D-Smyrna, said he would vote for the bill just because it would effectively prohibit legislators from "speaking with a forked tongue."

The mood got so light that Minority Leader Robert F. Gilligan, D-Sherwood Park, asked whether the legislative staff party was still going on.

At least one Internet Web site already is taking Delaware legislators to task for considering the measure.

A. Robert Basile wrote at the West Virginia-based Web site Gen-X Jewelry that the restrictions limit freedom of expression and the pursuit of happiness. He said the procedure is equivalent to ear piercing.

Van Sant said his bill, if approved, would not curb freedom of expression because adults, or minors with notarized permission from their parents, still could get it done if they could find a willing physician or dentist.

www.dailytimesonline.com

It may have started out as an ID badge flaunted by gang professionals, then moved on to being a style statement made by rock royalty and sports stars. But today the popularity of body piercing has catapulted to the status of a fad. It's hard to watch TV, stroll the mall, or even walk down the more fashionably bold parts of town without seeing someone with a body piercing. But is it a good idea? Is it safe? And what should you be aware of if you do decide to blend with the trend?

PIERCING PROBLEMS
Piercings are done in all kinds of places - streetside shops, department stores, jewellery outlets, beauty parlours and doctors' clinics. Generally, no antibiotics are used, and sterilisation standards vary greatly. Doctors are reporting a rise in the number of people coming in with complications following body piercings.
Healing problems can arise if the selected jewellery is not the correct choice for the pierced part. If the jewellery is too heavy, the body may reject it and work to expel it like a splinter. If the jewellery is too small in diameter, it may cut off the blood supply causing a lot of swelling and pain.
Sometimes piercing can affect the membrane of the heart (endocarditis). The number of cases of endocarditis following a body piercing is increasing. The risk is higher in those who already have an existing heart disorder. Certain body sites can cause more problems than others — infection is a common complication of mouth and nose piercings because of the millions of bacteria that live in those areas. Specifically, these are the kind of problems that can arise at different body sites:
Ears. Bacterial infections; abscesses; cephalic tetanus (a local form of tetanus caused by wounds or infection in the head / neck area - it can be fatal).
Nose. Inflammation and granular growths on the nasal wings; endocarditis.
Tongue. Difficulty in chewing and swallowing; speech impairment; tooth damage over time; Ludwig's angina (a deep infection of tissues on the floor of the mouth); endocarditis.
Cheek/Lip. Gum problems
Nipple. Mastitis (inflammation of the breast); infection, problems with breast-feeding.
Genitals. Bacterial infection; strangulation of the head of the penis due to the retraction of narrowed or inflamed foreskin; increased risk for sexually-transmitted diseases.

IF YOU DECIDE TO PIERCE
If you've decided to go ahead anyway, do a little investigative work first. Talk to your friends or others who've had body piercing done. Ask them about their experience, the cost, pain, healing time, etc.
Be aware of particular risks in your own case. Make sure you know if you're allergic to certain metals. If you have a medical problem such as known allergies, diabetes, skin disorders, a condition that affects your immune system, or infections — or if you are pregnant — ask your doctor if there are any special concerns you should have or precautions you should take beforehand.
Also, it's not a good idea to get a body piercing if you're prone to getting keloids (an overgrowth of scar tissue).
If you decide to get a body piercing:
l Make sure you're up-to-date with your immunizations (especially hepatitis and tetanus).
l Plan where you will get medical care if your piercing becomes infected (signs of infection include excessive redness/tenderness around the piercing site; prolonged bleeding; pus; or change in your skin colour around the pierced area).

HOW TO CHOOSE A
PIERCING ARTIST
Ø Don't rush it. Visit several piercers. Check out the work area. Is it kept clean and sanitary? Does it have good lighting? Does it have an autoclave — a heat sterilization machine used to sterilize equipment between customers?
Ø Ask if you can sit in while a piercing procedure is being done on a client, and check out the following:
Immediately before piercing, the piercer should wash and dry his or her hands and put on latex gloves. The gloves should be worn at all times during the procedure. If the piercer leaves the procedure and touches other objects such as the phone, new gloves should be used.
A piercing gun should not be used because it crushes the tissues that are pierced and it cannot be properly sterilised.
It's also a good idea to ask about the types of jewellery the shop offers because of the possibility of allergic reactions. Also, only jewellery made of a non-corrosive, non-toxic metal, such as surgical stainless steel, titanium, or solid 14K gold, is safe for a new piercing. Gold-plated jewellery should not be used.
Ø Ask questions you may have related to cleanliness and infection control. If they refuse to discuss, go somewhere else.
Ø Reputable piercers, and physicians in particular, will not serve a minor without signed consent from parents.

HOW TO CARE FOR THE PIERCED SITE
The area around the new piercing must be kept clean so as to allow the body to heal around the jewellery.
1. Clean the area with an antibacterial soap twice a day. Remove all crusty formations from the piercing and jewellery.
2. Salt water soaks are good to loosen up crusty formations.
3. Do not use alcohol or peroxide to clean the area .
4. It's important to avoid fingering the jewellery during the healing process to keep down the risk of infection. Wash your hands with soap before touching or cleaning the pierced part.
5. Avoid contact with other people's body fluids (saliva, sweat, etc.). Even your own sweat may irritate the piercing.
6. Always wear clean clothing and change bed-sheets every week during healing.
7. Check any threaded jewellery in your mouth (such as barbells) twice a day to make sure the ends are tight. You may swallow the barbell or damage a tooth if it comes loose.
8. For ear lobe and cartilage piercings, avoid make-up and powder around your face and neck during the healing process.
9. In the case of navel piercings, avoid tight clothing and large belts, and do not sleep on your stomach. 10. Avoid public swimming pools until the piercing has healed.
11. For mouth care following tongue or lip piercing, choose an anti-bacterial mouthwash that does not contain alcohol, and rinse your mouth every time you eat.

www.thestatesman.net