2016 BMXnet event interview on needles, steel and wound care

Here is a 22 minute interview that I did at BMXnet this year for Russian colleagues.
(In English with Russian subtitles)

  1. The first question was: Can a professional piercers use a catheter?
  2. The second question was about the use of steel for totally healed piercing.
  3. The last question: What way of care is correct for a fresh piercing?

Unrelated, but interesting in light of the recent election and psychohistory:

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/when-newt-met-hari-seldon

Bacterial Hand Contamination and Transfer after Use of Contaminated Bulk-Soap-Refillable Dispensers

American Society for Microbiology Bacterial Hand Contamination and Transfer after Use of Contaminated Bulk-Soap-Refillable Dispensers. Another reason not to refill bulk soap or antiseptic dispensers. Because of this is is particularly important to use single dose skin preparation solutions, as bulk dispensers post known problems.

What is Aseptic Non Touch Technique ANTT?

Aseptic No Touch Technique may be used in conjunction with sterile gloves as an alternative to full surgical asepsis for body piercing procedures. I demonstrated variations on this with colleagues during the Versatility in Piercing Techniques series of workshops for the 2014 APP conference. The following is from ANTT.org: What is Aseptic Non Touch Technique ANTT? ANTT is defined … Read more

11 Things You Should Know About Piercings

“This article presented some sound information, but there’s still much more to know. When piercings are performed by a trained professional using sterile equipment and high quality jewelry, and appropriate aftercare is followed, the risks are drastically minimized.” — Elayne Angel, APP President

FDA Antiseptic sterility report

Sterility of Antiseptic Products:

FDA Investigates, Deliberates on Potential Recommendations

(Infection Control Today, PDF)
FDA investigates Antiseptics Sterility and potential recommendations_Page_01

In light of a number of high-profile recalls of contaminated alcohol prep products in the last several years, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently weighing whether or not to require sterility of patient skin prep products, specifically items such as alcohol prep pads used for injections, but it is not ruling out other surgical prep products.

On Dec. 12, 2012, the FDA held a hearing to receive expert testimony and public comment on how to address microbial contamination of these patient preoperative skin preparation drug products. It is a step in the ongoing investigational process that the agency is undertaking to determine issues related to sterility impacted by manufacturing processes.

An FDA spokesperson says that the panel members and FDA’s working group have received the submissions from the hearing and have been deliberating. FDA’s working group will be ready to make new recommendations in the coming months. The spokesperson adds that FDA’s working group has been soliciting clinician feedback from the FDA’s federal partners and other public health organizations, and that the agency will be ready to make new recommendations in the coming months.

Currently, patient preoperative skin preparations are not required to be sterile, since bacteria can contaminate these products at the time of manufacture or during product use. But because contaminated patient preoperative skin preparations have been associated with clinical infections and adverse outcomes, the FDA is exploring certain scientific and product-use issues related to patient preoperative skin preparations.

Patient preoperative skin preparations are over-the-counter (OTC) topical antiseptic drug products used to reduce the number of bacteria on the skin prior to medical procedures or injections. Although they are marketed predominantly to healthcare facilities, the use of these products extends beyond the healthcare facility setting.

Learn about piercing bumps

Have you noticed some sort of raised bump at the exit point of your piercing?

This could be due to a number of sources of irritation or infection that can result in overgrowth of scar tissue when the healing process is disrupted. There may be a single, simple solution though it commonly may take a combination of protective measures to help this turn out well.

Read more