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Show Meet Your Piercer eilbrun interviews a man of the his father. Ten is younger than we usually do. He just wanted an ear pierce, because the guns in the malls aren’t sterilized. Did you know that Hepatitis B can —WCR: piercing we hunted | down Curt Warren, owner of Koi Piercing Studio. Koi is an attractive, clean shop with displays of piercing | jewelry of all sizes, shapes» and materi- What was your own first pierce? CW: First my ears, but then WCR: No. CW: There are even some Republican groups that are trying to get them banned, not to help our business, of course, but because of the health risks. Anyway, he was with his father who had his ear my als. The first thingI noticed were pierced, which makes it easier. We made the {. blue glass discs in Casey’s ears. Shortly after we arrived unan- |. ie | | piercing || gateway him go home and think about it, but they came back. ear the to- WCR: What is the worst infection | pierce er ee ee ees piercer, but I never asked. Casey|. = ####-f explains my _ presence, and Curt and I | sit down to talk. WCR: Do many mountain bikers go for piercing? CW: Mostly only eae. with body piercing If they took hard falls, you know, to be? CW: Oh, there was a guy who got a septum pierce, and he was licking the and cause some painful injuries. there is B—- he has more than twenty pierces up and down his body, but nothing in his ears.. WCR: How does Salt Lake’ s reputation as being conservative effect the market here? 7 CW: Well, there is a big element that jewelry to lubricate it for insertion and it got badly infected. When he went to the hospital, they immediately removed the pierce, and put him on IV antibiotics. They said if he had waited much longer ao up north. RNR. you have ever seen? ? never CW: are you from Salt Lake? CW: No, Ogden, that great little town NOT RU OM thought of it that way. But, then again WCR: I can only imagine. So, Curt, Aa nS A cent UK more, kind of like | Marijuana is supposed rocks, sticks, parts of the bike could catch 'WCR: Are you LDS then? CW: No, well, I was baptized in the church, but like many, you know, I’m not. WCR: How did you get into piercing? Cy; b dived im had a couple of friends there who were into it, one from. Sacramento, and one from Seattle. He laughs. Yeah, I had uneven. She wanted the nipple on the ming in public pools. Sometimes when a woman gets a navel pierce smaller one pierced so you would see the jewelry, not the difference. proceeded to go into an explanation of different kinds of jewelry, issues of sanitation, and general attitude of piercers. If _ you are going to be pierced, I suggest you discuss all of this on your own with him. I was really unimpressed with the quality of the service and went off on the place to | is totally against the conservative reputation, very counterculture. But, they often go in for piercing for the popularity of it, not because of the history or enhancing potential. WCR: Who gets pierced? CW: Gays, of course, and Frat types. Straight Edge, too. One woman came in once because she felt that her breasts were really uneven. She wanted the nip- ple on the smaller one pierced so you would see the jewelry, not the difference. week-long workshop in San Francisco Some people come in on dares. WCR: Do you ever counsel against piercing? CW: For facial piercings and genital piercings, we talk about it and usually ask and then came back here. I started work- the people ing out of my not just a day. If the person is under 18, _my friend, who challenged, ‘If you think can do. better...’. house tum. WCR: What causes most infections? CW: Mostly bad care, like and there were gnats in the case.... Curt you they might have had to remove his sep- One woman came in once because she felt that her breasts were really When I came back here, I was just going to be passing through, of course. Anyway, I had some friends that wanted to be pierced, so I went with them. You have to understand, piercing is an unregulated industry, so we went to this place, So, I went for about to a. nine to think about it for a week, CASTS OREN touching with dirty hands or swim- and her partner isn’t careful... well, we try to counsel against contact with bodily fluid. WCR: How do you sterilize and sanitize your equipment? CW: Let me show you. He led me over to a sink and countertop with various spray bottles and small _ black machines. We begin by washing everything with this hospital strength disinfectant. Then, this is an ultrasonic cleaning bath, like you see in jewelry stores. It uses ultrasonic waves to remove lubricant or plasma that may still be present. Next, we autoclave everything. The standard for sterilization is twenty-five minutes in the autoclave, but we always go for thirty-five. We have a piercing-friendly dentist and physician that will help us when we need it. He then takes me to one of the two piercing rooms, which looks very much like a doctor’s clinic, with an examination bed, and sterile instruments in Page 5 VT What is the most common pierce you do? CW: Tongue and navel, more tongue now than it used to be, because navels get so easily infected. WCR: Are there any Lae you won't do? CW: Female clitoral piercing. We will do above and below, but you know how the clitoris is. It would have to be the size of a cigarette butt, before you could even it, but then there would still be | scarring that would probably cause nerve and vessel damage. Piercing it would | destroy. the purpose of enhancement. | Also, some people will come in wanting a pierce that has never been done, but usually there is a reason why it has never’ i been done, like through the Achilles tendon, or through the back. WCR: What is the most pO you have seen? CW: He thinks for quite a while. There is a man with eighteen genital nounced Curt showed up in an old | Orange 911. On first glance he has far| fewer pierces than Casey, another | Hawaii fora while, and then thrown away. WCR: be transmitted by those guns? tongue. tion. The needles are only used once, and “7 psyched about. — on} This is hospirubber bands, is sterile and The only thing after steriliza- pierces and four in his navel. There is a guy in San Francisco with fifty-two. ~ Some people come in wanting to stretch themselves so much, it stops being enhancement because no one will perform oral sex on them. John Pratt (the third piercer. He has come in while I am talking to Curt): It gets to be-more like decorating a Christmas tree than anything else. CW: We are doing lots of scrotums, too, and that is purely esthetic, no enhancement.. | WCR: Would you tell me a little of the history of piercing? CW: The tongue was pierced by the Mayans, I think around AD 835. The Kama Sutra mentions both vertical and horizontal penile piercing. There is some references to the Romans doing nipple piercings to hang their capes on, but imagine if someone were to step on the cape. Navel piercing was a sign of fertility in Egypt. Nostril piercing seems to have started in India, where among some class- es, a pierce on the left signified being sin- . ee those original pierces, which I am pretty stainless steel containers. tal-quality linoleum, the cotton swabs, everything discarded after each use. we reuse are the forceps, i and we need ID for both of them. One time we had a ten year old come in with my they need to be accompanied by a parent, nner? dope months, doing pierces for friends and family. A couple of people still have repre We noticed many people in our age and sports groups had gained metal dangly bits from all parts of their bodies. In search OF > anes flesh gle, and on the right married, but then in other classes the left meant you were Hindu. There is also a strong history of piercing in Africa and South America. WCR: Thank you so much for your time. Is there any kind of public service message you would like us to mention? CW: Oh yes, check out your piercer, because anyone with a needle can pierce. Ask lots of questions, see about their san- itation practices and knowledge. Also, pay attention to their personality and attitude, avoid rock stars and assholes. Koi Piercing Studio is on the corner of 1300 South and 900 East. peeve Marta straight 1997 oo August |