Whether you’re brand new to body piercings or already have three or 10 of them, you should always have body modification of any kind done by a professional in the piercing industry. And although it isn’t a requirement, an APP Member agrees to uphold high levels of hygiene and safety, and to use only quality jewelry in fresh piercings. APP Membership is an indication that the piercer pursues continued education and has been vetted by the organization that cares about the art and safety of body modification.

What is the APP? 
The Association of Professional Piercers is a voluntary health and safety organization for the body piercing industry. They provide educational access to members in the areas of proper sterilization, safe piercing environments, quality jewelry, and a code of conduct to uphold professionalism and non-discrimination.

Don’t be afraid to ask a potential piercer questions about their studio set-up. When scheduling your appointment or during your consultation, ask questions like is their studio set up to provide safe body piercing? If the piercing studio is inside of a tattoo shop, is the room separated? Do they use a medical-grade autoclave to sterilize body modification instruments? Do they use a sharps container (a red marked box to dispose of needles and biohazard materials)? Does the shop look clean? Are they using quality jewelry that is medically and scientifically proven safe to put in the body? 

While the APP doesn’t license or certify piercers, they do provide their members with a certificate of membership which must be renewed each year. The certificates of all APP Members working as piercers in the shop should have their certificates posted on the wall behind the counter. These certificates are printed in a vertical format, while certificates of APP health and safety seminars are printed in a horizontal format. The APP also provides resources for piercers, like the APP Health and Safety Procedure Manual, online courses, suggested apprenticeship guidelines & curriculum, and other publications.

Any reputable piercer should be open and honest with you about their safety procedures, as well as their experience and continuing health and safety training. They should be willing to provide a consultation to inspect your anatomy, discuss jewelry options, the procedure itself, potential risks and possible complications, the overall healing process, and aftercare instructions. If they don’t do any of this before taking your money, or you are not impressed with their qualifications, think twice about having them do any kind of body modification on you. 

As an APP studio, Master Pierce takes the time and makes the effort to fulfill all these obligations and more. Maintaining standards for body jewelry and client care are our number one concern. Frequently, our piercers find themselves answering every single question the client has before, after, and during the procedure.

Studio integrity is taken extremely seriously, and every piercer is held to the highest standard at Master Pierce. In doing so, clients know they can always trust us.