Question: Answer 1: Will it hurt? If a piercing hurts, it is only for brief moment. Most piercings feel like a quick pinch. Different people will experience a piercing in different ways, and many people who get pierced say that they hardly felt anything at all. We do our best to make your piercing experience as comfortable as possible. 2: How old do I have to be to get a piercing? You can get a piercing by us if you are 16 or older, but you must be 18 or older for nipple, genital, and more advanced piercings. Remember to bring photo ID! If there is any doubt as to your age, sorry, but you cannot get a piercing. If you are younger than 16, one of your parents or your legal guardian (who must bring the appropriate papers to prove guardianship) can accompany you and sign the consent form with you. 3: Should I choose a ring or a barbell for the piercing? Both can work fine for certain piercings, but in general a barbell/stud is a better choice for most piercings as this reduces movement by the jewelry through the piercing. The inside of a piercing is very delicate, and jewelry moving through the piercing damages this newly forming tissue, prolonging the healing. Therefore, for piercings such as a navel piercing which are prone to being bumped around, a barbell is usually a better choice since a barbell won't move through the piercing as much as a ring. For piercings less likely to get bumped around so much, such as some ear piercings, a ring is fine, but a barbell can of course be chosen. You don't, for any reason, need to "turn" jewelry through a piercing, so a ring is not always the best choice for a piercing. In all cases, we will advise you what jewelry would work better with your unique body and your piecing. 4: I'm allergic to cheap metals, so I can only wear gold. You'll be relieved to know that we don't use cheap jewelry! Our jewelry is made from implant grade steel and titanium, used by the medical community for permanent implantation into the body (bone screws and replacement hip bones being examples of such use). Gold is only an acceptable material for use in a healing piercing provided it is manufactured to the highest standards of quality and is at least 14 Karat and nickel free, but is not medically proven to be a superior choice to implant grade steel or titanium. 5: How long will it take to heal? If you take good care of your piercing and you are in good health, most piercings will heal initially in a few months. Some piercings, tongue piercings for example, heal in less time. Some piercings, such as navel and nipple piercings, take much longer, as long as six months or even longer for some people. We do everything we can, from using top quality jewelry to promoting studied and proven aftercare to help you heal your piercing. We will help you every step of the way with your healing, so if you need advice, contact us! 6: My friend used alcohol/peroxide/another chemical solution on his/her piercing, and it healed! Considering the damage that these chemicals can do to healing tissue, The piercing may have healed in spite of the damage being done, and very possibly not as well or as quickly as it could have. Always remember that it is not a matter of whatever chemical you choose to put on your piercing that causes healing, but the action of your body itself forming new tissue. You can't force your body to heal a piercing. You can keep the piercing clean and free from irritation, stay in good health, and your piercing will heal naturally. 7: I want a piercing, but I will have to take it out for work/school/church Firstly, check to see if clear, discreet jewelry is acceptable. If not, and if you have to constantly remove and re-insert a piercing during the healing period, you should not get the piercing. You will damage the piercing constantly, and it will either never heal, or eventually heal with unflattering scarring. Therefore the best time to get a piercing is when you can keep it in place with enough time to heal fully. 8: I go swimming in chlorinated water/lake water, will this help or harm my piercing? It will harm the piercing if it is healing. If the piercing is healed, no problem. But you can protect a healing piercing by covering it with a waterproof dressing such as a Tegaderm, available at any good pharmacy. 9: Which hurts more, a piercing or a tattoo? We are asked this question very often! And the answer is only clear is you can ask yourself: Which one do you want more? Because that's the most important factor. There are a few areas that are typically quite sore to tattoo or pierce, but the two cannot really be compared. A piercing is typically a fraction of a second, and a tattoo can take hours, but we frequently  have clients who prefer one over the other. 10: I have been asked to remove all body jewelry for a medical procedure. I don't want my piercings to close! What should I do? Ask your medical practitioner if you can wear something non-metallic in the piercing during the procedure. If this is acceptable, you can wear plastic or Teflon (PTFE) jewelry, which we stock for most piercings. Another alternative is to use fishing line of equivalent thickness to your jewelry. Cut enough to tie in a loose loop, using a little surgical tape (available at any pharmacy) to secure it. In a worst case scenario, where none of these options are acceptable, remove the jewelry and come by the shop as soon as you feel up to it after your procedure, and the jewelry can usually be re-inserted. If you have a question which was not answered above, feel free to phone or email us and speak with one of our piercers.