Much of the following text is very generalised - as such they are only 'rules of thumb' as there are always exceptions.

Highstreet piercing studios
Many piercing studios have been set up purely to cater for the mass market. Because there is very little (if any depending on where you go) legislation governing safe piercing practises you will often find inexperienced practioners offering 'professional' work. In this situation use should use you 'nowse' and ask around - what is the reputation of the place? How long have they been open? How much experience does the practitioner have? Importantly, if you are wanting some work that is very complex or slightly risky then it may be better to choose a more reputable establishment even if it means waiting and/or travelling. By the way - some highstreet studios are brilliant!

Body piercing sidelines
Because of the fashionable nature of body piercing these days it is very common to see completely unrelated businesses offering a body piercing service, for example hairdressers, beauticians, funky clothes boutiques. Rarely do these establishments have experienced practitioners - more often than not it is an attempt at 'cashing in' on the act. However, there are some businesses whose sideline services are provided by very experienced piercers,

Tattooists
It is understandable that people group tattooing and body piercing in the same category; indeed they are very similar activities. However in practice they require completely different skills and knowledge. In my experience it is rare (but certainly not unheard of) for a tattooist to be a good piercer. Quite often this falls into the 'sideline' category as mentioned above.

Cross-contamination
Common things you are asked to look for is whether a studio 'looks clean', or whether they have an autoclave or not. In my experience I've never seen a studio without an autoclave and the majority look pretty neat and tidy. However, this is where cross-contamination comes in. If a piercer has contaminated their gloves, either by getting blood on them, picking up a needle, even touching a piece of used jewellery, then their gloves are contaminated. Obviously, the degree of which varies but that's by-the-by. If the piercer now puts their hands into the autoclave to get something out the entire autoclave is now contaminated! From there on it just spreads germs and potential infection regardless of how 'clean' the studio looks. Once used, gloves should be disposed of immediately and during the process of performing a piercing the gloves should generally be changed several times. If you see anything getting cross-contaminated in a studio you really should leave immediately. Ironically, piercings can be done in perfect hygiene in none-studio environments as long as the practitioner has a good solid understanding of cross-contamination.

The way I first got my head round cross-contamination is to pretend that germs were paint - if you got paint on your gloves you'd want to take them off before touching anything else otherwise you get paint everywhere. Also, if I wasn't wearing any gloves I wouldn't want to touch any paint - therefore you don't pick up used jewellery, needles or tissue with bare hands.

Being a Guineapig
If you're going to play online poker games for money, you'll want to do a little practice first! Similarly, before playing with the 'big boys' a piercer has to practice too. They need to do their first piercings on real people. They must never run before they can walk - by which I mean, for example, don't try doing an ampallang before you've done a nostril piercing. Piercings come in degrees of difficulty to perform, some very easy, some very hard and risky. The latter should only be attempted by people with several years experience under their belt.