Walking into a Palo Alto High School bathroom during your prep or when taking a five minute break from class, you see the tiles displaying mild humor on the walls, soap dispensers releasing the dregs of soap, and the dusty worn flooring. With an abundance of graffiti displayed in the stalls, you would never come to the conclusion that this is the site of student-led piercings.
But this year that’s exactly what is happening, according to interviews conducted by Anthro staff. general estimate could be that dozens of people have been pierced.
According to Cleveland Clinic, one in three people with ear piercings get complications spanning from blood infections, tearing and allergic reactions. These have negative effects on your body but usually only take several weeks to heal. They range from skin infections, to, in the worst cases, long-term nerve damage. (American Academy of Dermatology)
Senior Lana, whose name is being withheld to protect her identity, describes how she began the piercing process.
“I was basically messaging the person who’s giving you the piercing and we decided to meet at a time in the bathroom on the side of the library.”
Professionally done piercings require a few months of maintenance, to which the American Academy of Dermatology admits that piercings, “can still cause complications if not handled safely.”
The consequences of novice piercings are usually disregarded by students as a result of their affordability.
Lana shared her experience of receiving a piercing in the Paly bathroom piercing and its cost.
“Twenty bucks,” she said. “So that was part of my incentive because it’s so much cheaper.”
Lana expressed concern over sanitization and the overall process of the operation.
“I trusted them [a piercer] because I know that they had done a lot of piercings before but I was still really worried about it being done in a school bathroom,” Lana said.
Under the California state Safe Body Art Act, Article 2, minors are prohibited from getting piercings without parental consent. However, these restrictions can be easily circumvented, with an abundance of self-piercing kits available for low prices online.
Jane, a Paly piercer, who also had her name withheld to protect her identity, explained why she would only do ear piercings.
“Nose piercings are particularly susceptible,” Jane said. “People will get them infected,” said Jane.
The difference between a professional piercer and an amateur is the importance of sterile tools and materials used during the procedure.
The piercer described the tools she used to do piercings, from forceps to individually packaged sterile instruments.
“Obviously I have gloves, Q-tips, lidocaine gel, just stuff for cleanliness reasons,” Jane said.
Piercings aren’t generally harmful but the unsanitary location of these activities has become an issue, as shared by piercers.
“I think the biggest concern is where it’s happening,” Jane said. “Most people [piercees] do it in a bathroom — which is obviously gross — but I think with proper precautions, you can do it in a way that’s gonna minimize most of the risks.”
Jane shared her process of maintaining their tools cleanliness in a two-step process before and after piercing an individual lobe.
“I kind of break it [the cleaning process] up,” Jane said. “I do a little bit after the piercing itself — that usually takes five minutes, and then I’ll do some [more] at home the morning before, because I’ll have more space to really get into it.”
Again, Jane explains how she prioritizes the health and wellbeing of their clients above being able to comply with demand.
“I only do ones that I know that I can do,” Jane said.
Paly Assistant Principal Eric Olah said he didn’t know about these activities happening on campus.
Rosemarie Dowell, the PAUSD Health Services Coordinator explains why professional piercers would be the safer option as compared to student piercers.
“If you are able to go do it professionally and you really want that piercing, please go do it professionally with the proper approvals and cleanliness just to save any possible risk of infection or other complications,” Dowell said.
A study by the College of Family Physicians of Canada found that 3% of all recipients of piercings have severe complications such as toxic shock syndrome, viral hepatitis, and endocarditis.
Sophomore Kensie Pao expresses concern over the idea of bathroom piercings due to infections and their consequences.
“Piercing is something that should always be done in a good place,” Pao said. “Even if you’re in a parlor, that’s not [necessarily] sanitary. It’s also not good because infections that you pick up through piercings could definitely cause a lot of infection.”