The most common form of tattooing is machine tattooing. A machine injects ink into the the skin by means of vibrating needles attached to an electrical power supply. The tubes and needles of a tattoo machine are sterilized, helping to ensure that pathogens will not be transmitted from client to client. Another form of tattooing is the traditional hand-tapped tattoo, in which the ink is held in the reservoir of a wooden tool lined with needles and the artist forces the ink into the skin by tapping the tool with a stick.
Professional body piercers make clean puncture wounds in the skin using hollow cannula needles with a very sharp bevel at one end. The hollow needles allow body piercing jewelry to be hooked into the end of the needle, so that the jewelry is inserted as the needle is pulled out. This keeps the client from feeling the jewelry insertion. No part of your body, including your ears, should ever be pierced with a gun. This is because the gun cannot be sterilized in an autoclave.
Newer and more exotic body piercings include microdermal implants and dermal punching. A microdermal implant is a jewel mounted on a post with a flat, oval back. The piercer inserts the tip of the needle below the surface of the skin and slides the post of the piercing into the cut. Microdermals give the impression of a jewel floating on top of the skin.
Dermal punches are tubular scalpels that remove a circular section of skin. These piercings are usually performed on the ears.
Proper care of body modifications is essential to the healing process. Always wash tattoos and piercings with liquid antibacterial soap, preferably a variety free of fragrances and dyes. Protect tattoos with salve such as ointments containing vitamins A and D or unscented lotion for sensitive skin.
Clean your piercings with saline solution before washing them to remove any dried secretions. Some piercing shops sell a spray-on saline solution or you can mix your own with sea salt and warm water.