Do You Need Parental Consent for Piercings?

Piercing Laws by State

• Most U.S. states have laws allowing the piercing of minors under 18, providing a parent is present for the procedure. Florida and Kentucky also require notarized permission letters. In Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina, it is illegal to pierce anyone under 18, with the exception of earlobes. Piercers who disobey these laws risk fines or criminal charges, depending on the state. The states with no specific laws as of December 2012 are Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Vermont.

Body Piercing

• Even if the state has no laws in place, reputable shops follow the guidelines of the regulatory body, the Association of Professional Piercers, which recommends that minors be over the age of 16 and receive only navel, facial, oral and ear cartilage piercings. The child, not the parent, must be the one to ask the piercer for the piercing. Few piercers will perform body piercings on anyone under 14. The primary reason for this is that body and cartilage piercings require two to 12 months of diligent aftercare to heal. Minors who want piercings should be responsible enough to commit to washing the piercing with antibacterial soap, soaking in a salt water solution twice daily and staying out of swimming pools for the duration of the healing period.

Ear Piercing

• The exception to the previous rule is ear piercing, which shops may perform on minors at the shop's discretion. The child must be old enough to ask for the piercing, sit calmly during the procedure and understand the aftercare instructions. Shops pierce ears largely to prevent children from being pierced with guns, which cannot be autoclave-sterilized and cause unnecessary tissue trauma. Even mall or retail outlet piercing operations, however, often require parental permission. Trained piercers should pierce each ear with a fresh, beveled, sterilized needle and stainless steel, titanium or niobium rings, not studs. Studs are difficult to clean properly and may become embedded in the earlobe if they're too short to accommodate swelling.

Considerations

• Before allowing your child to receive a piercing, ask to see the shop's most recent autoclave spore test results to make sure the autoclave has passed within the last 30 days. If it hasn't, the jewelry may not be sterile. Ask if the piercer is certified by the Association of Professional Piercers; if not, ask to see a current certificate from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration stating that the piercer has completed bloodborne pathogens and needlestick prevention training. If you feel uncomfortable with a piercer for any reason, or if the piercer doesn't ask you and the child for identification, leave the shop and find another.