Frequently Asked Questions

We take every precaution to ensure your safety during your piercing procedure. Our piercing studio is a medically-sterile environment, certified by the Cuyahoga County Board of Health. All our piercing supplies are medical-grade stainless steel, single-use, disposable, and sterile, and your piercer is an expert professional.

Even so, you will sign a waiver acknowledging the risks that you take in puncturing your body and the insertion of foreign objects. Piercing is not a decision to take lightly. Be sure to ask your piercer all your questions before signing the waiver.

We can perform a full range facial, body, and genital piercings, except for two: We don’t do dermal piercings, nor horizontal tongue piercings.

That all depends on the thickness and the kind of tissue that is being pierced. Earlobe piercings, the simplest, involve at most a quarter inch of flaccid skin, and so the healing time is a matter of four to eight weeks. Piercing cartilage or erectile tissue, like nipples, will take much longer. A range of healing times by piercing time is provided on our piercing aftercare page.

All piercings require regular and careful cleaning and care to avoid infection of the pierced site and rejection of the jewelry. Follow our aftercare and your piercer’s instructions scrupulously for the highest-quality piercing.

You must be at least 16 years old to be pierced at Divine Image Ink, and if you want to have any intimate parts of your body—like a nipple—you must be at least 18. You will need to provide proper identification, like a state ID or a birth certificate for any procedure.

Consult our piercing aftercare page, and be sure to ask your piercer any questions.

A “keloid” is a scar that develops around a piercing site after healing. Some people are prone to keloids and will develop them at the site of a burn or cut or other abrasion, while others have no scarring at all because of their piercing. In some cases, the keloid that develops can block the flow of moisture or other fluids, and they can build up inside the piercing and cause infection. Treating keloids is uncertain and can involve several treatments. If you develop one because of your piercing, you can try rubbing it with tea-tree oil, which can sometimes relieve it and allow fluids to discharge again. If after a few weeks there is no improvement, you can consider removing your jewelry and allowing the piercing to heal over. For more information, you can consult the American Association of Dermatologists.

Whether your piercing heals over when jewelry is removed depends on how old the piercing is and what kind of tissue has been pierced. Earlobes, for example, are unlikely to close completely after a reasonable healing period. Erectile tissue, however, like a nipple piercing, is more likely to close and heal immediately upon removal of the jewelry, even after years. Your own skin’s properties and how you heal are unique to you. Some people heal quickly, and others heal slowly.