![]() ![]() New York’s current law, which in its actual wording expresses concern over “the risk of infection and disease transmission” and “medical complications,” stops short of instituting clinical guidelines. Stiehl said he would like to see official state regulations for clean tattooing. We have to do things right to keep from putting ourselves out of business.” ![]() He spends hundreds of dollars every year to keep them up-to-date and pristine. Stiehl hires a private company to conduct a biyearly maintenance program for his autoclaves, or sterilization ovens. Ron Stiehl, the owner of Stiehl’s Body Modification on Cayuga Street, said tattoo artists should also ensure the equipment they use to clean and sterilize their tools is up-to-date and inspected. Procedural safety is only part of the equation. You’re dealing with peoples’ blood - their body and their well-being.” “It’s a very technical procedure,” he said Friday over the hum of his needle. Such preparation, he said, is absolutely necessary to ensure the safety of both parties. He also is careful to explain every step of the process - including aftercare instructions - to each customer. Before inking anyone’s skin, Enciso undergoes a fastidious preparation process that involves scrubbing down surfaces, fastening new needles to his gun, inspecting each needle with a magnifying glass for scratches and imperfections and disinfecting the recipient’s skin. “It’s the only way to keep people safe.”īecause New York is one of 22 states without formal hygienic requirements for tattooing, artists in Ithaca must take it upon themselves to eliminate health liabilities like hepatitis and HIV. “You assume that everyone who comes through your door has every disease known to man and some that were never discovered,” Enciso said. Each parlor, stocked with disinfectants, sterilization machines, soaps and rubber gloves, projects a scrubbed-down, doctor’s office aesthetic. Medusa Tattoo, along with Model Citizen, Stiehl’s Body Modification, The Hand of Fate and Sfumato Tattoo, holds itself to rigorous safety standards. Limiting the danger of disease - or more specifically, going to great lengths to choke, dissolve and burn its microscopic components - is what Enciso and other professional tattoo artists in downtown Ithaca do best. The owners hire a private company to maintain their equipment. Tattoo artist Jim Sidelinger finishes a tattoo on Marcellus, N.Y., resident Tony Esposito on Friday at Stiehl’s Body Modification. ![]() More than that, it’s a technical feat - one susceptible to disaster with each rhythmic puncture. It’s an arduously executed ritual in which every microscopic dot comes with a symbolism. Tattooing someone, according to Medusa Tattoo’s Cesar Enciso, is not simply about dragging a needle across the skin. ![]()
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