You can have your piercings or tattoos and donate blood too
One of the biggest misconceptions people have about donating blood with South Texas Blood & Tissue is that tattoos or piercings automatically disqualifies you from donating blood and helping save lives.
With just a few exceptions, that actually isn’t the case.There are guidelines and protocols that need to be followed, but in many cases blood donations can occur right away or with a shortened wait period.
Guidelines
You can have recent ink or piercing and be a blood donor right away if done under this following guidance:
- Tattoos can only be done in a state-regulated facility
- The artist must use only sterile needles for tattoos
- The ink must be one-time-use only
- Tattoos must be completely healed. Completely healed means that there should be no signs of peeling, no scabbing or no itching, and the tattoo no longer needs to be treated with ointment.
- If you have tattoos in the area where the needle for a blood donation goes (thats located on the inside of your elbow), you will need to give your tech permission to insert the needle for the donation.
Unregulated shops
Tattoo shops are regulated in all states except for 10 states and the District of Columbia. But under new FDA changes this year, you only have to wait three months instead of the previous regulation of twelve months to give blood after getting inked in:
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Utah
- Wyoming
- District of Columbia
- State-regulated tattoo facilities are required to pass certain safety and health standards to avoid contaminating blood with blood borne conditions, such as hepatitis.
Piercings
Similar guidelines apply for piercings. You can donate blood right away if the piercings are completely healed and the piercing was performed in a state-regulated facility that uses single-use equipment. If you got the piercing elsewhere, you will have to wait three months in order to qualify to donate blood.
To learn more about donating blood, please visit SouthTexasBlood.org.
