There are no body piercing age limits, but common sense should prevail !
While there are no specific age limits in the UK for body piercing, your more ethical body piercing studio will have age limits in place. The reason for the most part is concerns on how your body continue to grow.
Key Takeaways
- England has no single legal minimum age for most body piercings, so responsibility sits with the studio, the local authority and the piercer’s own standards.
- Bubblegum Ink does not perform intimate piercings on anyone under 18 under any circumstances, including with parental consent.
- Bubblegum Ink pierces under 16s only with a parent or guardian present, and only for a limited range of placements.
- In Wales it is a criminal offence to perform an intimate piercing on anyone under 18, and in Scotland parental consent is required for under 16s.
- Bring photographic identification for the person being pierced and for the accompanying parent or guardian, or Bubblegum Ink cannot proceed.
Parents ring us about this more than almost anything else, usually after their teenager has been told something different somewhere else. Here is where the law actually sits, where we stand, and why.
What The Law Says
The UK does not have one piercing law. Each nation handles it differently, which is where most of the confusion comes from.
England. There is no statutory minimum age for most body piercings and no legal requirement for parental consent. That does not mean anything goes. Intimate piercing of someone under 18 can be treated as a sexual offence, and studios are licensed and inspected by their local authority, which sets its own expectations.
Wales. Since the Public Health (Wales) Act 2017 it has been a criminal offence to perform an intimate piercing, or to arrange one, on anyone under 18. The Act lists the breast, nipple and areola alongside genital areas.
Scotland. Piercing anyone under 16 requires parental consent and the parent or guardian being present.
Northern Ireland. Broadly similar to England, with local council licensing.
We are in England, in Sandbach. Our own limits are stricter than English law requires, and deliberately so.
Bubblegum Ink Age Policy
Intimate piercings: 18 and over, no exceptions. This covers nipples, genital piercings and surrounding areas. We will not do these on anyone under 18 whatever a parent says, and we will not book, quote or discuss arrangements for them either.
Under 16s: a parent or guardian must attend, must bring identification for themselves and the young person, and must sign consent. We only do a limited range of placements at this age.
16 and 17 year olds: we will discuss what is appropriate case by case, with identification required. Intimate placements remain off the table.
18 and over: identification required for intimate piercings.
If in doubt, ring first on 01270 385001 rather than travelling in. We would rather spend two minutes on the phone than turn a family away at the door.
Stop Getting 16 Year Olds’ Nipples Pierced
This is the one we feel strongest about, and it is worth being blunt because a lot of studios around the UK are still doing it.
Start with the obvious. An intimate piercing means an adult stranger handling a young person’s breast. That is the actual thing being asked for, stripped of the fashion around it. Most parents who have thought about it for ten seconds arrive at the answer on their own. The ones who have not usually get there the moment somebody says it out loud.
Then there is the anatomy, which is where the real damage sits. A nipple is not solid tissue. It has ducts running through it. Placed properly on a fully developed adult, the bar sits above the centre so it does not compress those ducts and does not drag the nipple downwards over time. Done that way on an adult, breastfeeding later on generally is not an issue even once the piercing has been left out for years.
Now do the same thing to a body that is still growing. Development can continue to seventeen or eighteen. A cheap studio pushing a needle straight through the middle goes through the ducts. Even correct adult placement puts weight on a structure that has not finished forming, and it can distort how the nipple finishes developing or partially close it off. The concern about later breastfeeding is real. The evidence is not clear cut in either direction, which is exactly the point. Nobody should be gambling with that on behalf of a teenager for a piercing they will probably take out within two years.
Any studio willing to do it is choosing money over judgement. That is the whole explanation. And if a studio is relaxed about age, ask what else it is relaxed about, because it is rarely just the one thing.
Two years is nothing. If somebody genuinely wants it at 16, they will still want it at 18, and then it is their decision to make properly, with a body that has finished doing what it was going to do.
Babies And Children’s Ears
Ear lobes are the exception most people ask about. Many studios will pierce a baby’s ears with parental consent from around six months.
There is a practical detail worth knowing if you go ahead. A piercer should place a baby’s lobe piercing slightly above the natural centre of the lobe, because as the ear grows the piercing settles down into the correct position. Placed dead centre on a baby, it ends up sitting low as they get older. It is a small thing that tells you whether the person holding the needle has thought about it.
Not every studio pierces babies and children, and those that decline are not being difficult. It is a legitimate position.
Why Studios Set Their Own Limits
Where the law is quiet, the trade fills the gap. Most reputable studios operate a code of ethics, and it exists for good reasons rather than paperwork.
It protects the young person, whose body is still developing and who may not be weighing up healing, aftercare and long term effects. It protects the studio, because a piercing done on someone too young is a complaint, an insurance problem and potentially a licensing one. And it protects the trade, because every badly judged piercing on a minor makes life harder for everyone doing the job properly.
A Word Of WArning
A lot of studios around the UK are piercing nipples of girls at the age of 16. Under the usual body piercing age limit.
I assume as always that the young girl nipple piercing fad, has originated from somewhere, possibly the likes of Kylie Jenner (18) but you 16 yr olds all need to stop getting your nipple pierced.I know already a hoard of ‘cool’ girls is dispelling me as knowing nothing about piercing etc., ‘what does he know’.
Our Background
We say all this from a reasonably informed position.
My wife and I started Hedonism body piercing in Stoke-on-Trent and ran it for eight years, effectively bringing professional body piercing to that area. We have been the environmental health point of call for body piercing guidance in both Stoke-on-Trent and Cheshire, and we contributed to the Barbers index guidance for body piercing, which is a government paper.
We have trained a number of the piercers working in the region today. We have designed body jewellery styles still in wide use, including pregnancy bars, which came about when my wife was expecting. We have done some of the more extreme and difficult piercings performed in this country.
None of that makes us right about everything. It does mean that when we say a limit exists for a reason, it is not guesswork.
So now I say again, stop getting your nipples pierced at 16. There is a body piercing age limit for a reason.
Firstly the basic side. I’m sure there not many fathers queuing up to let a complete stranger maul their young daughter’s breast. I’m sure there not many parents letting their ‘kids’ walk around topless on holiday at the tender age of 16. If you are a parent and feel that it’s okay to let some stranger piercer your 16yr old daughter’s breasts, then just ask a complete stranger. As happened in the shop today, a parent was getting advice on a piercing done wrong by some stranger who came round to her house. We gave her the advice she needed, (advice is free), then she told us that her daughter was 16. The woman next to her, a stranger, blurted out that that was disgusting and wrong in every way.
As a parent myself I understand the pressure kids can give till they get what they want, but hold fast if you don’ think the above is a stupid idea, let’s have a look at the potential medical complications that this can imply and how it has the possibility of affecting your daughter’s life for a long time. When we do a nipple piercing we slightly place the piercing in a position so the bar rest on top of the middle of the nipple, so as to not compress the discharge of milk etc. for the future, also so the jewellery doesn’t pull the nipple down and distort it.
Even if the piercing tunnels after being in for a very long time, breast feeding shouldn’t be an issue. Now your daughter is still growing, she may feel that she is an adult and some are fully fledged, but it can take up to the age of 17-18 for her intimate parts to fully mature.
Faqs
Is there a legal age limit for body piercing in the UK?
Not a single one. England has no statutory minimum age for most piercings, Scotland requires parental consent for under 16s, and Wales bans intimate piercings on anyone under 18. Studios and local authorities set the standards where the law is silent.
Can a 16 year old have a nipple piercing?
Not at Bubblegum Ink. We do not perform intimate piercings, including nipples, on anyone under 18 under any circumstances. In Wales it is a criminal offence, and in England any studio willing to do it is operating outside accepted professional standards.
Can my parents consent to an intimate piercing for me under 18?
No. Parental consent does not change our policy and does not make it appropriate. We will not perform, book or arrange these piercings for anyone under 18.
Does a nipple piercing affect breastfeeding later?
Done correctly on a fully developed adult, generally not. Done badly, or done on a body still developing, it can distort the nipple or damage the ducts, and that is the concern. It is the main reason we hold the line at 18.
How old does my child need to be to have their ears pierced?
Many studios will pierce ear lobes with parental consent from around six months old. Ring us before travelling in, as policies vary between studios and we will explain exactly what we do and do not do.
What identification do I need to bring?
Photographic identification for the person being pierced, and for the accompanying parent or guardian where one is required. Without it we cannot proceed, however inconvenient that is.
Why do some studios pierce younger than you do?
Because English law leaves it to the studio. Where a business is prepared to go younger than the professional consensus, that tells you something about its priorities, and it is worth asking what else it is relaxed about.
Booking
Bubblegum Ink is in Sandbach, Cheshire, appointment only. Call 01270 385001, email info@bubblegumink.com, or use the contact page. If you are unsure whether we can do a particular piercing at a particular age, ring before you travel.
Our page on what a piercing feels like covers pain, numbing and what to expect on the day.
Written by Paul Cutler, founder of Bubblegum Ink ®, Sandbach, Cheshire. Read more about Paul.
This page is general guidance, not legal advice. Piercing law differs across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and studio policies vary, so check with the studio and your local authority.