Tattoos, Piercings and Screws Oh My!

I work in Los Angeles, so I get a good cross section of all body types, personalities, ages, and professions. One other thing I get is up close and personal to body art of all types, and since this is Los Angeles, there are more and bigger scopes of body art than say, Minneapolis.

Tattoos are now common and accepted by even very sheltered people as a form of expression that they may or may not choose for themselves. The old days of "Mom" tattooed on an arm are historic and nostalgic of another era. Welcome to 2009 Dorothy, where there are "reality" shows about tattoo artists (yes one is based out of Los Angeles). I have worked on people whose entire body is a living canvas from their necks to their ankles. The art they display reflects their tastes from the comic (as in comic book characters) to the Gothic (as in skulls that bleed), and everything in between, including tribal and Asian art. Tattoos are literally like a walking museum of the owner's personal taste and I find it both fascinating and beautiful at times to see what they display.

Piercings are also common, especially in women's ears and belly buttons, but this is Los Angeles, and once again the big city attracts bigger and more. Piercings here can range from eight (in one ear), to sizes (in an ear) that are an inch wide; these are not your average earring piercings here. There are of course many others in places that I never see which are draped by the sheet during a massage, but my guess is that if I see fifteen piercings above the sheet there are probably a few more under the sheet.

Finally there are screws. Yes, as in the kind you screw into a piece of wood, but in this case it is usually into a skull (I am not kidding!). I was working on a guy who was very heavily tattooed and pierced, when I felt something hard sticking out of his forehead. I asked him what it was and he told me it was where he usually screwed in his horns (again, I am not kidding), but since he was getting a massage, he removed them and so the screws were what I was feeling in his skull.

Every therapist is always free to decide which clients they want to accept or refuse, so if tattoos, peircings and screws don't bother you, you will have a good client base in Los Angeles; if these types of body art do bother you then perhaps you should move to Utah.

For the record I have no tattoos, three piercings which are all in my ears, and the only screws I have are the few that may be loose inside my head.