Contact us for a free consultation
Contact us for a free consultation
At Krazy Kats, we are committed to providing a spectacularly clean, safe, and inviting environment for custom tattoos and body piercings.
We run spore tests on our two autoclaves Statim 2000 and Statim 5000 (Do not hesitate to ask for our monthly spore test results). We use only single service needles, inks and always open packages in front of our clients. We strictly use sterile Nitrile gloves in all piercing procedures. We do everything humanly possible to ensure you have a safe and comfortable experience.
Tee Miller co-owns Krazy Kats with her husband Jim Miller. She is our only piercer and as of 03/2015, became the first APP member of the Association of Professional Piercers (verify at safepiercing.org) in the Charlotte metropolitan and its surrounding area. Tee is originally from Viet Nam and moved to the US for college then graduated with a Business Management degree. Tee started her piercing apprenticeship in 2006. In her free time, Tee enjoys reading post-apocalyptic genre, science and play with her German Shepperd Ozzy.
Jim Miller, alongside his wife Tee, is the owner of Krazy Kats Tattoos & Piercings. He has been tattooing since the early 80s and have worked and owned several shops throughout the US ever since. Jim is a very charismatic individual with a distinct red goatee representing his favorite football team Chiefs. Jim is a Kansas city native born and raised. In his free time, Jim like to draw, paint, airbrushing, and riding both his Streetglide and his custom chopper. Occasionally, you might see him and his beard flying around the streets in Charlotte on one of his magical unicorns, so don't forget to give him a wave and try to stay out of his way.
Charles Brown is our newest addition at Krazy Kats since 2013. In his words, he was a hired mercenary but has given up the life with little paid gigs and not many travel opportunities as he has thought, so coloring people for a living sounds like a legal and fantastic way to earn a living. He does enjoy riding his Indian motorcycle everyday.
Rate: $80 minimum or $150/hour
So you have likely heard reputable piercers cover a lot of things when it comes to the healing of your body piercing. Aftercare, jewelry quality, etc.
An often-overlooked step that is critical to the overall healing of your piercing is downsizing.
For this writing, let’s focus on cartilage piercings as this is an issue that pops up frequently.
Not all, but most piercings initially require jewelry that is longer in length or wider in diameter in order to accommodate for the swelling. While some may find this longer length annoying, it’s a necessary precaution to prevent jewelry from embedding into tissue once swelling takes place.
Here’s an example of a freshly pierced tragus:
You may think that jewelry looks awfully long, right? Well after 2-3 weeks that flatback was sitting perfectly flush to either side of this client’s tragus due to the swelling that occurs with cartilage piercings.
So we need room for swelling, but excessively long jewelry is problematic as well. Jewelry that is too long will get caught and snagged much easier, causing irritation and a longer dragged out healing time. This is another reason why going to a reputable piercer is so important.
With most cartilage piercings, longer jewelry being left in for too long can cause the piercing channel to shift its angle. The two most critical (and popular) piercings that come to mind are helix and forward helix piercings.
Here is another example:
At first glance you would probably just assume the top two piercings were done crooked. While that’s possible, for this writing we will assume they were pierced correctly and perpendicular to the tissue (straight).
See that bump on the second from top cartilage piercing? That’s not an infection, or keloid, or scar. That’s an irritation bump that is most likely there due to the extreme angle the piercing has taken. That angle places pressure on the piercing channel, causing the dreaded cartilage bump.
There are many factors that could explain the top two cartilage piercings having such extreme angles. Sleeping on the piercing at night, catching and snagging it, etc. These things are even more problematic with jewelry that has been left long for too long (not downsized soon enough).
You’ll find quite a few piercers who have been piercing for many years aren’t big fans of using really thin jewelry in cartilage piercings. And rightfully so. While thicker jewelry can still angle if not downsized, they generally tend to be a little more forgiving as the slightly thicker gauge can provide a bit more stability.
With the growing common practice of 18g jewelry being used in cartilage piercings, having regular checkups with your piercer is crucial so snug fitting jewelry can be put in as soon as the piercing is ready.
Here’s an example of a client who had a forward helix piercing done with longer jewelry, then later stopped in for a snugger fitting piece as the swelling had gone away at this point.
So how soon after getting your piercing can you get a snugger fitting piece of jewelry put in? That’s the tough part. It can vary greatly from one client/piercing to the other.
After a few weeks, some people are ready. For others it can take well over a month or two.
Missing that open window when swelling has come down can be problematic. Now that longer jewelry may get caught or snagged on something, causing you to have to go through a period of swelling all over again (and delaying you in being able to downsize).
This is exactly why frequent follow ups with your piercer is essential to make sure you don’t waste your money on a quality piercing with quality jewelry only to have it angle so bad you no longer find it aesthetically pleasing.
And one last thing, because this comes up all the time:
When you come in for a shorter piece of jewelry, of course you have to pay for it. Jewelry is never free. Please say it with me: “I understand I will have to pay for jewelry when I am requesting new jewelry.”
Okay. I feel better now.
I hope some of you piercing enthusiasts find this information helpful!
Cody Vaughn at vaughnbodyarts
Tagged #safepiercing #app #associationofprofessionalpiercers
Find a member near you at Association of Professional Piercers (APP) website: www.Safepiercing.org
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Lobes (Age 6+ ) ___$110+tax and up for a pair of lobe piercings (Each piercing fee $20 plus each jewelry starts at $35 = $55+tax/lobe) Please bring your child's birth certificate, passport or other valid state-issued IDs, AND your ID for verification purposes if they are between 6-under 18 years old.
· Daith (Age 15+) ___$30 + jewelries starting at $30+tax
· Helix/Ear Rim (Age 15+) ___$30 + jewelries starting at $35+tax
· Tragus (Age 15+) ___$30 + jewelries starting at $35+tax
· Lip/labret (Age 15+) ___$30 + jewelries starting at $35+tax
· Nostril (Age 15+) ___$30 + jewelries starting at $35+tax
· Conch (Age 15+) ___$30 + jewelries starting at $35+tax
· Eyebrow (Age 15+) ___$30 + jewelries starting at $40+ tax (Require consultation)
· Navel (Age 15+) ___$30 + jewelries starting at $40+ tax (Require consultation)
· Tongue (Age 15+) ___$30 +jewelries starting at $40+ tax (Require consultation)
· Vertical Lip (Age 15+) ___$30 + jewelries starting at $40+tax
* Nipple piercings (Age 18+) ___ $75+tax for one or $140+tax for two (Require consultation)
* Cheeks (Age 18+) ___ $75+tax for one or $140+tax for two (Require consultation)
* Surface Anchor (Age 18+) ___$85+tax for one or $160+tax for two (Require consultation)
* Industrial (Age 18+) ___ $90+ tax (Require consultation)
* Surface Piercing (Age 18+) ___$100+tax for one (Require consultation)
* Vulva piercings (Age 18+)___$110+ tax (Require consultation)
Please contact our tattoo artists prior to making the non-refundable deposit, or your appointment will not be scheduled. The deposit is not an extra fee, and will be deducted in the total cost.
Please contact our piercer Tee prior to making the non-refundable deposit, or your appointment will not be scheduled. The deposit is not an extra fee, and will be deducted in the total cost.
5014 Monroe Road, Charlotte, North Carolina 28205, United States
Open today | 12:00 pm – 07:00 pm |
Monday - Saturday: 12pm - 7pm
Sundays: Closed
We will also be closed in most statutory holidays.