# Piercing (ears, body), Electrolysis — Blood donor deferral criteria compared across national blood services

For Piercing (ears, body), Electrolysis, blood service is American Red Cross (US); waiting period is 3 months; condition is if a piercing was performed using a reusable gun or any reusable instrument; acceptable if single-use equipment and disposable; outcome is temporary deferral, recorded from its source on 2026-08-06.

- **Criterion:** Piercing (ears, body), Electrolysis
- **Blood service:** American Red Cross (US) _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Waiting period:** 3 months _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Condition:** if a piercing was performed using a reusable gun or any reusable instrument; acceptable if single-use equipment and disposable _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Outcome:** temporary deferral _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> Acceptable as long as the instruments used were single-use equipment and disposable (which means both the gun and the earring cassette were disposable). Wait 3 months if a piercing was performed using a reusable gun or any reusable instrument.

## Source

- https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/how-to-donate/eligibility-requirements/eligibility-criteria-alphabetical.html

Last verified: 2026-08-06. Review by: 2027-02-02.
Part of [Blood donor deferral criteria compared across national blood services](https://referencesource.org/blood-donor-deferral-criteria/).