LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The Transportation Security Administration said Friday its officers at a Texas  airport appear to have properly followed procedures when they allegedly forced a woman to remove her nipple rings -- one with pliers -- but acknowledged the procedures should be changed.



The woman involved -- Mandi Hamlin -- told reporters earlier Friday she was humiliated by last month's incident, in which she was forced to painfully remove the piercings behind a curtain as she heard snickers from male TSA officers nearby. The incident occurred at the Lubbock, Texas, airport.



The officers "rightly insisted that the alarm that was raised be resolved," the TSA said in a statement posted on its Web site Friday afternoon. "TSA supports the thoroughness of the officers involved as they were acting to protect the passengers and crews of the flights departing Lubbock that day."



However, "TSA has reviewed the procedures themselves and agrees that they need to be changed," the statement said. "In the future, TSA will inform passengers that they have the option to resolve the alarm through a visual inspection of the article in lieu of removing the item in question."



Hamlin and her lawyer, celebrity attorney Gloria Allred, said they want a public apology from the agency, as well as a guarantee that future passengers with piercings will be treated with dignity and respect.



Allred pointed out that TSA's Web site says passengers with piercings can undergo a pat-down inspection if they do not want to take their piercings out -- an option she said Hamlin was never offered.



"The conduct of TSA was cruel and unnecessary," Allred told reporters at a news conference. "Last time that I checked, a nipple was not a dangerous weapon."



She said if an apology was not forthcoming, "Mandi is going to have to consider her legal options."



Attempts by CNN to reach Allred for a response to the TSA statement Friday afternoon were unsuccessful.



TSA said in its statement it acknowledges "that our procedures caused difficulty for the passenger involved and regrets (the) situation in which she found herself. We appreciate her raising awareness on this issue and we are changing the procedures to ensure that this does not happen again."



The incident occurred February 24 as Hamlin, 37, was preparing to fly to Dallas-Fort Worth from Lubbock, where she had been visiting her elderly great-uncle.



Hamlin said she also has navel and ear piercings and has never set off a metal detector or been singled out for additional screening at an airport.



She did not set off the metal detector at Lubbock International Airport, but was pulled to the side for additional screening, Allred said. A hand wand used by a TSA officer beeped when it was waved over her breasts.



Hamlin told the officer she had nipple piercings, Allred said, and that officer called over another officer, who told her she would need to remove them.



"Ms. Hamlin did not want to remove her nipple piercings," Allred said, reading from a letter she sent TSA. "After nipple rings are inserted, the skin can often heal around the piercing and the rings can be extremely difficult and painful to remove. In addition, once removed, the pierced skin may close up almost immediately, making it difficult and painful to reinsert the piercing."



More officers were called over, and the group grew to four male and two female TSA officers, according to Hamlin. Also, a small crowd of onlookers had started to gather. The officers insisted that Hamlin remove the nipple rings, Allred said.



"She felt humiliated by the scene that the TSA officers were making," Allred said.



"With tears streaming down her face, she again asked to show the piercings to a TSA officer instead of having to remove them. She was told, however, she would not be allowed to fly unless she removed them. Had she been told that she had a right to a pat-down, she would have chosen that option."



She eventually was taken to a private area behind a curtain to remove
Who made passengers remove nipple rings? What did the agency say? What backs officers who made passenger remove nipple rings? Who found piercings at airport? Who says she heard male agents snicker? What did the woman say? Who said procedures need to be changed? What needs to be changed?
Transportation Security Administration airport appear to have properly followed procedures when they allegedly forced a woman to remove her nipple rings -- one with pliers -- but acknowledged the procedures should be changed. Transportation Security Administration Mandi Hamlin Mandi Hamlin she was humiliated Transportation Security Administration the procedures
question: Who made passengers remove nipple rings?, answer: Transportation Security Administration | question: What did the agency say?, answer: airport appear to have properly followed procedures when they allegedly forced a woman to remove her nipple rings -- one with pliers -- but acknowledged the procedures should be changed. | question: What backs officers who made passenger remove nipple rings?, answer: Transportation Security Administration | question: Who found piercings at airport?, answer: Mandi Hamlin | question: Who says she heard male agents snicker?, answer: Mandi Hamlin | question: What did the woman say?, answer: she was humiliated | question: Who said procedures need to be changed?, answer: Transportation Security Administration | question: What needs to be changed?, answer: the procedures