Thursday November 1st, 2007 @ 7:01 PM
Hey! I got a cleavage piercing about 3 weeks ago, and I’m not sure if it’s rejecting or migrating, or just healing. I’ve looked at tons of images, and I do have the scar tissue, but I don’t know if its just because it’s new, or what… It doesn’t seem like the bar is coming through my skin, and its not sore. The redness scared me though…
Any help would be great. I will give virtual cookies and stuff!
That does look mighty cranky, but I have to say, I’m generally hesitant to give specific advice about a piercing I haven’t seen in person. A certain amount of redness can be reasonably expected in a fresh piercing, but yours is much worse than that. Sternum/cleavage placements are pretty notoriously hard to heal, bear in mind, and if you have a lot of flesh there moving around it’s pretty much a given that you have really low odds of healing this piercing. That jewellery does NOT look like a surface bar, there’s just so much upward pressure going on with it - was it done with appropriate jewellery or PTFE? It really looks like PTFE to me, and if it is, I can almost guarantee that this piercing is doomed. (Oh, look, I know some people heal weird placements with bad jewellery choices, but bear with me, your odds are better with better jewellery that sits nicely under the skin!)
You can try things like chamomile compresses to soothe the redness, and I’m a big fan of using neem oil twice a day to settle down irritated tissue, but if you try these things for a week or so with no signs of improvement, it’s time to go back to your piercer and see what they have to say on the subject.
And I know I’m dooming myself to all sorts of contrary comments when I say this next bit, but it’s my opinion and I don’t care - if your piercer’s answer is that they use PTFE all the time and they just don’t get why your piercing isn’t healing, or better yet, say that it’s your fault in any way (e.g. your skin doesn’t like surface piercings or you’re not looking after it or something), it’s probably time to find a new piercer with more a clue about surface work. The only real reason I can imagine some piercers prefer PTFE is that it’s about $1 a metre and self-threading and therefore a heck of a lot cheaper than, say, beautifully made titanium internally threaded surface bars from quality jewellery companies (I personally swear by the Anatometal surface bars), adding greatly to a shop’s profit margin. It’s commonly accepted wisdom in the industry that surface bars are the way to go. 
1 / 1 votes 
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Posted by Lori St.Leone | Permalink | 5 Comments
Thursday November 1st, 2007 @ 6:47 PM
Ok I am no stranger to piercings, I had 18 already before recently deciding to get my other eyebrow pierced. That was about a week ago. The piercing was done pretty deeply, and after a week its ever so slightly sore, but there seems to be some bruising under it around my eyelid that makes it look a little like I have a black eye. I never had such a problem with my other eyebrow when it was done. I was just curious if anyone else had such a problem, and what they did about healing it up? As I said, its not so sore, and I can push it up and down with ease basically, but I just dont get the bruising underneath, unless its due to the deepness of the piercing. I could use some help on this one, here is fine, or feel free to email your response to diabolicalreflections@gmail.com
James
Bruising around eyebrow piercings is so common that it’s reasonable to expect it standardly (and then be pleasantly surprised if it doesn’t happen to you). The face is absolutely loaded with fine capillaries - ever see a rugby player or a boxer split their eyebrow? It generally bleeds like crazy! - and if and when your piercer dings one with a needle, you can expect some subcutaneous bleeding and therefore bruising. The placement of your piercing is probably fine; eyebrows should be kind of ‘deep’ to give them something to hang on to and to reduce the risk of migration. Moving your jewellery up and down in quite unnecessary, by the way, and you’re just traumatising the tissue further and increasing your chances of migration and rejection, not to mention exacerbating the bruising. Hands off!
There are ways piercers have to reduce trauma to the piercing site - for instance, I’ve noticed bruising in my clients has been dramatically reduced since going exclusively freehand with eyebrows, and if your piercer is especially enthusiastic about clamping you can pretty much guarantee a perfect forcep-shaped bruise on your face - but different piercers have different means of getting an end result and at the end of the day, if you have a perfect piercing and a bit of a shiner, you don’t have too much cause for complaint - it’s not going to kill you and it’ll sort itself out in a few days. If you’re looking for ways to get rid of bruises faster, I’ve had excellent results using Hirudoid ointment to speed up the healing of bruises after facial surgeries, and arnica oil works pretty well, too; obviously, don’t get any sort of oil or ointment into your actual piercing.
If your bruise doesn’t sort itself out within a week or two at the most (or, and this is pretty rare, results in continuous ongoing bruising), go back to your piercer and have a whinge, they should offer to re-do it, it’s a placement issue. And don’t get cranky at them about it, either, it’s pretty hard to predict every little capillary unless you have x-ray vision, and you’ll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
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Posted by Lori St.Leone | Permalink | 8 Comments
Thursday November 1st, 2007 @ 3:35 PM
i was wondering if people are still answering questions since none have been posted since the 14th. if they are, then i will post my question after i have received a response, if not, then you will be missed QoD
Honestly, I only answer questions that interest me and that haven’t been answered a dozen times. I have not, nor will I answer questions just for the sake of answering…..well except for right now. Right now I just want to see my name in print.
At the moment, there’s less than 50 pending questions and none meet the above mentioned criteria. I realize some people are put off by having to register with wordpress, some think all of BME is down due to the lack of updates and some are people have other reasons. Nonetheless, if you have a question post it, I can assure you that myself and others are checking the questions regularly.
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Posted by Sean Philips | Permalink | 8 Comments
Monday October 29th, 2007 @ 3:48 AM
About a year ago in a stupid, art school-inflicted lapse of judgment, I gave myself a homemade tattoo using an X-acto knife and India Ink. Completely and utterly stupid, I know, but I was not in my normal frame of mind that day. Anyway, most of it fell out but it’s mostly still there. On one part of my ankle where there isn’t much ink, though, I’ve had this itchy sensation. It’s come and gone and hasn’t been too bad or anything so I let it go but tonight I scratched it and it burned a little. The skin is rough as well. Is this an infection or something I need to seek medical attention for, or is it just something stupid I have to live with? And would I be able to see my regular tattoo artist for advice or should I just see a doctor? Thanks.
X-acto Knife? daaaaamn! Whatever happened to the back in the day method of using a safety pin or sewing needle or something? hahaha we all have lapse in judgment from time to time.
Personally I’d say your best bet is to consult with a doctor/dermatologist and have them analyze the tissue. So that by going to see a doctor/dermatologist you’ll be able to get a more accurate answer and potentially something to deal with the situation.
0 / 0 votes
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | Comments
Monday October 29th, 2007 @ 3:44 AM
Filed under: Ear
I have had my ears at a 9/16 for four years and decided it was time to move on to 5/8. I bought some plugs and couldn’t get them in so I made the mistake of buying silicone eyelets. They felt fine, just mild burning which I thought was just the stretch. After 2 days I couldn’t take the pulsing and burning and knew this wasn’t right. Long story short the eyelets had stuck to my inside lobes. After taking them out my ears were swollen and bleeding with clear liquid dripping out. I cleaned them very well before bed and woke up with my lobes actually crusted together. After a long sea salt soak the only jewelry I could get in were a pair of 0g tapers. A week later now, and my ears are slowly getting better with mild swelling and soreness although it seems like the hole has shrunk to a 0g! I’m wondering what I can do to get my lobes back to the way they were and how long I should wait to try and stretch again?
The wonderful joys of stretching with silicone jewelry. Sorry to hear of the trouble you’ve had involving this matter, it doesn’t sound very fun at all.
In regards to how you can get your lobes back to the size you were at and waiting periods,etc you can be directed to the previous entries involving stretching:
Waiting Time
Stretched Ear Jewellery
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 3 Comments
Monday October 29th, 2007 @ 3:16 AM
I got my vertical labret piercing 2 days ago, and the piercer said not to use chapstick or anything because it could irritate the piercing, and to just sit it out and the chapped lips would go away. Well, my chapped lips are driving me crazy and I am just picking away at them which cannot be good for the piercing either. Can you give me any remedies?
Lots and lots of water. Chapped lips are often a result of the body being dehydrated and not getting the amount of daily water intake it requires. I would strongly advise to not drink anything else other than water for the next couple weeks. As often caffeinated drinks(Soda, Coffee,etc) tends to dry the body out.
Usually if you can start drinking nothing but water for awhile it will keep your body hydrated and not be so dry and chapped. Also try not to chew/pick away at the chapped lips as that can increase swelling and problems with you healing piercings.
0 / 0 votes
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 7 Comments
Monday October 29th, 2007 @ 3:06 AM
Filed under: Ear
I had stretched my lobes to 00ga, but now a job opportunity that I cannot pass up has required me to remove the jewelry. My question: what are the best/easiest/most effective methods for closing up lobe fistulas?
Fastest/Easiest means of closing up the fistula - Visit a plastic surgeon and have them close it up via a surgical procedure.
Sadly though this procedure usually costs a pretty penny (usually around $500 a lobe from what I hear, plus or minus some money there) and is a route not many go down, due to the cost.
Another option is to take your jewelry out and massage them daily with an essential oil like: Vitamin E, Neem Oil, Jojoba Oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil,etc. Do a deep tissue massage once or twice daily and simply do not put any other jewelry in your lobes.
Now depending on the person, as each individual varies, this might enable the holes to close up a lot or it might not close up hardly at all. But I’d say it’s better to try and let them close up on their own before going down the road of re-constructive surgery. So do the deep tissue massages daily for a couple weeks and see how much the holes downsize.
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 5 Comments
Monday October 29th, 2007 @ 2:57 AM
Filed under: Nose
I want to get my nose pierced, and the place I was planning on getting it done at uses a gun to pierce it.
Some people have told me that it is better if the place uses a needle.
Does it make much of a difference?
For starters if you look into the Health Board Protocols that cover Body Piercing, in pretty much states that Piercing Guns should NOT be used on anything on the body, other than ear lobes. So not sure where you’re located but call your Health Department and ask if they allow this sort of invasive cosmetic procedure to be done with a piercing gun, chances are they’ll say no. To which if that’s how they answer, then gladly give up the name of the location that you know of that does nostril piercings with guns.
The facts of the matter have been mentioned many times before on BME here are some of the following articles done via BME
Do piercing guns suck? BME reviews the Studex System 75
Piercing guns are blasphemy!
Those two articles delve into the whole concept of body piercing with piercing guns.
For a quick short answer if you don’t want to read those Piercing Guns are: 1) Inaccurate 2) Often Jam 3) Dirty 4) Create A LOT of Blunt Force Trauma.
Not only that but quite often most individuals offering piercings with a piercing gun, have had virtually zero training (ok so some have a couple hours video training and playing on friends) when it comes to properly doing a piercing. Where as proper professional piercers often have anywhere from 6 months to 2 years of apprenticeship training. As well as proper experienced professional piercers will either use a custom bent nostril screw, that they bend to properly fit your nose. Or they will use a labret style piece of jewelry either internally threaded or threadless style.
0 / 0 votes
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 3 Comments
Monday October 29th, 2007 @ 2:49 AM
One of my friends really want a lip piercing, but she is afraid this will damage her teeth. I know about teflon-jewelry and all, but does that eliminate all risk? And a while ago a friend told me that tongue piercings were a bad idea, because no matter what jewelry you put in, the bacteria in your mouth would act on the jewelry, resulting in cavities. Is it right, or BS?
The situation involving bacteria reacting to the jewelry resulting in cavities, I’d be inclined to say it BS. As there are always a plethora of various bacteria within your mouth.
Unfortunately there is ALWAYS the risk of damage to a persons teeth and gums when they obtain an oral piercing. The only way to combat against this is by making sure you are wearing snug/fitted jewelry at all times. This means get it pierced let the swelling go down and switch to a shorter post,etc. As the longer the jewelry the more it’s going to impact against your teeth and gums.
Jewelry like PTFE (Teflon) and BioPlast/BioFlex (Polysulfones),etc although they are soft and flexible they still has a solid hard mass form about them when made into jewelry. They are not “soft and squishy” at all which would be the only type of material that might prevent tooth and gum damage. So although this material is flexible it still is hard and rigid (the balls, flat disc portion of labret studs,etc) as well and can still damage your teeth and gums.
So ideally the ONLY way to try and combat this is as soon as the swelling goes down, to get fitted with a snug fitted piece of jewelry. However depending on placement,etc this problem can still occur, it might just be prolonged/delayed.
0 / 0 votes
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 1 Comment
Sunday October 28th, 2007 @ 11:50 PM
Hey, thanks a bunch for the answer Lori.
Well, I did find a piercer in Adelaide who had recently started doing Dermal Anchors. Me being excited I of course wanted to get one.
My friend had her belly done and that was fine. It was my time, from what i had researched about dermal anchors and just from my observations while being pierced i thought it would be fine. He did the piercing slid one foot in than the second and i heard a “click” i saw the threading poking out of my skin, the piercing than went on to tell me that there was an extension he had to unscrew to be able to screw the top on.
He undid the extension, by this time i wasn’t actually watching but i saw there was quite a bit of blood. Within a few minutes he had lost the tip of the piercing that poke out the skin under my skin, he was unable to find it even after using the same needle to make small incisions into my arm to try and find it.
They sent me off to a Medical clinic where i than had x-rays to find the jewellery under my skin than i had to have it cut out of me, stitched up and now ill be left with a nifty little scar.
They ended up trying to throw the blame on me telling me that it got stuck under some fatty tissue and that its not there fault and it couldnt be helped?
Now im no expert but is that really suppose to happen when done properly?
Thanks a lot for any help!
To the Constant Reader, this is in reference to this post regarding artists in South Australia.
What a dreadful experience, you poor thing! Of course it was not your fault, it was absolutely the piercer’s fault, and I’m horrified at the lack of professionalism involved from that studio to even blame you or claim that it could possibly be anything other than the piercer screwing up the procedure. I can only hope that at the very least, you didn’t pay a cent for any part of the procedure, and they should’ve paid your costs of the medical treatment (I assume that Medicare would’ve covered part of it). If you were out of pocket for any part of that experience, I’d personally be consulting solicitors about the experience right about now - but hey, I’m from the States originally, that’s kind of how we roll over there.
Again, I repeat (and add one more piece of information) to my advice from the previous post: When researching new/super trendy/technically difficult techniques such as dermal anchoring:
Ask the artist if they do them and how many they’ve done, how the procedure is performed and to explain what techniques they are using (if they screw it into a threaded taper for more leverage to insert it, they need to bloody well hang onto it with haemostats while unscrewing the taper and putting on the attachment, or else you get a very real risk of Exhibit A up above), how they learned to perform the procedure, how many they’ve removed and at what point in the healing process, what their success rate is, and for pictures of fresh and healed work. I also suggest you enquire as to who manufactures the jewellery they’re using, as there are a tonne of low-quality jewellery manufacturers in Asia flooding the market with poorly polished, garbage 316 steel copies of the high-quality titanium Industrial Strength microdermals, and that junk jewellery is dirt-cheap enough that I’d imagine all the bargain-basement mall piercers will be offering microdermal procedures at low, low prices. As with everything in life, you get what you pay for.
Again, I can give you artists in almost every state or territory of Australia who’ve done lots of microdermals and have portfolios of their work to show you, EXCEPT South Australia and Tasmania. Do your research and wrap your head around the idea that it may well be something you’ll need to travel to have done well - you must be going on holiday somewhere at some point, yes?
Best of luck with the healing and treat that scar with Mederma so it’s not too bad!
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Posted by Lori St.Leone | Permalink | 5 Comments
