July 2012

I received a message from the husband of a client I performed multiple genital piercings on:

Dear Elayne,

How are you doing? Hope all is well.

We have a quick question, Sharon unfortunately needs a knee replacement & will be the hospital for 3 days. We need remove her VCH  & the outer labias that you did (both are 10 gauge). They might be out at least 2 days before I could put them back in. We read your book & you suggest retainers, where should we go to in NYC or what can I do myself. I could get fishing line but I not sure it comes in 10 gauge & how to close the ends so it does fall out for the 2 days.

Again so sorry to bother you,

Thanks again, H.

Sorry to hear about S's knee surgery. I hope all goes well.

You can order inexpensive 10 gauge retainers here. That is a reliable website that is respected in the community.

I'm not sure where you could buy them locally, though. You'd have to call around.

Let me know if you have any questions and please send her my wishes for a successful procedure and a speedy recovery!

Thank you,

Elayne

I received a message from a woman who got her septum pierced and she was not happy with the placement:

My question is quite similar to another that I saw on your blog who also got a wrongly placed septum.

I went to a known and recommended piercer on Wednesday, but she placed the septum incorrectly.
The piercing has been placed in the thick cartilage above the 'sweet spot'.

So it's very high up my nose and not aesthetically pleasing.

My question now is: do I immediately take out the piercing? Can that damage the cartilage (I read somewhere that it can splinter if you take it out)?

It still hurts. Also cause the piercer readjusted the needle after poking it. Which means I have a small second wound under the piercing.

I'd love to get it repierced in the right place, I can find my 'sweet spot' very easily, so I'm sure there's enough room. How long should I wait to get it redone?

I'm really disappointed about this experience. I hope you can give me some advice, 'cause I'm a bit lost now.

Thank you!

My reply:

Sorry to hear about your piercing. If you're not happy with the placement (and I understand why you're not), then you should take out the jewelry ASAP. Don't worry about "splintering the cartilage"--that sounds like an urban myth to me.

I received a message from a woman I pierced and she wanted to know if it was normal that her jewelry often leaned to one side of her hood or the other. She sent photos. My comments are below.

This piercing looks great and these photos do a perfect job of illustrating a common phenomenon: the propensity for VCH jewelry to rest to one side or the other (depending on build and tissue tightness or thickness). Many hoods have very fine (thin) skin and are very pliable or malleable.

She described the tendency for the jewelry to rest over to her left, as in the second image. In this particular case, I noted her asymmetry, which likely contributes to this issue. In the image with the jewelry centered, I can see that the left side of her hood has a kind of "ridge" or "hill," where the right side has a sort of a "valley." It would make sense that the side with more tissue could be heavier, resulting in the tendency for the jewelry to favor that side.

I received this message from a woman who has a VCH piercing:

I have a well healed vch that is over five years old at this point. I've known from the start that it's a bit on the shallow side, but not extreme shallow. I have a relatively deep hood which can completely cover a q-tip, and the exit point of the vch is maybe 1/8" off from the apex. It looks fine from the front and feels fine, the bottom ball does rest squarely on my clit. The only issue I ever have is that it sometimes likes to pop up like a turkey timer, which can feel a bit odd but doesn't hurt. It's not that it's ever bothered me per say, but I do wonder if I'm missing out on sensation because it doesn't go through the apex and if it would be less inclined to pop up if it did. But I worry about rejection since there's an established fistula from the current piercing so close to where the new one would go. I mean really established; at one point a few years ago, I didn't wear jewelry in it for over a year, yet it never shrunk down past a 16 (was pierced at 14g). So I don't think it will ever close up on me. I also worry a little about the aesthetic of having a hole from the old piercing in front of a new one. Call me vain, but I don't want to ruin the look of things as I happen to be rather a fan of my vulva. Would I likely be running into any problems if I opted for a redo? Am I even really missing out on much since the ball sits where it's supposed to? I don't know if it's worth the effort to try for perfect placement or if I'm splitting hairs with this. What's more important for the sensation, the placement of the bottom ball or the placement through the apex? Thank you so much for your time, A.

My reply:

I just received a marvelous comment from a woman I pierced recently:

I received a triangle piercing from you when you were piercing at New Flower, and I LOVE it! It's healing well, no problems, and this is my 5th week with it; my love for it is still growing!

I just thought I would drop you a note, and because of your skills, I'm experiencing some INTENSE pleasure from this piercing! I can't thank you enough.

Best wishes and all of my thanks,

R.