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September 2012

Very Shallow VCH Surface Piercing with Dangerously Long Jewelry (with photos)

September 7th, 2012

A woman wrote to me:

I got this yesterday. It doesn't look like the other piercings.

Very shallow VCH surface piercing with "inverted-V" marked

My reply:

I'm afraid you have been given a very shallow hood surface piercing. You really should try to get your money back and you should take the jewelry out. It is definitely NOT safe to have such a small amount of skin pierced, especially with such a long bar. Even if you try to heal it, you're likely to find your body treats it as a splinter and ejects it. I would NOT trust the same piercer to redo it. Its abundantly clear that tea or she had absolutely no idea what to do or where to place a VCH piercing.

This page of my site clearly explains how the jewelry  should go underneath your hood:
http://piercingbible.com/q-tip-test

Where are you located? Perhaps I can suggest a competent professional in your area?
I marked your photo with what I call the "Inverted-V" of the hood. The jewelry should be coming out from underneath there….

The photo below shows proper placement for the VCH piercing and jewelry that fits well.

good VCH piercing

Pubic Piercing Problems (with Photos)

September 7th, 2012

I received a message from a gentleman who was having problems with a "pubic piercing"

New "pubic piercing" (lower than I suggest)Hi Angel,
I would like to seek your professional opinion and consultation on my current piercing.
I have got my pubic piercing 2 months ago, but it seems to be rejected in the last few weeks (picture of initial piercing and current status are attached for your reference)
My questions are:
1.       Should I take it out now and abandon the piercing?  Let it healed and re-pierce later.  My concern is will there be any risk to trap any bacteria in the piercing?
2.       Or should I leave it there and hope it can settle with this status?  The worst case will be torn out, right?
Any advice will be highly appreciated.   It really makes me embarrassed as I have not encountered any piercing rejection before for all my healed piercing including PA, nipples and others…
Thanks in advance for your kind advance.

My reply:

Ear Cartilage Piercing Problems (With Photo)

September 7th, 2012

I received a question and photo from a woman who has an ear cartilage piercing that is experiencing problems. Below is a somewhat condnesed version of our correspondence:

ear cartilage bump

I've read your book many times, but I wanted to seek guidance from the author herself! I got my helix pierced at a tattoo and piercing parlor about 3 weeks ago.  The piercer put a rather large ring in my piercing with a bead.  

He then told me to clean the piercing with alcohol and Dial soap (I knew better after reading your book, so I just nodded and smiled).

Instead, I did nightly sea salt soaks, but the piercing seemed fine after about a week- in fact, it felt and appeared to be fully healed.

 However, about 4 days ago, it started to feel warm and red.  2 days ago, the skin around it (basically the top half of my ear) is very warm to the touch, purplish red, and sore (the piercing throbs).  However, there is no strange discharge or swelling from it- all of the discharge is clear to light yellow and it's very minimal and there is no swelling.  What's going on with my piercing? The bump looks a little more irritated than usual because I just got out of sparring practice and had a good amount of contact with my ear.  

Unfortunately, I was unable to go and get the jewelry changed as I left for school a few days after.  The piercing is not painful, tender, or warm (although I can't lay on it, that's not surprising as I usually can't lay on my ears in general).

 

Nostril Piercing and Jewelry Changes

September 5th, 2012


I received a message from a woman whose nostril I pierced. Unfortunately, they started to give her a hard time about wearing the jewelry at work. So she got in a clear quartz crystal retainer and concealed it:

Hope your well and your travels are treating you good.  Well, today is one day shy of three months from the initial nostril puncture piercing.  Yay!  I have pulled it off.  I still have the clear retainer being covered with a hole punched micro pore skin tone bandage, but is it safe to remove now without risking the piercing site from closing?  If I can remove it when having to be here at work Wed, Thurs and Fri and replace it Friday evenings upon arriving home?
 
Please advise when time permits.

My reply:


I'm glad to hear that it is still in and that the tape has been working for you with the retainer.

Unfortunately, 3 months is the minimum time that can be expected for the piercing to epithelialize and no longer be an open wound--though it can certainly take longer for initial healing to take place. Some find the piercing takes 6-9 months or so to heal!

VCH Surface Piercing of the Day

September 3rd, 2012

I received a message from a woman who suspected her VCH piercing wasn't properly placed as she was not experiencing any enhancements from it.

She wrote:
VCH Piercing that looks normalCould you have a look at the photos of my VCH piercing?  I had it done a few months ago and while it hasn't caused me any bother, it hasn't had quite the "wow" factor I was expecting!  If you think it is situated correctly could you recommend jewellery for it? 

I live in Ireland so I travelling to one of your recommended piercers wasn't an option!

I'd really appreciate your opinion

Thanks.

 

Nipple Rings Too Small for Initial Piercing

September 3rd, 2012

I received a message from a woman I'd pierced previously. She went to a different piercer to get her nipples done and ended up with initial jewelry that was inappropriate (too small):

Good morning Elayne,
Nipple Ring too small for initial piercingI wish to thank you for your help and insight in regards to my recent nipple piercings that I did for my husband's birthday in Key West, Florida. It will be one month tomorrow since the piercing was done. They seem to be healing ok, no pain, but I am getting a thick, yellow-greenish discharge on an almost daily basis from each nipple. Is this NORMAL? I clean the daily crustys off with a saline soaked Q-tip, and I am trying to get at least two saline soaks in each day (however, somedays I only get one in).

I am concerned about having the ring in and having the piercing not straight (rounded on the ends) and am wondering if I can exchange the jewelry and put in a straight bar for the  rest of the healing period?

Also, you had mentioned to my husband that if we wanted to "play" with them, that it would have been better to have gone to a 14 gauge. If I do this, is the healing process the same, and will it have any effect on the looks due to being re-pierced? Hopefully, if I do this I will only have you do it...I will check your schedule and see where you are going to be.
Thank you again for all your help and expert advise.

My reply:

Another Accidental Clitoral Glans Piercing (With Photos) -Triangle Attempt

September 1st, 2012

I received a message and photos from a woman who had concerns (rightly so!) about her new "triangle" piercing done by "the piercer who owns Big Brain here in Omaha, Nebraska":

Botched Triangle Piercing (accidental clitoris piercing!)
Hi, I recieved a triangle piercing recently. Although it is very pleasing I have been doing alot of reading on your site and you had mentioned that the hood should not be pinned down and that the piercing should be pretty straight well mine is not quite like that. I got it done by a reputable pierrcer who owns Big Brain here in Omaha, Nebraska. I just wanted your opinion on whether you think migration is possible or if I would have some long term problems down the line.