body piercing

I received this message from a piercer on the East Coast:

Thanks for all your great articles. I always skip right to your article first thing when I get a new pain magazine. I bought the Piercing Bible last year for curiosity and I must say, I was surprised at how well written and how much content it had. Can't say I agree with everything but I respect you for your work in this industry and appreciate the information you put out there. We had to fight over your book in the shop when we first got it. When we come across questions between ourselves as piercers we use your book to get your opinion. Thanks. K.

My response:
Thanks for your message and for your feedback. I know there will be an update to The Piercing Bible eventually, and I'm interested in hearing about what other piercers disagree with. If you'd care to share an of your thoughts on this, I'd take your input into consideration during my rewrite.

And that goes for any of you readers too. I am interested in the feedback of other professionals, so don't hesitate to contact me with your perspectives. It could result in a change in the first revised edition of The Piercing Bible.

I received this message from a Health Education Specialist at a university:

Ms Angel,
I am a Health Educator at the University of Louisville and I'm trying to find some medically accurate information on genital piercings, including risks, long-term side-affects, and questions that potential pierce-ees should research before determining whether to obtain one.

Can you help guide me to this info? I see that you have some info on your website for men, but the link to info for women takes me to a promo for some events that you have coming up.
I really appreciate your help!
 
Kathleen Conte, M.A.
Health Education Specialist
University of Louisville
Campus Health Services
Office of Health Promotion and Education

Wow! I ran across this video of a woman with lip plates drinking water. It is fascinating to see how incredibly large her piercings are stretched (both upper and lower lips). I can also see that there has been no thinning of the tissue, which often occurs when stretching is done too quickly.

It looks like drinking is a bit of a challenge, and I imagine eating is too, but I'm completely fascinated. It isn't a modification I'd want for myself, however. The little 14 gauge hole in my lip is just fine for me.

Well, that's a little harsh. But the winter weather there is also harsh, so I'm happy to be back in the Yucatan, where the weather is literally 50+ degrees warmer than it was on the East Coast. It was between the 20s and 40s there, and here it is a breezy, but toasty 97 degrees. Yum!

My husband and I had a fantastic trip, and we were truly honored to speak at Yale University. You can see some reviews of my class on erotic piercings here and here.

While in NY, I stopped into a cool clothing store (where I found a geat pair of black leather pants) and ran into a woman who I'd met previously in my own studio in New Orleans. She's a very interesting person named Joshua Suzanne, and she did a brief interview with me:

That's the title of an article I was interviewed for that provides important information for parents about piercings their teens might get or have. The Piercing Bible was quoted and credited.

It starts off:

When done properly, piercing is safe. Elayne Angel is the author of The Piercing Bible – The Definitive Guide to Safe Body Piercing and the Medical Liaison for the Association of Professional Piercers (APP) and recommends following standard safety precautions for a safe piercing experience:

• the piercing should be done in a hygienic facility by a trained, experienced worker
• sterile, disposable equipment should be used
• jewelry of the correct material, size, and style should be inserted
• proper aftercare instructions should be followed

Click here to read the rest of the article.

This past week I had the honor of visiting Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut to provide a lecture on Erotic Piercings for their Sex Week event. I gave an hour and a half talk to an attentive audience that consisted primarily of students (and a few professors as well!). My lecture was supported by abundant visuals (150 slides) throughout a PowerPoint presentation created especially for this event.

The focus of the class was genital piercings for both men and women, though I also covered the erotic possibilities of oral and nipple piercings, and emphasized the importance of seeking a highly qualified piercer. Graphic images of botched piercings drove that point home. I received a lot of positive feedback from members of the audience, several of whom reported that they were now considering getting genital piercings for themselves!

You can see the article here.

I got this message from a Facebook friend:

Back in November I got a micro dermal in my middle finger. I know now that is was a horrible place to get one. I have knocked it on things numerous amounts of times and caught it on clothing also. It would swell up, but after a day it would go back down. Well now it has been having puss coming out of it and the skin where the longer part of the bar is, is red and raised, like a fresh scar, and when a little pressure is on it, it looks like you can slightly see the metal. It's rejecting isn't it? If so, do I just let it reject on it's own or get it cut out? It isn't causing any pain, and the puss doesn't have an odor. Thank you so much! Jennifer

Hi Jennifer, Body art on the hands is notoriously hard to deal with. Unfortunately, it does sound as though it is rejecting. It is best to return to your piercer for an in-person evaluation and probably some assistance in removing it. There should be no necessity to "cut it out" though. Please see your piercer. By the way, the preferred terminology for this type of piercing (from the Association of Professional Piercers) is a "surface anchor." We want to distinguish it from implants and other more serious forms of body modification, because we view them as simply another type of piercing. When we use the terms "microdermal," "dermal anchor," or "microdermal implant," that can cause legislators to think we're doing something more serious than we are. Good luck, Elayne

I received this message from a Facebook friend: