body piercing

I received a message from a woman who was concerned about the placement of her navel piercing:

Hi Elayne, 

Thanks for your time.

I recently read your book and then went out and did the opposite of what I should have done. I was on holiday and eager to get new piercings. Yesterday I went to the only piercer in the area, after receiving a recomendation from someone (I had no access to the internet or any other way to research the piercer). I wasn't aware of the price until the end, but she only charged me NZ$60 for 2 nipple and one naval piercing. The naval piercing is now concerning me, the placement seems to high, and it seems a little crooked also. I am worried that the placement of the lower exit hole above my belly button instead of inside it is causing the lower ball to put pressure on the piercing and will cause it to migrate or reject. I've attached some photos for you to see. I plan on seeing a trusted piercer ASAP to evaluate the piercing. Any advice or If you have any recommendations for piercers in Auckland, NZ that would be appreciated. 

My Reply:

You're correct; your piercing is not properly placed. That's an abdominal surface piercing--not a navel piercing. In a properly placed piercing, the bottom of the jewelry comes out beneath that natural lip. Even if it were properly placed, I would not suggest you use that jewelry. That ball is too large to wear on a fresh piercing, and should be reserved for a healed piercing only. The navel takes 6 months or longer to heal.

I would strongly suggest you remove it ASAP to minimize scarring. You should allow the wound to heal completely and for the tissue to normalize before seeking another piercing in that area.

I received a message from an apprentice piercer who was concerned about the placement of a Vertical Clit Hood piercing he recently performed:

I'm an apprenticing piercer and my fiancee agreed to come in for a supervised VCH piercing with my instructor. I'm pretty positive that we ended up with a surface piercing rather than a genuine, and correct VCH. I explained my concerns to my instructor and she assured me that it was done correctly, but I'm pretty certain this is incorrect. 

We did the q-tip test ahead of time and utilized a NRT for the procedure, so I'm a little uncertain as to how we ended up where we are. Secondarily, the jewelry the piercer selected is far too short (easily remedied). The piercee is very uncomfortable and sore. 

I'm inclined to have her remove the jewelry and begin healing, but wanted a second opinion before doing so.

Thank you.

My Reply:

I received a message from a woman who was concerned about her navel piercing, which is experiencing healing problems:

Hello!

I ran into your site hoping you can help me with my piercing. I recently got my belly pierced about two months ago and I'm not sure if I should be worried. I have a tiny bump that had pus and bled a little by the top of my piercing and I also noticed that my piercing area has gotten a lot smaller because my jewelry has so much space to move. I am worried that my body may be rejecting my piercing because I have pierced it before and it had a thin piece of my skin holding it it. I finally took it out and discovered that I have a keloid due to my body rejecting my piercing before and I was hoping that this piercing would eventually cover it when my piercing heals fully so that I could get different jewelry. My piercer said he was using a very high grade of surgical steel and that I shouldn't have a problem. I hope you can help me with some answers. Thank you.

My Reply:

Hi there,

Unfortunately, your piercing does not appear salvageable. There's simply too little tissue left between the entry and exit. Further, with the overly long barbell in place, you are at risk of rejection or accidentally tearing it out. I would strongly suggest you abandon the piercing.

It looks like you may have what I call a "Localized Piercing Pimple" at the previous piercing site. See this page for information about that: http://piercingbible.com/troubleshooting#Localized_Piercing_Pimple

Even if you do take the jewelry out, I do suggest saline soaks: http://piercingbible.com/saline-soaks

I received a message from a man who was concerned about his Reverse Prince Albert piercing, which is experiencing healing problems:

I've had this RPV for about a month to a month and a half. It doesn't look right and I've had some trouble figuring out what's going on with it. First, is the placement an issue? Secondly, there seems to be some kind of hypertrophic scar around it as well as a wound-like thing going on. Could the piercing be migrating and that's what's causing some of the issues? Generally the piercing doesn't hurt. It can hurt a little if it's rubs just right while walking. It also hurts a little if it's squeezed. Sex is also a bit painful. Is there any hopes of salvaging this or should I just be giving up?

I received a message from a piercee who couldn't figure out why her old, established piercings were acting up:

I have several piercings all different ages some for as many as 10 years or more and not had any problems. Recently they have all began to migrate and reject and I don't understand why. Can you tell me why this would happen all of the sudden and at such volume after years of no problems at all?

My response:
Are you experiencing some kind of excessive stress right now? That can cause problems with healed piercings. If not, I'd suggest a visit to a doctor for a thorough check up. After a long history of stability, if your piercings are acting up that could indicate a health problem of some sort. Here is some information on how stress can affect you.

Please keep me posted!

She did just that, and contacted me again about three months later:

I emailed you a while ago regarding my migrating piercings. After some observation and doctor visits it was in fact due to high stress levels as you suspected.

I got this great feedback from a woman who saw my website and made use of one of my piercer referrals:

Elayne! I LOVE this website! After months & months of reading about different genital piercings, no other place has given me such detailed information. From what I have been reading, you know EVERYTHING about genital piercings & I wanted to wait until you came to Detroit to get a piercing but In July I just couldn't wait any longer and went to see a piercer. I live in Shelby Township, MI & I was so excited to see that you referred Tiffany Diamond from Lady Luck located in Waterford, MI.

I went to see Tiffany just to ask about the triangle piercing and maybe gain a little more knowledge, & ended up getting the piercing that same day! Tiffany was very professional and made me feel extremely comfortable. I definately would recommend her to somebody interested in getting a genital piercing. The piercing did not hurt as bad as I thought it would..... The anticipation building up was worse than the actual piercing itself lol Thank you so much!

I received a message from a woman who had a question about certain legalities of piercing:

Hello my name is T and I've been piercing out of my home for the past 4 years and i have a problem. im starting to save money and build a business but someone is trying to bring me down. im currently creating a facebook page for my new business and an employee from a tattoo shop said he reported me to the police for piercing out of my home. ive been doing this for more than 4 years and i looked up on the internet for the state of pennsylvania you dont need a license to tattoo/pierce but hes telling me to get an apprenticeship. do i need that?

My reply:

T.,

I don't know anything about your local laws, but I know a great deal about professional piercing and I must say that it absolutely should take place out of a proper studio and not a home.

You can find out about the personal and environmental criteria set as an industry standard by the Association of Professional Piercers in the application for membership on this page: http://www.safepiercing.org/join-the-app/types-of-memberships/

You must have an autoclave that is spore tested regularly by an outside service, a separate enclosed area for piercing, a seperate steriliztion room, and much more.

I received a message from a woman who was concerned about her navel piercing, which is experiencing healing problems: