body piercings

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 wanted to take a moment to reflect on the past year and also to thank my clients, customers, readers, and supporters!

There are plenty of you out there who sing my praises, suggest my book, and promote my services by encouraging your friends and family to get pierced by me. I appreciate all of your support and will always work hard to earn your trust

Well, 2012 was a busy and super fast year, but really amazing, too. I got to travel to many different cities and meet and pierce so many wonderful people!

Truly I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world to have a job that is so rewarding and fun. I also feel amazingly fortunate to be married to my wonderful husband, to have dear friends, our adorable dogs, and to live in our beautiful home. I'm also grateful to have 2 loving families: my parents and also the family we "inherited" when we moved to the Yucatan. Last but not least, I'm so thankful for having my health, feeling good, and having the energy to do all of the things I want to do!

One highlight was that the TV show "Strange Sex" interviewed me and included me as a piercing expert in their show about erotic piercing!
http://piercingbible.com/blog/2012/03/elayne-angel-appears-tlcs-show-str... and that was really cool!

Another highlight was the release of The Piercing Bible jewelry measuring application, inGauge.

I'm so excited about the Pain Magazine "Spotlight" on inGauge, my awesome body jewelry measuring mobile app. It is in the December 2012 edition on page 28. You can view it on their site. I just had to share a glimpse of it here.

It reads:
Pain Magazine Spotlight on the inGauge App
by Scott Hove

In an effort to further enrich the ongoing relationship between piercers, their clients, and jewelry manufacturers, world-renowned author and piercer Elayne Angel has recently developed inGauge—a new mobile application designed specifically to aid members of the pierced community in sizing physical pieces of body jewelry.

I received a message from a gal who had ear lobe piercings done with an ear stud gun and she experienced complications:

Hi,
About 4 weeks ago I gor my ear lobe pierced with a piercing gun, and just recently one of my piercings has started to become very sore, and then today I went to clean it with a spray the piercing place gave me but as soon as I rotated it it starting oozing a lot of green pus, and then bleeding. I don't understand why this has happened as I have followed all instructions on cleaning the piercing, and I can't find any information on why the piercing is bleeding. What should I do? H.

My reply:

Hi H.,

Piercing guns do NOT meet the Association of Professional Piercers guidelines for safe piercing in terms of hygiene nor jewelry style and material. This page of the APP site has information about it: http://www.safepiercing.org/piercing/faq/#guns

Go to a competent body piercer immediately for appropriate jewelry!

All of my piercer referrals are posted on this page of my website: http://piercingbible.com/piercer-referrals

If I haven't personally worked with or trained any piercers in your area, you can check the website for a member of the Association of Professional Piercers who is local to you:

http://www.safepiercing.org/locate-an-app-member/searchable-member-datab...

They can insert jewelry that is higher quality and a more appropriate style for healing. You may need to see a doctor but let a professional piercer get a look at you first.

These are the care instructions I suggest: http://piercingbible.com/piercing-care

My left nipple has been pierced the EXACT same amount as my right and it still leaks, nearly every morning I have crustys that I must clean off, and a bit through out the day. Nothing excessive, though sometimes in the morning I find dried blood. I have had to go up in size on my left nipple slightly when the nipple got a bit bigger but only on one side. I have pictures that I would gladly send, however I saw no option on your website for me to attach :( I want to know is there way to get my left nipple back to regular without having to take the piercing out? Is it rejecting at a very slow rate?  Will my nipple be this way forever?

My reply:

You definitely do have some scar tissue formation going on there.

Do you feel like it is continuing to grow, or if it has stabilized?

I don't know if perhaps that side was pierced a little deeper than not he other one? In any case, I have some suggestions from my book for dealing with excess scar tissue (called hypertrophic scarring) and I posted it here on this website.

I got a message from a man who had both his nipples pierced, and he suspected something was not right with one of them:

Hello! I recently got both nipples pierced. My right one looks very good, but my left one doesn't look like it has pierced enough tissue, and as such, is making me very nervous. They have been in for a little over a week at this point, there is no pain, and minor crusting. Does it appear to be ok? Or should I remove it, let it heal, and then have it redone?

Thanks!

My reply:

Unfortunately, that piercing is far too close to the surface to be viable. If you don't remove it, I am sure that it will reject completely, which can leave you with a split scar.

I think you should get your money back--that was NOT properly pierced. I would suggest you wait at least 4 weeks before repiercing, and make sure the tissue feels pliable. If it feels dense or tight, I would continue to wait. You may want to try a scar reduction product to facilitate the healing after the wound seals over.

I would strongly advise you visit a more competent professional to redo it; I would not trust the individual who performed the original piercing.

If you would like to have me evaluate the other side, feel free to send another photo.

I received a message from a piercee who I'd assisted previously. This time it was about an industrial project: two piercing in the ear cartilage connected by a single barbell.

Hi. You helped me clear up an infection last year in another piercing I have so I thought I'd contact u about a new problem I'm having with a new piercing...

I got an industrial piercing a month ago. I cleaned it 4 times a day with saline solution like the piercer advised, didn't sleep on it, didn't bother it. Well, it still hurts to the touch where the barbell enters my ear as well as throbs throughout day/night. I still can't sleep on it. Now I notice lumps at 3 entrance points. I've done a sea salt soak a day and put emu oil on the site at least once a day since noticing these lumps. I still try to clean it with saline 3 times a day. What else can I do? I attached some pics. Thank u

My reply:

I received an interesting question from a piercer who wanted to know my opinion on piercing the tongues of minors: