Piercings

I received a message from a woman whose nipples I pierced and she had questions about changing the jewelry:

Hello Elayne! I got my nipples pierced by you last year when you were at Obscurities, Dallas. I just want to let you know that this is my favorite piercing yet! They healed so beautifully! So after a year I was wondering if getting my jewelry changed to rings instead of barbells would be possible. If I did do the jewelry change (meaning I got to a piercer to get them changed, I'm kinda chicken in that situation) would my nipples once again become tender as they get used to the new jewelry? I still clean them daily. Your input would mean a lot to me! Thank you again for everything you have done! S.

I received yet another message from a woman who got a botched VCH piercing:

Dear Elayne,

I'm a huge fan of your work and book! The Piercing Bible has helped me decide to get a VCH because of all the benefits it described. Sadly, I made a poor judgement call when I got it done yesterday. I did not go to my usual piercer, as it was quite expensive at his shop and I didn't want to wait to get it done. Instead, I opted for a shop where a friend of mine got his PA done and he assured me that they did a good job. He has had no problems with his PA.

After the procedure, I went to my boyfriend's house and went to the bathroom with a mirror to admire my new piercing. I was slightly horrified to find out that the bottom bead on the barbell does not rest under my hood, but slightly above it and the bead does not touch my clitoris at all. What should I do? I would really appreciate a reply, as I have no idea if I will recieve any stimulation with this piercing because of where the barbell is.

Thank you so much for your time,

Amy

Hi Amy,

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

Today I got an interesting email from an aspiring piercer:

My name is Jordan and I was an apprentice up until a few days ago. I got your book and started reading "How To Choose A Piercer" and the piercing and aftercare techniques and realized that the person that I was learning from was not a skilled piercer. He was recommending baby shampoo as his sole aftercare product! I looked up the ingredients and among fragrances and surfactants were other irritants that were both genotoxic and cytotoxic! So I wanted to thank you because in reading the book twice I increased my knowledge tenfold! My girlfriend and I literally read your book together in bed :) Also the other day I was on the Rings of Desire site and saw that you used to sell autographed posters? Where was I?!? haha :) I'd love an autographed picture or poster! Would Love to hear from you soon!

Hi Jordan, Thanks for your email. I'm so glad to hear that my book has proven to be helpful to you, and that you took the time to let me know about it. Unfortunately, there are a lot of bad piercers out there, and plenty of them are taking on apprentices to create yet more untrained, unskilled practitioners. My hope is that my book will help to elevate the whole industry. By creating educated consumers, it helps put those hacks out of business. I didn't imagine it was going to be the kind of book couples read in bed together!  That kind of feedback sure puts a big smile on my face. You can get an autographed poster by ordering one through LeRoi. I'll be at their studio in Manhattan June 26-28 having a book signing and doing piercings. I've had a box of posters shipped there, and I can sign one for you and have it shipped out.

The entry I wrote about safer sex got picked up as a Valentine's Day post by another blog, The Pierced Consumer. Cloud, the woman who writes the blog is not a piercer--she is a piercee.  She is very knowledgeable about many aspects of piercings, and provides a different perspective than mine, which (naturally) is from a piercer's point of view. You can read about her and why she started the blog, here. If you are a pierced consumer and looking for additional information, I suggest you pay her blog a visit regularly. She is very responsive to answering your questions.