The Piercing Bible

I got a message from a piercee who was concerned about the placement of her nostril piercing:

Hi Elayne, I just got my nostril pierced a week ago, but I'm experiencing the same problem P. had with nostril piercing placement. Although I had initially questioned the placement of my piercing, I went ahead with it anyway because I knew that my piercer was experienced and therefore trusted his judgment.

But since I've gotten my nostril pierced, I've been extremely self conscious about it, thinking I might look stupid because it may not be in the most flattering position for my face. I've even found myself looking at peoples' noses and imagining where a potential nostril piercing should be placed, and more often than not, it looks best along their crease. To my surprise, the placement of my nostril piercing, though unconventional and awkward at first glance, has kind of grown on me (it looks a bit weird straight on, but the profile view is not too bad). However, I know that a few millimeters can make a big difference, as you mentioned to P. I was hoping that with your experience, you could help me settle my indecisiveness.

I got a brief question that needed a rather lengthy answer:

Does it matter about the size of your ear in order to get an industrial or conch piercing? Thank you, Y.

HI Y.,

I got this message from a piercee who is having trouble with  a labret (lip) piercing:

I got my labret pierced on the 3rd of december, and in the last couple days the skin on the inside of my piercing has grown (like a white flap on the bottom of the disc about 1mm tall) that rests next to the disc. i don't know whether it would be growing over it, i have a 10mm long stem which i thought is long enough, but i would still like your opinion

I told her that if she thinks the tissue is growing over the jewelry, she should should see her piercer IMMEDIATELY for a jewelry change! I also explained that I couldn't really evaluate a piercing without seeing it--or at least a photo or two. I requested that she send some clear, close up images, and I received these (below). They do show that the post is long enough so she is not in danger of the jewelry becoming embedded (which is a risk when a piercing is healing if the jewelry is too short).

Hi Elayne,

This is the second time I've noticed this.  I've had a few piercings since I was young.  I got a batch of piercings a while ago and the old, established piercings started to ache and ooze along with the new piercings.  All seemed to be better and I got a few more piercings recently.  Now all of my piercings, including the last batch are sore and crusting.  Can my new piercings cause my older piercings to be irritated? Thanks, S.

I received the following message from someone interested in viewing my web page in another language:

I would like to print your webpage out (with photos) in Spanish. Is that possible? I have a female friend who would like to have her clitoris pierced, but she doesn't know English. She would very much be interested in the content of your information. HELP? R.

My reply:

HI R.,

If you go to this page http://piercingbible.com/female-genital-piercings (or any page of my site) and look at the tool bar across the bottom of the browser, in addition to links to my Facebook page, Twitter page , and YouTube channel, one of the options will say "Translate." Click that and then select the language of your choice, and click on it.

Naturally, the translations won't be perfect, especially since the vocabulary for this topic is rather specialized--but it should help to make the content understandable.

In addition to the American English in which it is written, a translation of my website is available in the following languages: Chinese, Dutch, British English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish!

Thanks for your interest.

I was asked to provide some information about risks of piercings specifically as regards teenagers (14 and up). Below are the questions and answers:

Q: What are some associated health risks that teens may be more exposed to when their piercing is healing?

A: Some teens pierce themselves or have a friend do it, or go to a piercer who is unethical (piercing minors without parental consent). In all of these situations, the risk of infection is MUCH higher than if they go to a professional studio and get pierced by a qualified practitioner. Sterilization equipment is expensive, and it is required for safe piercing. The piercing "kits" that are advertised as sterile do NOT provide everything needed for a safe piercing. These situations are all recipes for disaster. One of the likely problems is that the piercing won't end up in the right spot. When this takes place, it doesn't look good, and it won't heal well. Piercings that are not placed properly to the individual anatomy have a tendency to become irritated or infected; the can migrate and reject, and cause tissue discoloration and/or excessive scarring. Poor quality jewelry can cause the same problems. And teens are frequently on a tight budget, which means they often buy jewelry that is poor in quality

I received this message from a girl who is interested in having her nostril pierced. She apparently hadn't been asking the right people this question:

When you first get your nose pierced can you get a ring in it or do you have to get a stud then let it heal and change it? Everybody tells me you can't get a ring first.

I'm just confused and wanted to know from the best. (: A

I got this message from a girl seeking advice about jewelry for her smiley piercing:

Hi I'm D.,
I was wondering if you could help me out with something, although I'm not sure if this is a type of help you can give. I have my smiley pierced and I recently snagged it a little. Which I have noticed it might have torn little enough to not bother me, but enough that it is now sitting a tiny bit lower then when initially pierced. Was sitting on the lower gum line. Now I can just barely feel it touching some tooth.

Now I know these ones are pretty risky as far as migration goes, but I'm madly in love with it and want to do anything to keep it without risk. My problem is it is now causing one of my front teeth to be incredibly sensitive and this was never a problem before. I know I can go smaller in diameter as far as the captive bead ring goes, or just flat out switch to a bent barbell which I want to avoid the barbell unless it's my only option.

So I've spent the last week trying to find somewhere that has a CBR with a silicone or silicone like bead instead of surgical steel to protect my teeth more if rubbing happens. I know they make them commonly in larger gauges and the smallest I can seem to find is a 10g. I definitely DO NOT want to put anything bigger then the 18g I have now.

Don't want to lose my pretty piercing, and with bigger sizes it's pretty much inevitable. What I'm so slowly getting at is do you have any idea where I could find some? Preferably the internet if possible, if not that's okay too. Or maybe somewhere I can custom order it? I hope you can help! By the way I looove your site! You're awesome! Talk to you soon.