This is a continuation of my discussion from my previous blog post about stretching a Prince Albert piercing:

How or what does migration look/feel like?  The stretch was done by the piercer who did the PA.  It felt like a lot of pressure for a very brief second when it was stretched last week.  I did not see the blood until I peed and like I said it was very little.  They used a horseshoe about a 1" I am guessing.  I normally wear underwear.  I had some crusting the first couple of days but that is all over with. I did soak it the first couple of days after the stretch.  It easily moves in the shower.  I wanted a barbell for the stretch but they were out.  The original piercing was done Nov 1st last year.

Thank you for your help.

Hi Eric,

Here is some information from my book, The Piercing Bible about migration and rejection. (There's a LOT of great info in it for anyone interested in piercing....)

Migration and Rejection
Two rather distinctive piercing complications are migration (the piercing moves from its initial placement, then settles and heals in a new location) and rejection (the jewelry is expelled completely from the body). The piercing is likely to migrate when unsuitable or insufficient tissue is pierced, or if your jewelry is too small in diameter, thin in gauge, or of poor quality. Inexperienced and untrained piercers often make these errors.

Migration and rejection can also result from using a harsh aftercare product, following poor health habits, or experiencing excessive physical trauma or emotional stress during the healing period. And, unfortunately, sometimes even when everything is done properly, a piercing will migrate or reject for no known reason. This is simply a risk of placing a foreign object through your skin: it may not stay in the desired position.

In the case of a PA migrating, what you'll usually see is that the tissue between the edge of your urethra and the piercing gets narrower, or sometimes that the skin itself thins and you can start to see your jewelry through it. A 1" circular barbell (or "horseshoe") in 2 gauge is quite a heavy piece of metal! If there isn't enough tissue to support it, migration and rejection can occur.

Just keep an eye out and if the irritation gets worse, consider dropping back down in size to preserve your piercing. If you run into any trouble, let me know.

Elayne