I got a message from a woman who got a VCH piercing that was terribly botched. The piercing was wayyy too deep and the jewelry far too short; it became embedded under her hood. She suffered horribly in agony and nearly had to undergo surgery to remove the jewelry.

Image below is of the botched piercing. The "inverted-V" of the hood is marked. That is where the bottom ball of the curved barbell should be visible. The arrow points to the approimate location of where the piercing should have actually been made. You can see that it is about twice as "deep" (far away from the edge of the hood) as it should have been. And the jewelry was far, far too short. The piercing was done by Brandi Colquitt at Innercity Ink in Tulsa‎, OK‎.

She wrote:
I went 4 days ago and had a vertical hood piercing done. I was so excited, I had been wanting it done for some time. A woman I had been to for other piercings is who I decided to stick with for this one.

The pain was intense. I could barely stand it. From the beginning, you couldn't see the bottom ball under the hood. Three days later, the swelling and pain was so bad I could barely sit. I called the piercer and went in to have her check it.

She said I needed longer jewelry and that she could change it out, but that it would be very painful. She suggested instead that I go home, take ibuprofen and ice packs.
I went home and did that for about an hour. I noticed all the pain was gone. I felt around, and the top ball had come off. (This is after she couldn't get it off at the shop.)

I rushed back to the shop to have her change it out. But she said she didn't want to do that, and that she just needed to remove it, let it heal, and pierce it again in a month. I agreed. She went to remove it, and couldn't find the bottom ball. After agony and get trying to get it out, I gave up. She said go home and continue to ice it.

When I got home, I just knew that wasn't a good idea. I decided to go to the ER. After 5 1/2 hrs I found out that I have an infection and that piercing is deeply embedded and will have to be cut out. The ER wanted me to see a gynocologist since they specialize in female anatomy.

I went today. Because of how deep it is the Dr. is uncomfortable with doing this in office. The wants to try to cut open where the top of the piercing was and pull it out. If this doesn't work, I will be having surgery in the hospital next week, full anesthesia and all.

I am devastated. Can't she be held liable for negligence?? Waivers can't cover complete negligence can they???? I've talked to another nationally known piercer here in Tulsa. She has told me that has fixed many a botched piercing from this other girl, that I am not the first one to go through this. How can this "professional" get away with this? It's not like I let it go on for weeks. It was less than 72 hrs. Just a little over 2 days. And now I need surgery??? HELP!

Picture above right was taken one hour after the piercing. The image below was 72 hours after the piercing.
My reply:

Oh my goodness, I'm totally appalled! I would suggest you consult an attorney about that. I have been listed as an expert witness on piercing on TASA--the Attorney's Referral Service. If proper practices weren't followed, I could testify about that.

Do you know the gauge and length of the jewelry bar?  And the size of the balls?

Then I saw the photos. I wrote:

Holey moley! I've seen a lot of botched piercings, but nothing quite like yours. What a horrific story!

If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know. You're more than welcome to use any information from my book, The Piercing Bible--The Definitive Guide to Safe Body Piercing (in terms of appropriate placement for he piercing, for example) if it will assist you.

I would suggest you consult an attorney about that. I have been listed as an expert witness on piercing on TASA--the Attorney's Referral Service. If proper practices weren't followed, I could testify about that.

Do you know the gauge and length of the jewelry bar?  And the size of the balls?

She wrote again:

I went to an APP member piercer in town yesterday. THANKFULLY he was able to get the jewelry out. After having two other nationally known piercers look at pics and everything yesterday, they both told me it was done entirely wrong. The exit above the wound is almost half an inch too high. The jewelry he said, without measuring it, was either 3/8" or 7/16" in length when, due to the piercing, it should have been an inch. 

[Elayne's added note here--the piercing was done way too deep, not at the natural apex underneath the hood where it should have been placed. So, rather than needing a 1" piece of jewelry, the piercing should never have been done that far up her hood.]

I also found out today that the girl who did the piercing doesn't have a current license. The state will not renew it because she owes 2 years of child support. I already contacted the health department and they are going to investigate. I also contacted multiple media outlets. One radio station already wants to do a segment on this. I don't want to be a martyr. I will remain anonymous. But I refuse to let this happen to anyone else if I can help it.

What about people that don't have insurance? What about those who don't have basic medical knowledge and realize when something is so bad that you need to go to the ER?? What happens to those? Necrosis? Fascitis? Sepsis?

Photo above after jewelry was successfully removed

Any professional opinions you can give me on this are greatly appreciated. I love body modifications. I trusted her. She has me terrified to ever attempt getting this done again. Mike, who saw me yesterday, after seeing how deeply she pierced it, and the mangling she had done, couldn't believe I was able to sit through all of that, he doesn't know how I did it. He is willing to testify, give a written statement, anything I need to go after her for this. She has cost me a couple hundred in medical bills to fix this already. I will not let this go. She will not do this to anyone else. Ever.