When your jewelry moves closer to the surface or your tissue gets narrower between the openings of a piercing, you are experiencing migration. The piercing may move only a little and then settle and stay in a different position. For safety and longevity, a piercing should have at least 5/16 inch (almost 8 mm) of tissue between the entrance and exit holes. If your piercing is narrower than that, there is a strong possibility you will lose it.

Don’t allow jewelry to come all the way through to the surface or an unsightly split scar will often remain (unless you undergo plastic surgery). Also, future repiercing could be more difficult if you permit the jewelry to be completely expelled from your body.

A body piercing should be abandoned if the tissue between the entry and exit progressively gets smaller or thinner over time and any of the following happen:
•    The skin between the openings is flaking and peeling, red and inflamed, or hard and calloused-looking.
•    You have less than 1/4 inch of tissue between the openings.
•    Just a thin filament of nearly transparent tissue is left, and you can virtually see the jewelry right through your skin.
These issues can arise long after you are healed. I know of piercings that were stable for ten to twenty years, and then migration or rejection occurred without any indication as to why. This is especially distressing when it happens to a piercing you’ve had for a long time because it feels like you are losing a part of yourself. Whether your piercing is old or new, if you catch the problem before the point of no return, there are some measures that might help.

Check the fit, quality, and condition of your jewelry. Wearing inferior metal or a piece with a scratched finish can cause serious trouble. Even if the jewelry seems okay, swapping it out is sometimes all you need to stop the movement of your piercing. Wearing inert plastic may calm a piercing that has started to migrate, whether jewelry was the apparent cause or not.

If ring-style jewelry won’t rest flat against your body (after the first few weeks of healing), or barbell ends sink into your tissue, these are signs that your jewelry is too small. Inserting a piece that fits properly often stops migration that has been caused by constriction, if the change is made while sufficient tissue remains.