How to remove captive bead ring (a.k.a, damn liars)

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Monday November 5th, 2007 @ 3:04 PM

Filed under: Lip/Cheek

So, I currently have a captive bead ring in my lip. When I got it the piercer told me that I would easily be able to remove it myself. Well, i finally tried… and it was not easy and did not happen. I looked it up online and it said to use pliers… but im wondering if theres a less scary, less damaging way?

Also, my friend loosened his (i.e. stretched the ring more) so that he can more easily pop the ball in and out. I’m wondering if this is an okay thing to do?

Note: I changed the original title on this to make it a bit more relevant

If a captive bead is a smaller (thinner) gauge, they can often be inserted and removed by hand. How easy this can be done depends a bit on how tightly the bead was inserted into the ring as well as the quality of the metal the ring is made from. If the ring is made of 316LVM stainless steel that has been properly annealed (heated up and cooled down, which softens it), popping the bead in and out should be pretty easy. If the ring hasn’t been annealed, it can be very hard to pop the bead in and our without ring-opening pliers.

Whether the ring is annealed or not, you should be able to adjust the gap where the bead sits so you can remove the bead more easily with just your hands. However, if the ring is not annealed, you will probably need a pair of ring opening pliers to adjust the gap. if you don’t have access to a pair, any piercer should be able to make the adjustment for you.

Disposable latex or nitrile gloves that fit your hands well can often make the jewelry easier to work with as it will give you a better grip on everything. At the very least, wash your hands with soap and water to help remove oils from your fingers, so everything will be a little less slippery.

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