Migrating DIY nipple piercing

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Friday May 16th, 2008 @ 1:44 AM

Filed under: Nipple

Back in December, I pierced my right nipple myself - my first piercing experience, but I did it with proper equipment and in a clean environment. It actually came out pretty good, but the next day I went in to have a piercer check it out, and I had her do the other one since I was there anyway - though she said the one I did looked great, so I could have done the left one myself…I just didn’t want it to hurt so bad again!

Anyway, the one I did myself has migrated down, almost to the bottom of the nipple; it now looks like a shallow and poorly placed piercing. It’s still pretty secure, it’s not going to come out with a sharp yank, but it’s definitely not where it started, or where it’s supposed to be. The professionally-done piercing seems to be pretty much where it was originally.

Is there a technique to piercing to keep it from migrating? If I had gotten the right one done professionally, is there a better chance it wouldn’t have moved, or is it 50-50 no matter what, and it just depends on your body’s response to the jewelry?

I am hoping to get the right one done again, professionally this time, and I’m crossing my fingers that it won’t migrate. I’m not sure if I should take the old one out and let it heal, or if I can just go in since the site for a proper piercing is now well healed (because the jewelry has moved down!). It would be great if you can help me out! I’m not a fan of my body and I really like how it looks with nipple piercings, so I’m hoping I have a chance of keeping it if I get it done professionally this time. Doing it myself was fun though!

Migration and rejection of piercings is a tricky thing to sort out sometimes, and is nearly impossible to predict. Obviously appropriate placement, appropriate jewelry style and materials and aftercare all play roles in reducing the likelihood of rejection. Sometimes though, no matter how spot-on everything might be, piercings still migrate or reject. Piercings are, after all, a foreign object and our bodies are designed to rid themselves of foreign objects. Anytime you successfully heal a piercing, you’ve essentailly tricked your bod into accepting something that isn’t supposed to be there.

My instinct is that if you get your piercing re-done professionally, it’s going to have a better chance of staying put. Even though you may have done a good job piercing yourself, a professional may well have some insight into a slightly different placement that you may not have been aware of. In some cases, it could be as simple as the piercers having a better angle to perform the piercing, helping ensure a proper depth and placement.

However, it’s also possible that you could have that piercing re-done by a pro and it could still reject. It’s possible that you sleep on that side of your body, thereby putting more pressure on the jewelry on that side…increasing the chance of rejection. Perhaps you snagged that nipple at some point and didn’t realize it, causing the migration.

Best of luck with the re-piercing, whichever route you decide to go.

Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | Leave a comment | Trackback