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7 Responses to “micro dermal removal”

1. GET INTO LOTS OF FIGHTS!

   Lucas Reichennek on August 20th, 2008 at 5:07 pm

2. I’ve debated with myself whether to post this… but I think the last resort option deserves a mention. I’ve personally had to cut out a rapidly rejecting microdermal when I didn’t have timely access to a piercer I trusted. Instead I relied on phone advice from my piercer; it was either that or let it reject entirely and risk complications and permanent cosmetic damage.

   So, regard this as an emergency procedure only, again a LAST RESORT. You risk severe scarring if anything goes wrong. Having someone else around is a good idea in case you run into trouble.

   * Clean the surrounding area with alcohol swabs, allow to dry
   * Hold the post in place using a pair of forceps or hemostats
   * Use a #11 scalpel to cut the skin from the post of the MD to the end of the “heel” (the short end of the implant)
   * Use a fairly fine gauge needle to separate the skin to expose the heel
   * Separate the top layer of skin from the MD by maneuvering the needle around the post and sliding it over the entire area of the implant base
   * Use the forceps to lift the MD, and using a fresh needle or #11 scalpel separate the bottom side of the implant base from the surrounding tissue
   * Pull the MD out through the newly enlarged post hole, heel first. Expand the hole slightly with a scalpel if necessary
   * Bandage things up, go have a smoke

   Expect blood, expect pain. Have spare scalpel blades, needles and gauze on hand in case of the unexpected. Afterwards, let it sit overnight then wash with antimicrobial soap for a couple of days and remove any excess dried blood with warm saline. It should heal within a few days and with luck, the most noticable scar will be from the 14g dermal punch.

   As always, I AM NOT A PIERCER, this is based on my own one off experience, although it’s essentially the same technique I’ve seen used by a piercer highly experienced with MDs. Doubtlessly one of our friendly resident professionals can point out the gotchas I’m no doubt unaware of…!

   redeye on August 22nd, 2008 at 2:40 am

3. I have never, ever had to use ANY kind of edged implement to remove a rejecting microdermal (usually some massage and harsh language is more than enough), let alone a well-healed one - for a healed micro, all I do is maybe run a smaller-gauge needle along the foot to loosen the fistula a bit, and they pop right out with a little pressure. I have never had to hack someone open with a scalpel to get one out! So, yeah, I’m gonna have to go with Shawn on this one, big time - go see a competent piercer and let them help you. Otherwise, end up with massive scars and bleeding and potential need for suturing with redeye’s DIY campaign. :/

   Lori St.Leone on August 22nd, 2008 at 7:50 pm

4. I didn’t want to turn things nasty, since I knew I was bound to piss somebody off, so I’ve delayed replying Lori.

   Firstly, I admit that I should have stressed that my posting really had only a tenuous relation to the original question, and only pertained to emergency removal - I weighed it up and decided the information was better off out there than treated like a trade secret.

   In my defense, I in no way encourage(d) DIY, let alone engaged in a campaign. I just had a look to see how I’d scarred up and I couldn’t even find exactly where the dermal had been, let alone massive scars. A 2-3mm scalpel incision is insignificant in comparison to a 14g dermal punch. Using sutures on a cut that small is not only unnecessary but guaranteed to cause the massive scars you’re worried about. Again I’m not a piercer, but the only scarring on the scalpel-removed MDs I’ve seen has been that left by the dermal punched post fistula. FWIW, two of the MDs in question were removed by a piercer for whom I know you have respect, using essentially the same technique I described. Well… to be fair, he quit smoking a few years back.

   Ideally nobody would *have* to do what I described, but in the real world I did, and I’d rather others in a similar situation had something to go by other than trial and error. If you feel that strongly that I’ve spread misinformation or encouraged dangerous practices, by all means delete our comments.

   redeye on September 12th, 2008 at 10:03 am

5. This may be a rather old topic, but I thought I would add my 2 cents.

   First things first, I am a professionally employed body piercing, and have done multiple dermal implants, as well as having one myself.

   My issue is that my body hates piercings, embedded or otherwise. I am constantly having issues with my surface piercings growing out, so it came as no surprise when my dermal was rejecting from my skin.

   Unfortunately, mine was on my face, just below my eye, so I was worried about potential scarring that may result from removing it using a scalpel.

   Basically what I did was grasp the post with hemostats, and slowly pull the skin back from the foot (short bit) of the anchor. It took a bit of massaging of the skin, and wiggling of the anchor to release it from the surrounding tissue, but the foot finally came out. Then it was a simple matter of slowly wiggling and pulling on the anchor to slide out the rest of the foot.

   The drop of blood that came was cleaned up with gauze, did a warm SSS, then washed it with anit-bacterial soap, dried it with some more gauze and put a patch over it.

   So far it is healing up well, and once healing is complete, I will be putting Vitamin E oil on it to help reduce the effect of the scar.

   Please note that you should really only try this method if you know what you are doing and have access to the right equipment. I had clean hands, was wearing latex gloves, in a clean environment and with serialized tools.

   Personally, if you are not a body piercer or someone with medical training, go see someone who is. I am only writing about my method to give other options rather than going under the knife.

   Hope this helps some people out, and if you have any questions, please email me at: daniel.p.dye@gmail.com

   Daniel.

   Daniel Dye on May 18th, 2009 at 12:19 pm

6. I noticed my microdermal getting red at the end where the ‘heel’ was. No piercing studios near me would remove it, (even the place that had put it in!), and so I decided to leave it in for some more time.

   After a while I noticed I could see silver under my skin, and as anticipated it was the heel of the microdermal. I then wondered how far I could massage the heel up and out of my skin, to try and begin removing it myself.

   After around a week I had managed to massage the heel out almost completely - there was just a tiny bit of skin between the heel and the post. Naturally, one day in the shower, I decided to cut this skin of with a sterilized pair of scissors. But, no luck - the microdermal stayed put.

   After I got out of the shower I sprayed it with some antiseptic spray, grabbed the post between my thumb and forefinger, and forcefully pulled it out of my skin. There was alot of resistance at first and it didn’t move, but when the right amount of force was exerted, it ‘popped’ out.

   Even though I was successful I do not recommend trying this method yourself, as it isn’t particularly sterile, or safe.

   With regards to scarring, I am writing this 12 hours later after having performed the removal this morning, and the red mark that is left is already tiny, somewhat smaller than the redness around my skin when the bar was rejecting.

   I am applying an anti-scarring gel to reduce the scar.

   Peter on July 26th, 2009 at 7:30 pm

7. I am really wanting to get a MD piercing around my eye area to bring out my single snake bite piercing by my lip. All these stories of rejection is scary. But what assume is rejection dont happen immidiately like at that instance. After reading articles they said that MD piercings should reject because a different kind of steel is being used.
   So has anyone used Skin Divers before, its said that its smaller and easier to remove but most likely to reject.
   Let me know I want to get this piercing in the nxt week or so. write me @ queenj2sweet@aol.com

   QueenJ2Sweet on November 4th, 2009 at 1:47 pm

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