Sunday April 13th, 2008 @ 3:42 AM
I have an internally threaded barbell with disks at the end but my healing is practically done and the bar is way to big 3/8 inch and I cannot seem to find any cheek jewelry I can put in it. I can only fine up to 1/2 inch labrets but that is to small. Is there any place I can buy cheek jewelry?
Thank You 
Properly made internally threaded barbells and labret studs are usually sold in three separate pieces, and therefore, you can get a bar in any length you want and put a disc on one side and a ball or whatever in the other and have “cheek jewellery” to fit any size you need. Your piercer should be able to help you out with figuring out what size will work best for your piercing, as the measurements you’re describing don’t even make sense to me - 3/8″ is smaller than 1/2″, last time I checked!
+4 / 4 votes 
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Posted by Lori St.Leone | Permalink | Comments
Sunday February 17th, 2008 @ 5:45 PM
About a three week old lip piercing, there is no pain or discomfort and it feels quit comfortable, I thought I might of been in the clear after the area was no longer tender.
Then today when I brush my teeth I notice this, it is raised about a centimeter above the surrounding tissue and is hard to the touch. I thought it might be an abscess and I am wondering of the appropriate course of action.
An abscess would typically be much bigger and MUCH more painful, as an abscess is a pocket of trapped infection fluid.
What you have appears to be nothing more than some excess scar tissue. At three weeks, this sort of thing wouldn’t be all that uncommon with a lip a piercing. The scar tissue tends to show up for a variety of reasons:
1) Too much movement of the jewelry, just from natural things such as talking or eating; but more commonly from playing with the jewelry too much
2) The diameter of the ring is too small, which therefore irritates the piercing significantly and your body forms excess scar tissue as a way to protect itself from the source of the irritation.If the jewelry fits too tightly, it’s not uncommon for the inside of the lip to “tear” slightly, as the body moves the jewelry into a position it can cope with.
If you’re concerned that the jewelry might be too tight, you should consult with your piercer.
Other than general aftercare, and avoiding playing with it, there isn’t probably much to be done about the scar tissue. In most cases it will simply go away on it’s own after the piercing heals a bit more an toughens up.
+9 / 11 votes 
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Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | 3 Comments
Friday February 8th, 2008 @ 1:46 PM
hiya
i got a centre lip (not chin, on the lip line in the centre of my bottom lip) piercing over a year ago. i would la-la-la-la-love to be able to wear a ring in it; however, the problem is my lips are quite full! i know that might sound strange. i wear the barbell i was pierced with, because it fits really comfortably. (even though it was the longest one available, when i got it pierced the swelling was almost too much for it).
wearing a cbr (which is just annoying to take on and off like i have to) or one that just closes without the ball really hurts, because the correct gauges are not large enough in diameter. (and i don’t want to stretch it)
my question is (apologies for the long story): would a circular barbell (with the gap between the ends) be more comfortable?
many many thanks, you beautiful people 
A circular barbell could very well be an option to solve the issue you are having. They will also tend to be easier to work with than a CBR or a continuous ring.
Another thing to consider is that, even at smaller gauges, CBR’s are available in a wide range of sizes. So, just because the place you buy your jewelry doesn’t stock the size you need, it doesn’t mean they couldn’t order it or you couldn’t seek it out elsewhere.
0 / 0 votes 
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Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | Comments
Wednesday February 6th, 2008 @ 1:25 AM
I was going to get my lip pierced untill my mom talked to a lady with oral piercings and the lady had dead teeth from her piercings.(i think my mom said she had a monroe and a coupple of lip rings, if that helps any) I was wondering how that happened? Could she not have had the right jewelry in or not snug enough jewelry?
So now my mom wont let me get a lip ring because she thinks that it will automatically kill my teeth. As long as i have snug fitting jewelry then shouldnt my teeth be ok?
With a title like that, how could I not answer this one.
With properly-fitting jewelry, the likelihood of doing damage (let alone killing) your teeth is pretty small.
However, just about any oral piercing (tongue, lip, labret, tongue web etc.) has the potential to damage to your teeth and gums. Jewelry that is sized appropriately and not playing with your jewelry will reduce the chances of dental problems…but there are no guarantees.
I think your mom may be overreacting a little, if she thinks the piercings will automatically lead to dead, rotting teeth. However, her concerns aren’t totally unfounded.
+3 / 3 votes
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Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | Comments
Wednesday February 6th, 2008 @ 1:15 AM
I had my cheeks pierced for 16 months, but around month 14 or so, I developed a some discoloration around my right cheek piercing, and the tissue surrounding it became hard. Over the next month, the area continued to become red and hard, and it appeared that there was a lot of trapped fluid underneath the skin. I came to the conclusion that it must be an abscess or a cyst, so I went to the doctor and she put me on antibiotics. The hard “lump” never went away, so I went to my body modification artist and he took a scalpel and cut the lump, which drained green & clear infectious fluid [yummy!] I also took both piercings out. Luckily, this seems to have done the trick.. the area has drained over the course of 3 days and is back down to its normal size. I am trying to heal the cut with neosporin, so the scarring will be minimal.
My question is, is it possible for me to get my cheeks re-pierced through the scar tissue? Will this pose an even greater risk/ complications? If I can get them re-pierced, how soon?
What steps can I take to ensure that I don’t develop another abscess/ cyst? Is his a rather common problem for cheek piercings?
Thank you for your time!
While there are many people out there with well-healed cheek piercings, they are somewhat notorious for being problematic and/or delicate. While more “extreme” issues like yours aren’t the norm, many people find their cheek piercings are prone to become irritated and swollen very easily, for a very long period of time.
Given the various anatomical structures in that part of your face, and the considerable movement cheek piercings are subjected to, abcesses, cysts and fluid build-up are a risk.
In my opinion, if you had this sort of problem once, and you have the piercings re-done in the same location…I think you will have an increased chance of the problem happening again. If you were my client, I would suggest waiting at least 6 months, and then would evaluate the scar tissue at that point.
+10 / 10 votes
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Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | 46 Comments
Tuesday February 5th, 2008 @ 9:05 PM
I really want the center of my bottom lip pierced. I have done LOTS of reasearch. & I have talked to lots of people about their lip piercings. Well, I asked my mom if I could get it pierced and she said “Abosolutely no. You’re too young.” I dont see how I’m too young when I’ll be 17 this year…
So, my question is, about how old are people when they get their lip pierced?
Thanks,
Sidra
Hi Sidra,
The age old question of: “How old do you have to be?”
This question is highly subjective and open to a lot of controversy. Certain States in the US prohibit any piercings done on anyone under the age of 18, yet others say its ok so long as they have parents permission. Meanwhile there ARE States where the age limits are a bit more lenient and your technically allowed to sign for yourself at 16 years of age. These rules are put in place for shops via either city/state laws or they are put in place because that’s the age the insurance companies advised the shop to work on,etc.
When I was working in Canada, and even still here in Australia (Here in the Northern Territory), there is no labeled age of consent laws for body piercing. Some people will establish their shops age laws based on the “Age Of Consent Laws” while some shops will make their own laws ie: don’t care about age, or they care a lot about age,etc. The fact is in these countries it is commonly viewed that at 16 you are legally of sound mind and body to say what you want and what you don’t want. Therefore you should be legally able to obtain a piercing so long as you can prove you’re 16 years of age or older.
However with that being said at the end of the day, you still have to go home to your parents. Personally not being a person who at the age of 16-17, wanted to incur the wraith of my parents, I simply waited until I was older to get my mods done. But I will say this dealing with parents on a constant basis, whom aren’t keen on their kids getting pierced. I can definitely say there is ALWAYS a way to get them to come around to allow you to be pierced.
1st: Documentation - Contact shops and find their age policies, as well as city/state laws involving age for body piercings. If it states people under the age of 18 can be pierced, that’s a fact you can point out to your parents.
2nd: School Work - Are you a straight A student or are there any subjects you’re slacking off in? If you aren’t doing well in certain classes why not work on bumping your grades up in those classes while maintaining the other classes. Most kids only have their school grades to fall back on, so that’s what the parents point out. If you have increased the grades in your classes, what can they possibly hold over your head?
3rd: House Work - Do you sit around all day everyday at the house and don’t contribute? A good way to get into their good graces is to start. Vacuum, Dust, Clean, Mop, Re-arrange furniture with them as it will get you into their good books that way.
4th: Maturity - When they shoot you down are you always causing a fuss and crying and screaming like an irrational person? Or do you come at them calmly and rationally and produce solid sound logical facts and questions? Often I find when parents act this way, they are the ones who are being the immature ones…I know I used to LOVE catching my parents acting less mature than I and I reveled in that fact by pointing out questions that make me look like the one acting more mature then my parents.
Also with these things will often come a verbal agreement between parent and child that if they work on all these things, that they can get pierced. “Mom I promise that I will do 1-2-3-4 if you allow me to get pierced.”
And also finally there is the 5th option, getting your own part-time job. That is usually the BIGGEST resolution to the matter because the fact is usually its the parents money going towards kids piercing funds. So if they aren’t pleased with you getting pierced, why should they be spending their hard earned dollar on you getting piercings? Whereas if you get a part-time job and earn your own money, who are they to tell you how to spend your own money?
That was my personal experience with the situation, my parents were really unhappy about me getting pierced at first. But as soon as I obtained a full time job and saved my money, rented my own apartment, paid for my own vacations,etc. My father simply said one day: “He is a man and he earns his own money, what he does with that money is his own business. I may not like it but its his choice on how he spends his money.”
So definitely look into these things I suggested and perhaps sit down and rationally talk to your mother about the situation. Make sure you think about everything she might say and make sure you have a rational and logical retort to her statements of: “You’re too young!” And hopefully that way you might manage to work together with your parent to obtain the piercing you desire.
+4 / 4 votes
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 3 Comments
Saturday January 26th, 2008 @ 10:48 AM
I want to get a off center lip ring. but my mom says it is going to kill all my teeth and mess up all my dental stuff. do lip rings even do that as long as they are the right size and placed correctly?
A properly-placed lip piercing with appropriately-sized jewelry has a low risk of doing damage to your teeth or gums. However, any type of oral piercing has the potential to damage to your oral tissues. Again, the chances may be low, but there is no way to eliminate all the risk.
+1 / 1 votes
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Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | 2 Comments
Thursday January 24th, 2008 @ 12:33 PM
4 days ago I have labret in the middle lip, but it turns out that for the inflammation the part inside of the piercing the inflamed lip gets lost, that is to say, covers it almost in its entirety, I must change the jewel? Or do I wait to that this deflate me?. I am afraid of that it is buried.
If I understand the issue, the disk on the inside of your labret stud is sinking into the inside hole. If that’s the case, you need to return to your piercer and get a longer labret stud. It sounds as though the piece that was put in initially was not long enough to accommodate the swelling you are having. If you don’t get a longer piece put in, the disk will likely embed into your lip to the point that it’s impossible to get it out without cutting it out.
+1 / 1 votes
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Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | Comments
Friday January 18th, 2008 @ 12:05 AM
I’ve had my lip rings out for almost a year. I recently decided to put them back in. is tapering them up to a 16g an option, or should I should just repierce them?
Depending on how long you had your piercings, before you took them out, yes you might be able to taper them back up to a 16ga. Of course the only way to see is by visiting a piercer and have them analyze the area and attempt to pass the taper through. The taper should not be literally forced through, it should just slide through easily.
If this is potentially an option expect a bit of tightness and treat the piercing as if it was a fresh piercing for a little while, normally 3-4 weeks
0 / 0 votes
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | Comments
Sunday January 13th, 2008 @ 3:10 PM
Okay so dumb story but I pierced my lip.. i was clean about it and all that but then the next morning I realized it was stupid and needed to come out… so I took it out.
no pain or anything when I was piercing it, putting it in, or taking it out.
the swelling of the actual lip only lasted a day but it feels like its swollen between my lips (I think its just forming scar tissue)… like the outside isn’t swollen and on the inside of my lip is just a little white circle where the hole was.
Is that normal? Everyone I’ve talked to has says yes and it will go down in due time, I mean its only been 3 nights since I did it but I’m a worrier and I just wanna double check with people who might know a little more.
and every night I wash the outside and i rinse with mouthwash or warm salt water any chance I get….
but I just wanna make sure that kind of swelling is normal and will go down?
and if its scar tissue what is the quickest way to make it go down because i plan on re piercing it when I don’t have to worry about my job and my sports coaches and parents breathing down my neck, and its really kinda annoying
Putting a hole in your face = swelling.
If it’s only been 3 days, I wouldn’t worry about it. Give it some time and everything should return to normal.
0 / 0 votes
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Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | Comments
