Is there any reputable piercers in or around North Carolina that can scalpel lobes?
The main studio that comes to mind in North Carolina is:
Progress
1213 Hillsborough St.
Raleigh, North Carolina, 27603
United States
(919) 833-4559
If there’s anyone who can help you in North Carolina and is reputable it’d be Seth Cameron.
Loading ...Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 5 Comments
I drink a lot of coffee and tea, and I’ve just re-quit smoking for the 50th time, so my teeth aren’t as white as I’d like them to be. Are teeth whitening products, like the strips you put on your teeth ok to use with oral piercings? I have a new-ish (about a month old) inverse vertical labret. I was of course going to wait until it was much more healed to stick any harsh chemicals like whitening products in my mouth; I just wanted to know if they would be ok to use once I was healed up.
Thanks! 
I’ve used teeth whitening systems myself, and they’ve never affected my healed oral piercings negatively - but I’ve only ever used the professional sort that one has done by a dentist, and I honestly don’t know if the supermarket ones are any different. I’ve always been told that the supermarket teeth whiteners are much weaker and take longer to be effective, so I can see it going one of two ways: A. It’s not as harsh and doesn’t irritate the piercings; or B. The multiple treatments and extended exposure will be more irritating. Of course, if the strips start irritating your piercings, you can always just stop using them!
Also, it just occurred to me that the kind of whitening I had done involved the bleaching gel put into fitted mouth trays, which pretty much kept the gel off my gums, let alone my lips or cheeks, so that’d be something to think about, too. Readers, feel free to weigh in with your experiences in the comments!
Loading ...Posted by Lori St.Leone | Permalink | 5 Comments
Hi,
I tried to search the archive, but couldn’t find anything that answered my question. I got my eyebrow pierced a couple of weeks ago. Now, I’m getting a lot of acne around the piercing because I can’t use my regular cleansing products on the area. Is there anything I can use to help get rid of the acne without bothering my piercing? Thanks!
I really don’t see a problem using your regular face cleanser or acne stuff as long as you rinse the area and the piercing thoroughly when you are finished. There isn’t likely anything in either of those products that will cause any major issues with your piercing as long as they aren’t left sitting in, or on, the piercing.
Loading ...Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | 2 Comments
I got my nipples pierced about three and a half weeks ago, and they appear to have been healing just fine. After the second day or so, I experienced absolutely no pain unless there was some sort of rough accidental contact with one or the other barbell. However, while cleaning the past couple of days I noticed that a drop of pus comes out of each piercing if the barbell is moved to one side. The strangest thing is that they still look fine, they don’t feel hot, and they certainly don’t hurt at all. Should I be concerned, and if so, is there any particular action I should take?
Thanks
I’m pretty certain that what you’re seeing is not pus, but lymph - the drainage of lymph is a normal part of the healing process of any piercing and nothing to get worried about! Although lymph is characterised as being clear and watery in the wiki, it can appears whitish or yellowish in some individuals and is often confused with pus by worried new piercees. Just continue looking after your piercings as you have been, and they should be just fine. If you’re really concerned, drop in to see your piercer for a checkup, they should be quite accommodating and willing to put your mind at rest!
Loading ...Posted by Lori St.Leone | Permalink | 1 Comment
About a month ago I got a tattoo on my chest colored in some, and forgot to cover my few month old sternum piercing with a bandaid. The artist ended up getting ink everywhere on my chest, and he left cleaning the area between the piercing to me.
Well, a month later, and the skin between the two holes is still kind of dark from that leftover ink. How can I get the ink off of that area? I don’t want to scrub it with soap/water as it may irritate the piercing. The sea salt soaks aren’t doing anything to get the ink off of it. It isn’t irritating the piercing, it just looks kind of crappy.
Thanks, you guys rock.
As obvious as it sounds, soap and water should get tattoo ink off your skin nicely, and I’d recommend using a chemical-free soap to avoid any unnecessary irritation, as well - I’m a Dr. Bronner’s girl, meself. You don’t have to ’scrub’ hard enough to irritate the piercing - some gentle friction with the pads of your fingers is really enough, MAYBE a gentle bit of work with a washcloth if the fingers aren’t doing the job. Good luck!
Loading ...Posted by Lori St.Leone | Permalink | Comments
Hey QOD. Just wondering about Dermal Anchors: if a person had to go for an MRI or something like that, they wouldn’t be able to take it out (unless permanent removal was waht you wanted)… would that be okay?
For scenarios like that, or if a person got in an accident and doctor’s didn’t know how to remove the dermal anchor, could this cause problems?
I really want a dermal anchor piercing, but at my last panoramic dental x-ray my nape piercing was going to maybe mess up the x-ray (just visually)… and I don’t want to cause any problems for myself.
What do you think?
You bring up an excellent point. This is the main reason microdermals scare me…people don’t understand how permanent they can be. Ine the case of microdermals, metal subdermals and transdermals (or any piercing that could not be easily removed) can cause problems with not just x-rays and mri’s but with AED’s (shock paddles) that need to be used in a timely manner to effectively save the patients life. I don’t know the severity of the problem first hand, but I do know AED’s cause an arc that travels from one pad to the next with the heart in between. Metal objects in this path can cause the electricity to focus on them.
I have a metal subdermal and 6 transdermals. I went into them thinking of the possible outcomes and accepting of the risk. I fear that people may not take microdermals as seriously because of how much easier they are to get in the body. There’s a piercer south of me who puts them in monroe placement…..not even telling the client it’s any different than a piercing!
Educate yourself, know the risk and then decide if the risk are worth it to you.
Loading ...Posted by Sean Philips | Permalink | 6 Comments
About a year ago I stretched my ears to a measly 8g. But sadly had to take them out because of work. Even then, I had troubles with my left ear and it always being itchy no matter how much I cleaned my jewellery. I cleaned it by alternating with sea salt soaks and anti bacterial soap. And since now, Ive started to restretch again but slower and just at 10g, but the same itch has come back. Im using lucite [I guess acrylic to you guys] and I was wondering if MAYBE thats the cause of the itch and if there was an alternative to jewellery that came that small in gauge[10g]without having to be specially ordered?
It’s possible your body isn’t a fan of the acrylic/lucite. It’s certainly not unheard of. However, if you’re using o-rings (the black ones) to hold the acrylic jewelry in place, I’d be more suspicious that you’re having an allergic reaction to the o-rings. I’ve definitely run into that much more commonly over the years than I have people reacting to acrylic. If you are wearing black o-rings, you could try switching to clear o-rings, as the clear ones are made out of silicone and not latex or nitrrile rubber.
Other alternatives for jewelry material you could wear include stainless steel, titanium and glass. Plugs in 10ga, made of those materials, should be pretty easy to find in a studio with a decent jewelry selection.
Loading ...Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | 1 Comment
Hi I hope u can give me some advice as I am getting desparate not to lose my piercing! I have my nape surface pierce three times. The top piercing was done two years ago but over the last six months has developed a horrible granuloma (as defined by my Dermatologist). I clean it every day with salted water but the lump won’t go and it gets quite big like a blister and then bleeds. It is sore to touch and gets itchy sometimes. I have tried many different creams/gels to dry it out but the ‘bister’ just comes back.
I would really appreciate any advice you can give me as the piercers here in London can not tell me anything more helpful/
Many thanks in anticipation!
Bel
I’m probably starting to sound like a broken record…broken record…broken record…broken record…
Persistent bumps/granulomas like you are describing most often are caused by some form of physical irritation. In the case of a surface piercing, it’s most likely going to be from some sort of pressure. I’m not sure what type of jewelry you were pierced with, but if the style of jewelry is not great and/or the placement of the piercing isn’t good, it can result in irritation, which can result in a bump on the piercing. Most likely, until you relieve the pressure, the bump isn’t going to go away. The bump is basically your body’s way of telling you it’s unhappy at the moment.
Loading ...Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | Comments
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.
Loading ...Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | 1 Comment
My boyfriend got an apyvadra several months ago. Twice since then, when having vigorous sex, my vagina has started bleeding. Is this because of the jewelry, and is this a normal problem? Are there certain positions we should avoid? He has already had his barbell downsized from what it was pierced at, so it fits snugly.
This sort of thing is definitely not unheard of with some genital piercings. I have had a few partners who have experienced the same thing from my apadravya. There isn’t an instant fix, as it will depend upon exactly what is causing the bleeding. A few things that your your boyfriend could try:
1) Putting smaller balls on the barbell; they may be less likely to rub…although
2) Putting larger balls on the barbell; it may not be so much the rubbing, but that smaller balls have a smaller surface area, so any rubbing puts more pressure/irritation on the area where the balls rub
3) Try shortening the bar even more; because of the squishy nature of the tissue, apadravyas can often be shortened much more than people think
The other obvious, albeit not as enjoyable, option would be to avoid vigorous sex. So, I’d try one of those other options first.
Loading ...Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | 5 Comments
