Weird allergy & plastic jewellery

Sunday October 18th, 2009 @ 2:42 PM

Filed under: Piercing

Hey,

About one month ago I discovered interesting reactions with acrylic jewellery on my septum and lobe. Most of my lobe stretching jewelry from 8ga to 0ga had been acrylic. I decided to put allmost-6ga-jewelry on my septum. After 3 days my whole nose was sore and piercing area was heavily swollen. No bleeding, just a lot of redness. So i downsized it back to 8ga steel ring and it felt immediatly better.

I kinda let the whole septum case be and stretched my lobe from 9/16″ to (again)allmost 5/8″ with uv-acrylic taper i bought.(<-this happened about 2 weeks after the septum-case)My plan was to keep the taper only few days on my ear to get a flared plug in more easily. Again, on the 2nd and 3rd day my ear was very itchy, dried (small pieces of dried tissue falling off) and bit red. So, i took of the taper and the inner lobe skin (=fistula?) looked like something would be scratching it. Not bleeding but allmost. Rash-like skin. Downsized it and helped the dried areas with bepanthen for few days and it was good again.

Weirdest thing with all this is that I had a 0ga uv-acrylic ring on my other ear during both cases with no reactions.

Is it possible to slowly get somekind of allergy on plastic jewellery? And on only some parts of my body? O_o

Is there some very allergy friendly plastic material to wear? I really like the look of plastic plugs and uv-jewellery and it’d be a great loss not be able to wear them.

[offsite link] thats quite a lot what my ear looked like (not my ear on the pic)

I still use my acrylic tapers I allready bought, to help plugs get in. If I wear them +12hours my ears starts intching, so I can only keep them for couple hours to keep the ear healthy :S

Thanks for possible help

-Tuomo

Cheap UV Acryllic jewelry is completely inappropriate material to wear for a period of time in a piercing. It’s also inappropriate to stretch with.
You could definitely be having an irritation as a result of not wearing implant grade materials in your ear, it could be that you stretched to fast and tore the fistula and you could most certainly be allergic to the O-Ring.

I’d downsize a couple sizes and put in some implant grade steel or titanium or glass eyelets in until the piercing heals back up.

Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | Comments

Retainers

Friday January 16th, 2009 @ 8:10 PM

Filed under: Piercing

I am having a problem with my boss. He thinks customers can use retainers (we offer acrylic) after 24 - 48 hours. I say 3 - 4 weeks. How long would you recommend people wait to use retainers?

3-4 weeks from the piercing date? That’s pretty soon to change jewelry in a fresh piercing.
I don’t like acryllic in a piercing ever. Implant grade jewelry is the only thing I offer at my shop to wear in a piercing. If my clients need a retainer, I suggest they wear a glass one.

If someone were to want to wear a retainer, depending on the piercing, I would ask they wait at least 6-8 weeks from the initial piercing time. In some cases, certain piercings just cannot be switched in and out constantly anyway and the piercing may end up needing to be retired from the irritation of being constantly changed of jewelry for work, sports*, etc.

*in the case of sports, most piercings vs. athletics do not fare well and shouldn’t be worn anyway. If it has to happen, bandaging the piercing down with it’s original jewelry in it is a safer alternative than wearing glass. Obviously.

Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | 1 Comment

Gum recession due to tongue piercing

Wednesday November 26th, 2008 @ 8:06 AM

Filed under: Tongue

I was curious about reducing the speed of gum recession without completely removing my tongue piercing. I got it pierced about 4 years ago and have since stretched it to an 8g. I didn’t notice any problems until I was looking at my teeth. On my lower front teeth, the gum line is dropping in the back. I’ve switched to a retainer which is not very comfortable. What are your thoughts on domed acrylic balls? Will this aid in preventing further recession?

Thanks.

It doesn’t really matter what material you use as it will invariably be harder than gum tissue. If the ball is resting against your gums then you can try is a shorter bar, however, this all depends on whether or not you can go shorter. I wouldn’t recommend anything shorter than 12mm in a tongue piercing. The key is to find something that isn’t going to be coming into contact with your gums and if this can’t be done then it is best to retire the piercing. Gum recession isn’t reversible and can lead to tooth loss. A piercing really isn’t worth losing your front teeth over.

Posted by Tiff Badhairdo | Permalink | Comments

Stretched ears and the stink?

Saturday November 15th, 2008 @ 3:04 PM

Filed under: Ear

I’ve had my ears stretched for a while now and I keep getting this build up on the tunnels I have in. I try and keep my ears clean but they also give off a slight smell. Is this common? What can i do about it? Thanks.

That build-up you get is a collection of skin oils and dead skin cells that collect on your jewelry. Just like the skin cells die and slough off the rest of you body, they do the same thing with stretched ears. Generally the bigger the lobes, the more build-up because there is more surface area of skin. The smell that goes with that build-up is normal…albeit potentially gross.

You have a few options:

The easiest is to simply wash your lobes and your jewelry (assuming it’s steel, titanium or stone) each day. It doesn’t take much effort or much time.

Another option would be to change to some sort of a natural jewelry, such as horn, bone, wood, bamboo etc. These material are more porous than steel, titanium acrylic, glass or stone and will therefore absorb some of the oils and skin cells, reducing the amount of build-up and the therefore the smell.

Depending upon the size of your lobes, and how well they stay stretched, you could try not wearing jewelry while you sleep. This will allow the tissue to breath and dry out at night, helping to reduce the build-up.

You could try massaging your lobes with something like Emu Oil or Holey Buttr stretched lobe creme. These types of products can help increase the overall health of your stretched lobes, which will often reduce the amount of build-up you get.

Best of luck!

Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | 5 Comments

Sterilization

Sunday October 26th, 2008 @ 4:48 PM

Filed under: Uncategorized

I was wondering if using a pressure cooker set for an hour on the maximum temperature setting is suitable to sterilize jewellery that only myself will wear?

I usually boil my metal pieces of jewellery but I was told by a friend (who recently started working at a not so good piercing place just to get his foot in the door) that boiling was not the best option and can still leave a lot of bacteria on the jewellery.

Also what is a good way to clean acryllic jewellery? I’ve just been running them under tap hot water then leaving them in a shallow bath of 25% Hydrogen Peroxide overnight.

Keep in mind that the best answers to these questions may vary depending on some specifics on your end. If you are planning to sterilize new jewelry to use for a piercing procedure, you can likely go to a professional piercing studio and pay to have them process/sterilize it on your behalf. I don’t condone re-sterilizing used body jewelry that has been in another person’s body for your personal use.

I’m not sure about your location, but in Canada a pressure cooker does not meet Canadian Health Standards for sterilization for professional use in studios. Regulations will vary from place to place, so check with your regional municipality to find out your local standards.

As for private personal use, I don’t see why sterilization can’t be achieved with this equipment. If you go this route, be sure that the pressure cooker reaches a temperature of 132 degrees celsius for a full 30 minutes.

In regards to cleaning (not sterilizing) your acrylic jewelry; an ultrasonic cleaning machine will do a great job. Many different types of detergents and cleaning agents can be used in an ultrasonic cleaning machine. Professional piercing studios will likely have these on hand as well.

Posted by Russ Foxx | Permalink | 5 Comments

White build up under tongue ring

Saturday October 11th, 2008 @ 7:25 AM

Filed under: Tongue

I’ve had my tongue pierced for almost three years, but recently (beginning 6 mo. ago) I’ve noticed a white, solid build up on the underside of my tongue ring, around where the acrylic ball hits my tongue. I am an oral hygiene freak, and I brush the underside of my tongue, but this is still happening with various balls I’ve tried. I can chip away the white stuff when I take it off, but I’ve found it eats away at the acrylic a little (or the force just chips it). Is this a health problem or am I just being too cheap with the quality of my jewelry?

The calciform deposits on the jewellery you describe are quite normal in tongue piercings. Acrylic isn’t the best quality and as you’ve discovered isn’t that great to clean. It is also cheap so if you want to stick with it, just replace the balls with new ones at regular intervals. There is a suggestion that acrylic can leach toxins over time (I’m sure Warren can interject here) so replacing it frequently would be a good idea anyway. Other than that, with titanium or steel balls, you can drop them into a cup of vinegar which will make removing the depostis easier.

Posted by Tiff Badhairdo | Permalink | 1 Comment

Angry 1/2″ ear lobe

Saturday July 12th, 2008 @ 6:23 AM

Filed under: Ear

I recently stretched my left ear lobe from 00g to 1/2″ sometime in March. I blew it out I know, I had a flap of skin on the back of it in one area but didn’t think much of it. I changed my plug from an acrylic plug to a stainless steal one every so often. For a few days, I had my acrylic in and this morning I changed it to my stainless steal. About an hour later I relized the back of my lobe was discharging clear liquid goo all over and the what I think is just a flap of skin, grew all around the area and it looks like its trying to form over my plug. I never experienced this before, I don’t know whats going on. I just took some pictures of it but don’t have them yet but if someone would please e-mail me back, I’ll be more than happy to share them with you and hear your thoughts on whats happening.

Thank you.

What happened to 000g?

I’m guessing if you are skipping sizes you are also stretching too quickly. What is going on is that you have caused trauma to your lobe which may result in excess scarring thus limiting your future stretching potential. As I’ve stated before (do a search, folks, questions like this are all too common), this can result in compromised blood supply and even necrosis if you continue to stretch in this manner.

Ok, damage limitation time. Remove your plugs. Do twice daily seasalt soaks until it has healed. Massage your lobe with either vitamin E oil or Holey Butt’r and once and only once they are happy with you, pop in some plugs that your lobes will accomodate with ease and start again from that size. Do a search on BME and find the information on the correct way to stretch.

I have to say that I really don’t understand the mentality that alot of people have with regards to getting as big as they can or want in least amount of time. Damaged, stretched lobes look unattractive. They really do! Chicks don’t dig scarred lobes.

Posted by Tiff Badhairdo | Permalink | 11 Comments

Steel Tapers And Acrylic Plugs

Wednesday July 9th, 2008 @ 12:37 AM

Filed under: Ear

I’ve heard all over that acrylic plugs and eyelets are terrible for you. I recently ordered a set of tapers that were stainless steal and came with a free set of acrylics. What are the pros and cons of acrylic plugs/tunnels? I’ve googled all I could think of to try and find answers and came up with nothing.

You’re joking right?

http://ask.bmezine.com/index.php?s=Acrylic

AskBME.com people its got the electrolytes answers humans crave.

Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 4 Comments

protecting my teeth!

Tuesday July 8th, 2008 @ 10:00 PM

Filed under: Tongue

I got my tongue pierced a week ago, and its healing fine and everything. I am a little worried about breaking my teeth because of the years and thousands of dollars in spent in braces. I talked to my piercer about wearing acrylic balls (I thought it might be softer and reduce damage to the teeth?). But he said that my body will ruin the acrylic by breaking it down and I will have to change the balls often so its not worth it… I am going to go into get my barbell resized soon too, so maybe that will help my paranoria about ruing my teeth… Are there any other materials/options I have for protecting my lovely lovely teeth?

Just a question I’d like to ask, was your paranoia about your teeth brought up when getting pierced? Did the piercer advise you that no problems whatsoever would occur with getting your tongue piercing?

The fact is damage to your teeth CAN be a issue with tongue piercings and no piercer worth their salt should down play this fact.

The thing with the majority of acrylic beads (mostly the externally threaded kind) is that they are not meant to be placed in a hot moist environment, such as the mouth. Also once in your mouth the saliva has enzymes that break down food and other matter. That coupled with the occasional accidental bite/chomp on the beads are what causes them to break.

There are a few companies out there that deal with Internally Threaded Dental Acrylic Beads/Attachments, but its very far and few between.

Normally when I do tongue piercings I tend to place it in a spot on the tongue where its not too far back, nor too far forward. Usually in this spot I find the majority of people are still able to talk fine initially and you don’t even hear any “clicking” sound. However with that being said I also point out to my clients that the possibility of tooth damage IS there and it CAN occur, then allow them to make an educated/informed decision on what they want to do.

And honestly if you’re so worried/paranoid about your teeth, perhaps a tongue piercing isn’t the ideal piercing for you? I’m not saying this to be mean or be all hating against tongue piercings. I’m simply saying it because if you care more for the wellbeing of your teeth, its always better to err on the side of caution. Because unfortunately there’s no acceptable material right now that’s currently in manufacturing that the enzymes in your mouth will not attempt to break down, except for Steel and Titanium (ie: metals).

But if you do want to keep it, just make sure you get your downsize barbell asap and make sure it fits properly and comfortably.

Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 4 Comments

Ear lobe stretching using Darkside Acrylic Stretching Taper

Wednesday June 25th, 2008 @ 8:30 AM

Filed under: Ear

Hi there,

I have an enquiry regarding a ear lobe stretching taper i found at http://www.bodyjewelleryshop.com/online_store/darkside_acrylic_stretching_taper_9858476.cfm

I really am looking forward to buy this, though not before I know how to use it the correct way. This taper actually stretches several stages at one go, so it’s stretched over 2 or 3 different sessions per taper.

My question is:

How do I stretch my ear lobe using this taper to insert a non-flared tunnel right after?

E.g. the 11-16 mm taper.

Since I could only go 2mm per stretch, I’d be stretching my left lobe from 12mm to 14mm.

Question is, how do I insert my 14mm tunnel - other than the crazy idea of removing the taper from my ear lobe once it slids to the 14mm diameter, and quickly insert the 14mm tunnel into the naked ear lobe?

Wouldn’t the ‘fresh’ 14mm hole close back so fast that it’s impossible to insert the 14mm tunnel in time? Not to mention, the agony and the pain caused by the pressure in doing so.

Also, I have been reading that arcylic taper that they’re no good to be left inside piercing to gradually stretch them. Would this fact be correct or otherwise?

Many thanks in advanced!

I honestly hope you did not already purchase the said piece. If you have, well, I am truly sorry for your botched purchase.

It really grinds my gears Quahog when the following is stated:

“It’s important to only stretch your piercing up one size at a time and to leave at least 2 weeks between each stretch to avoid tearing the flesh. Some jewellery can be left in and gradually pushed along to stretch the piercing over a longer period of time”

As you said the reality is Acrylic is not safe for autoclaving and thus will usually melt when placed in an autoclave. Which means even if you: wipe it down with alcohol, boil it in oil, buy jesus juice and rub it all over it,etc it will not be safe to wear while tissue is healing.

When you simply cram jewelry in your ears and “wait two weeks”, quite often that’s simply not enough time. The result in this is micro-tears that can occur within your fistula. These micro-tears can cause scar tissue build up, blow outs and with a “dirty” (not sterile) item, can lead to a potential infection.

These items were simply taken out of the piercing studios and sold because impatient people simply lack the ability to wait. What was hopefully used responsibly and properly by the actual professionals is now easily obtainable by the uninformed public, to use whatever way they deem to be proper.

In order to PROPERLY increase the size of your lobes, you simply need to be patient and wait. It might take 2 months, 3 months, personally I say wait 6 months up to a year (sometimes even longer); before attempt to go to the next size up (ideal to only go 1mm a a time).

By waiting these, what impatient people call, “long periods” of time, you’re enabling your lobes to become relaxed and healthy. This would increase the elasticity of the lobe tissue and enable you to safely increase the size of your piercings, without damaging the fistula.

Also know that if you were planning to ignore all this and stretch it anyways using something that ends at 16mm would not help your cause whatsoever. Because as soon as you insert and then remove the taper to pass the 14mm one through, you’re going to have difficulties. If you NEED to stretch it and cannot wait because you’re impatient then what you’re looking for is a taper that ends at 14mm, nothing larger. That way the jewelry is the same size as the taper and insertion should most likely be a lot easier that way.

Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 5 Comments