Thursday May 14th, 2009 @ 4:08 PM
Hi BME,
Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. I have a prince albert piercing which is coming up to seven years old. It was pierced at 10ga and stretched up to 8ga about a year later. I decided about a month ago to stretch up to 6ga. I had no problem getting the jewellery in and I’ve been wearing a 6ga circular barbell with 16ml internal diameter since then. The jewellery is from Wildcat in the UK and is made from surgical stainless steel which I’ve worn in the past without any trouble.
Since the stretch the piercing has been quite tender, particulary when the jewellery moves. Also some raised scar tissue seems to have built up around the hole in the last couple of days. It is paler than the surrounding skin and feels fairly hard. It is not painful to put pressure on, rather the pain feels as though it comes from deeper within the fistula.
Please can you advise me on what to do? Will it help to downsize the jewellery at this stage? Ideally I’d rather not downsize having made the stretch but my priority is really to prevent the scar developing any further and reduce it as much as possible.
Many thanks,
Sam
I think it’s safe to say you may have stretched the piercing further than what it was ready for.
With any injured piercings after a stretch it’s a good idea to downsize back to (at least) the last worn size to allow for swelling and draining. Leaving an over stretched piercing angry with the jewelry that’s too big can cause a blow out and give you problems should you decide you’d like to stretch further down the road.
Be mindful of jewelry quality as well. “Surgical Steel” doesn’t mean anything as far as what your jewelry is made up of. It could be that you’re having a reaction to something in the metal. Does the barbell have have a nicely rounded edge to insert into the piercing or is it sharp? Did you use a taper to help guide the jewelry through without damaging the piercing? Is it internally threaded?
These are all things to take into consideration.
Seeing as it’s coming on a month since it’s started to bother you, I would trace my steps back to the last time it felt okay and put the old jewelry back in until it settles down.
In the meantime, mind you’re keeping it wrapped up and rinsed off before and after any play.
+5 / 5 votes 
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Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | Comments
Wednesday May 6th, 2009 @ 7:34 AM
Hi guys, I’m a piercer in Colorado, u.s.a. I have been doing Microdermal Anchors, as I call them, for about 3 years now. I learned to do them from another piercer, with much more experience than me who had been in volved with anchoring since the days before the Custom steel era, as I think of it. I learned the “needle” method, and the “punch” method, and both work great for me. I tend to use the needle method much more than the biopsy pucnh method due to my fear of hematomas(hope I spelled that right).
a few days ago, a shop doen the street started offering the same microdermal anchors, I asked the tattooer/piercer that did tham and he said that he “took a class….” and that “dermal pucnhing is the only good way to implant the anchors…”
My question is: In your opinion, can a “class” really teach you what you need to know about working in the Subcontaious layers ofthe skin, that you need to know about in order to do surface piercing, and micro anchoring? Because I don’t believe so, especially when biopsy punches come into play.
Thanks for your help
That all depends on the knowledge and experience of the person running the classes. Microdermals aren’t difficult to install providing you know what you are doing and being shown the correct technique can certainly help with the learning curve. If you are already an experienced piercer then you should already have a good knowledge of skin to start with. As for which technique is best, that is up to the individual. I prefer dermal punches and excessive bruising (haematoma) has never been an issue.
By the way - it’s ’subcutaneous’ 
+6 / 10 votes 
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Posted by Tiff Badhairdo | Permalink | 3 Comments
Wednesday April 29th, 2009 @ 4:55 PM
Filed under: Nipple
I have had my nipples (male) pierced for about 5 months now. I love them, and dont want to lose the piercing since it has been healing very well, and I very much enjoy them. Now that its getting really warm outside, I want to start rock climbing and bouldering. Since these activities leaves the potential of taking rather hard shots to the chest… scraping on rock, things like your shirt catching on the jewelry…
So my question is - is it possible to take out the bars for 2 hours and still be able to get them back in (on a regular basis)?
You will be the best judge of whether your piercings are healed enough to remove them for short periods of time or not. To be sure and have a second opinion, have a trusted professional piercer check them out in person to judge how deep they are and whether they look like they can withstand this practice at this point. Everyone heals at different paces, but generally speaking nipple piercings take quite a bit longer to heal than above-the-neck piercings.
Rather than removing them, you may want to consider simply changing the jewelry to something that will be less likely to catch on things (ie. small, fitted barbells with small beads). This will likely be your safer option if you don’t want to lose your piercings.
+7 / 11 votes
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Posted by Russ Foxx | Permalink | 6 Comments
Wednesday April 29th, 2009 @ 4:29 PM
Hi there!
So I know that there have already been several inquiries regarding microdermals in the hip area, but I have looked at several different sites on the web, and talked to multiple piercers who have given me all different types of answers. Some have said that even dermal anchors won’t heal in the hip area,and microdermals can pop right out, and others have said both surface bars and dermals heal up fine…so therefore I am just trying to confirm are surface bars or dermals better for this procedure(also nape area)?and if I where to consider placing jewelry in my hip area, and above my pant line, would the piercing have a good had so many back-and-forth answers I am trying to get an honest and professional “break down” of the situation :)Thank you so much!!
Nico~
You’ll often receive varying recommendations from different artists on the subject. There is no definite right or wrong answer on some aspects of these questions, but I’ll offer my personal advice.
Let’s start with the nape. This is one location where surface bars have had a higher chance of survival over the long term than most other locations on the body. I personally stick to titanium internally threaded surface bars with flat disks and the punch & taper procedure. If I’m doing microdermals I also stick to the punch & taper procedure with titanium internally threaded pieces with flat disks. I have had great results with this procedure and jewelry design over the years, so I stick with it. The nape is usually gravy.
As for the hips/pantline, this is not a practical location for either surface bars or microdermals. There is a lot of tissue movement there, which can be hazardous to a surface piercing. Not to mention running the risk of clothing catching your jewelry or putting pressure in it/them. This problem will be prevalent with microdermals and surface piercings alike.
I’m not saying that it will not heal, I’m just saying that the risks of problems are high and should be considered when attempting to heal something like this.
+5 / 5 votes
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Posted by Russ Foxx | Permalink | 1 Comment
Tuesday April 28th, 2009 @ 4:08 PM
hiya,
i really want to have my tongue split and now i wanted to know if one has to suture the tongue after splitting or if it’s not really necessary…
i heard it’s not really necessary and is just for aesthetic reasons (suturing makes a more ’round’ and natural appearance), is this true?
how about healing time and what are the complications/risks involved,like, what is the worst thing that could happen during a tongue split?
i’ve read all the old posts here on askbme and the only one that i think contains a lot of the information i’m looking for is written in french, and my french sucks
thanks! 
I’ve seen a window of about 25%-75% minimum regrowth through healing with cauterized splits. With the suture method, that changed to about 25% regrowth maximum. This is the main reason I prefer the results of suturing.
Swelling generally lasts (with proper aftercare) about 1.5-2 weeks and begins to subside after the sutures are removed.
Having a large-gauged piercing healed in your tongue will act as an anchor to help hold the split back and minimize regrowth. Keep in mind that there are no guarantees in how your body will accept the split. This information should be taken as subjective; as there are many variables and different people can heal differently.
The effect of “rounding” within a sutured split is generally not much different than with a non-sutured split, but may depend on the length of the split, how it was sutured, and how long it has been healed for.
As for complications, be sure that whomever you choose to do your split is well versed with sterile procedure and the possible complications of the work at hand. Pain, swelling, numbness, bleeding and bruising can be expected. Infection is a risk with any type of wound.
Different artists will likely have different opinions on this. My advice is subjective to my experiences. If you have any other input to add, please jump in the forum and do so!
+11 / 11 votes
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Posted by Russ Foxx | Permalink | 5 Comments
Tuesday April 28th, 2009 @ 4:00 PM
my girlfriend got a Labret Piercing about a week ago and now it looks like the inside of her lip is trying to grow over the flat back plating of the barbell she got. Is this good or bad and if bad what should we do?
I just answered a very similar question that will give you all the information that you’ll need.
Check this out.
+5 / 5 votes
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Posted by Russ Foxx | Permalink | Comments
Tuesday April 28th, 2009 @ 3:07 PM
I got snakebites over a year ago and i was told by the piercer when asked about the skin growing over the back of the disc: “That’s normal, the skin will fall away after a week or so and leave a depression in your lip where the disc will be flush with your lip”
Flash forward a year later, my snake bites are still embedded in my lip. I have tried a few times, different methods of removing them from forcefully pushing on them, cutting my lip, pushing them back and tonguing them for a few days to try and weaken the skin. Nothing has worked.
I want them out. I can’t get a decent job, and frankly they are uneven from being different depths in the back of my lip and it looks ridiculous. I have heard surgery being the only option. Any had this and know how much it costs? What about rejection, is there a way to force rejection out the front without leaving a huge scar on my face?
I am relatively clueless about piercing things, this was my first (And last >:I) piercing ever and i just did what the piercer told me too. If anyone has any ideas on how to remove them (Preferably with as little pain as possible) That would be great.
Freshly pierced labrets (center or off-center alike) can be safely pierced with studs that have extra length to accommodate excess swelling. This will minimize over-swelling and the chance of your disk(s) embedding on the inside of your mouth.
If it got to the point that your jewelry was completely embedded on the inside, it’s unlikely that “the skin [would] fall away after a week”. It sounds as though your labrets have been transformed into a couple deep oral dermal anchors.
At this point you will likely have to have the inside of each piercing lanced to pop the disks out. A surgeon or doctor can do this, but you can also go to a piercer who is experienced with this sort of thing. Cosmetic surgery is expensive, emergency surgery by a doctor may be cheaper. An experienced piercer will likely be even cheaper than that. The procedure should be pretty quick and easy though, regardless of who does it.
Rejection is not a route I would recommend choosing. This would likely do more damage than good.
+8 / 10 votes
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Posted by Russ Foxx | Permalink | 2 Comments
Tuesday April 28th, 2009 @ 9:13 AM
Quick question: My labret is stretched to half inch and it smells pretty awful. I brush twice daily so that isn’t it. It’s like nothing i’ve ever smelled before and it is driving my wife and I crazy. Is there anything that I can do to try and get rid of it? It has gotten to the point that I’m considering removing the jewelry and letting it close. Please help as I love this piercing and would rather not have to resort to that.
There are a couple of things you could try:
If you aren’t currently removing the jewelry regularly and cleaning it and the hole, you should do that. The skin cells die and slough off the skin of healed piercing holes just like they do on the rest of your skin. When those cells die and get trapped in the piercing by your jewelry, you start to get da funk. The larger the hole, usually the worse the smell, since there is more surface area of skin to produce the dead skin cells. Typically removing the jewelry once per day to clean it and the hole will take care of the problem.
You could try switching jewelry. If you are currently wearing a non-porous material such as steel, titanium or glass, you could try switching to something a little more porous like wood, bone or horn. These materials will help absorbe the oils and some of the skin cells, which tend to reduce the funk.
+11 / 11 votes
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Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | Comments
Monday April 27th, 2009 @ 10:42 PM
my piercer wants to do mine and my friends VCH’s with 14gauge 10mm diameter CBR’s. we’re both uncomfortable with this and no matter what i say she refused to even think of a curved barbell, and says we can change the jewellery after about 5 - 7 days.
is this OK or should i be finding someone else?
thank you.
I would personally look for someone else- you’ve told them what you want and it’s within reason; they’ve given you advice (changing it in a week) that I find to be questionable; they plan to pierce a hood at 14g…
All in all- and this is opinion- I say move along to someone else.
+22 / 24 votes
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Posted by Shawn Porter | Permalink | 4 Comments
Sunday April 26th, 2009 @ 3:44 PM
I am doing a college research paper on body modification discrimination in society and the world. Any views or comments on this topic as well as any good research sites or books would be greatly apreciated! If you would like to take a 5-10 min survey to help with my research please e-mail me at blf020@jwu.edu. Thank You!
Hit it.
+9 / 15 votes
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Posted by Shawn Porter | Permalink | Comments
