Saturday October 17th, 2009 @ 4:59 PM
I have two microdermals in my sternum right now and they’ve healed perfectly fine no problems at all :] but I’ve been wanting my cheeks done forever and have decided on getting them with dermals instead of bars. Since I can’t have them for work I was going to get them done without ends/tops. Is it possible to heal them this way ? Or will the skin grow back over the stem ?
Thanks !
First of all, I don’t like surface anchors instead of barbells for cheek piercings at ALL. I suggest you don’t do this.
Secondly, no. You won’t be able to have the anchors heal without ends. The ends on surface bars and surface anchors prevent the jewelery from sinking into the piercing wound and the tissue healing over them.
0 / 0 votes 
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Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | Comments
Saturday October 17th, 2009 @ 4:57 PM
I have my ears stretched to a 5/8″ and have recently been thinking about taking them out. What are the chances of them going back to “normal”, or is plastic surgery the only way to go?
The chances of your ears going back to their original state is pretty slim. You can leave the jewelry out for a while and do some vigorous massages to help stimulate the blood flow and that should help shrink them back up a bit - but surgery is more or less your best option.
0 / 0 votes
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Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | 1 Comment
Saturday October 10th, 2009 @ 12:24 AM
Hi,
I’ve been sitting on an idea for my second tattoo for years now and have just discovered UV tattoos. This would be perfect for my design, but word on the street is it was banned in Australia once before because it was carcinogenic. People tell me cancer sucks, so I’m sure you’ll understand why I’m probably keen to avoid it.
Is the UV in cancer causing, or has the issue been overcome?
Thanks!
Robbeh
To quote Chuck Palahniuk’s FIGHT CLUB: “On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.”
There’s no conclusive proof in either direction. UV reactive pigment has had no FDA (or equivalent) testing and the long term ramifications are yet to be determined.
Ask yourself if it’s worth getting a UV if there’s even a remote chance of cancer*
(that said; tattoo pigments in general have no FDA approval so there’s nothing to say ANY pigment won’t give you long term issues.
+3 / 5 votes 
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Posted by Shawn Porter | Permalink | 2 Comments
Saturday October 10th, 2009 @ 12:15 AM
First of all, I’m a rookie. I have minimal visible modifications (1g lobes and a tragus piercing), and two reasonably sized tattoos that generally are not visible. I tend to be pretty private about my mods (largely because my folks are still helping to support me through contributions to my education).
I’ve also followed BME for about 7 years, and am looking forward to a time in my life when I can comfortably be more visibly modified (and can afford it). Anyway, I love reading about tattoo conventions, and there is one that’s going down in my vicinity in the near future. I want to go, but in light of some recent comments on modblog (dealing with someone “earning” various modifications etc.) and my own observations on the community — I am very intimidated by the idea. Are conventions typically open-minded settings in the sense that they are welcoming to people who are not visibly modified?
Hope it’s not too silly of a question.
Thanks
You shouldn’t be intimidated; these days tattoo conventions are more “pop culture” than they’ve ever been. The last convention I attended had more people wearing Miami Inked shirt than people with heavy tattoo coverage. So go and have a good time. If people look down on you because you’re not “modified enough” you can still have a good time knowing that you understand something they’ll never be able to. Have fun!
+11 / 11 votes 
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Posted by Shawn Porter | Permalink | 3 Comments
Thursday October 8th, 2009 @ 12:52 PM
yes my question is whats better for an Apadrava. EMLA or Xylocaine Jelly, and yeah if anyone could shine a light on this for me would very helpful
An ap can be a painful piercing, but if done by an experienced pro, it should be quick enough that anesthetic is not needed. However, I am not of the belief that everyone must “earn” there mods, so if you insist on anesthetic I will give you a straight up answer. Emla, is a topical anesthetic that requires an occlusive dressing to be most effective and it is extremely effective on the glans tissue. Xylocaine jelly is best suited for inside of the urethra and is most commonly used (in our world at least) for sounding play. If you wanted to go all out you could combine the 2, using the jelly internally and the emla externally. However, I feel that would be extremely overkill. The emla alone as directed on the label should make the piercing damn near painless.
Standard warning, anesthetics like EMLA are legally regulated in some areas. Also, even though EMLA is fairy safe anytime you use anesthetic of any form you run several risk including the possibility of anaphylactic shock. If you insist on using it, do your homework and weigh out the pros and cons. Like I said an ap done properly only hurts for a second or two.
+4 / 4 votes
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Posted by Sean Philips | Permalink | 1 Comment
Wednesday October 7th, 2009 @ 6:27 PM
Sorry if this is a repeat question. I’ve not seen any answer so I’ll risk asking again. Are you aware of outer labia being surgically opened as the in the image I’ve included suggests? Opening up the labia about a half an inch behind the forward edge and either suturing taping said incision to remain open.
I do not exactly understand what the picture is supposed to represent, I am assuming you want the outer labia to be less prominent so that the inner labia is more exposed and accessible? If this is the case, the most logical procedure would be to remove a football shaped section of the outer labia (outside of the sharpie marks in the picture), and suture the wound closed. This would pull the outer labia outwards and make them more “open”.
+7 / 9 votes
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Posted by Sean Philips | Permalink | 3 Comments
Wednesday October 7th, 2009 @ 5:52 PM
I have been very interested in getting a piercing on my neck, above the collarbone. I believe it is called a madison. I also want the size to be very large and be a heavy ring, around a 2-00g. I know they have a high rejection rate to begin with. I was wondering if I could utilize scarification in such a way that the keloid might prevent migration, make a small vertical cut in the neck, allow it to heal and then pierce behind it. If this sounds plausible to you, then my next question would be, should I start with a large needle or a small one and then stretch? I would also like to know how deep into my neck is TOO deep. Thanks a lot in advance!
-Zoe
What you are referring to is called scar and brace piercing. It was commonly attempted years ago, before the advent of surface bars, unfortunately, it was rarely successful. Here’s BME’s encyclopedia entry on the subject for more info.
I am not one to call any sort of piercing as “impossible”, because I have seen more than a fair share of EXTREMELY unlikely piercings heal. However, the odd’s of having this piercing heal are VERY slim. If you insist on trying it and are accepting of the fact it will most likely reject, try using the lightest and smallest gauge jewelry acceptable, I’d probably go for glass myself. One method that had some success in the past was scalpelled madisons. I believe Tom Brazda did some of these successfully, but I am sure someone will correct me if I am wrong on that. This involved scalpelling the piercing, so that the jewelry could rest in a more natural state than if it had been pierced by traditional needle methods. I severely doubt this will heal, but I am all for educated experimentation by trained professionals.
The best bet is also the most difficult to perform and that would be creating a bipedicle flap and then wearing the jewelry in that after it heals (assuming it heals).
As to your question “how deep…is too deep”, I’d have to say if you hit your jugular or esophagus you probably went too deep! In all seriousness though, this question leads me to believe you plan to attempt this yourself and that you are not all that knowledgeable on the subject. While I generally support DIY piercings, I must say that attempting this on yourself is a horrible idea and I can’t forsee a good outcome.
If you really want this and consult an experienced professional, know your risk, realize the odds are against you for healing it and still want it done (and have an reputable practitioner willing to attempt it for you), I 100% support your decision and respect your willingness to attempt the unlikely.
+6 / 6 votes
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Posted by Sean Philips | Permalink | 1 Comment
Monday October 5th, 2009 @ 8:48 PM
I got my lip pierced about, 4 days ago. I had a stud put in because I was going back home and if I showed up with a ring I knew I would never stop hearing about it from my parents. Everything has been going fine, except that the inside of my lip seems to be growing around the back plate of the stud. Also, when I push it inward there is a sore red circle on the inside where the plate is sitting. I’ve been using salt soaks about 3-4 times a day and washing the outside of the piercing with a anti-bacterial soap. There is no weird discharge, smells or heat coming from the piercing so I don’t think it’s infected. However, my lip is still a little swollen and if I run my tongue along the inside of it, there is stinging (obviously). I’m trying not to get paranoid but I’ve never had a piercing react like this. (I have my tongue and eyebrow also pierced.) Any idea what’s going on?
The obvious answer is that the bar is too short. In my opinion, it shouldn’t have been pierced with a ring to start with but faffing around with jewellery in a four day piercing is going to create excess swelling and irritation. If you keep it up, you will have the gnarliest piercing ever which will be certain to attract attention from your parents. Go to a piercer, have them fit an oversized labret stud in it, leave it in situ for a couple of weeks, go back to the piercer and have them switch it for a shorter, sterile stud and then give it another three to four months before fitting the ring.
+2 / 2 votes
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Posted by Tiff Badhairdo | Permalink | 4 Comments
Monday October 5th, 2009 @ 10:21 AM
i’ve had my monroe pierced for nearly 2.5 months now and it has healed well.
when i wear a short or long bar flat-back labret, all is well and perfectly normal.
but, after a day of comfort wearing a circular barbell instead, it hurts a loooot and it feels hard inside the fistula.
if i switch back to a labret, in under an hour it goes back to normal and all pain in gone.
i’ve worn this barbell in other piercings and have never had any sort of reaction to it.
why does this happen? i really want to be able to wear the barbell, i love the look of it.
Your piercing is not well enough healed to be switching jewellery. Leave the labret stud in for a good four months from the date of the initial piercing to give it time to heal adequately and then make sure you have the piercing measured to ensure you wear the correct size cirular barbell.
+2 / 2 votes
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Posted by Tiff Badhairdo | Permalink | Comments
Monday October 5th, 2009 @ 10:16 AM
Hello,
I recently had my labia minora professionally pierced and I plan on getting another one in the near future. However, I am concerned about the jewelry stretching my labia minora and making them longer because of the weight. It is pierced with a 14g circular barbell, though I am not sure what kind of metal it is (I am guessing steel). I am wondering if I should switch to titanium because it is lighter (assuming the metal is something other than that) once the piercing is healed to prevent stretching. Will wearing steel in the piercing make it more likely to stretch than if I were to wear titanium?
Thank you in advance!
The answer would be yes. Basically, the more weight you have there the more your labia will stretch. One or two 14g titanium rings probably won’t make that much of a difference but you will notice it if you decide to wear larger gauge jewellery in the future. It is also worth mentioning that catching smaller gauge rings is more likely to result in a tear.
+2 / 2 votes
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Posted by Tiff Badhairdo | Permalink | Comments
