Sunday October 28th, 2007 @ 9:05 PM
In your honest opinion, what do you think of those “mall boutigues” who advertise for cheap piercings. I have always driven over half an hour away to get my piercings because I trust the piercer at this particular studio, but would I be making a huge mistake going to a studio closer to home advertising for $20 piercings?
Asking most piercers about “mall boutiques” who offer super cheap piercings is like asking the Jewish people how they feel about the Nazi Germany era.
Things you need to ask about these “mall boutiques” is the following:
1) Piercing Training - How was this person offering piercings trained? No Training? A weeks training? A month? Longer?
2) Methods Of Piercing - Needle or Gun?
3) Aftercare - Do they provide you with sound verbal and written documentation of how to take care of it? Not just shove you a nice bottle of Ear Piercing Care (ie: BZK aka Benzalkonium Chloride which is a strong disinfectant and shouldn’t be used to heal a piercing)
4) Jewelry - Are they using proper high quality Internally Threaded (Anatometal, Industrial Strength,etc) or Threadless (NeoMetal) jewelry that is classified as implant grade? (ie: ASTM F-138 316LVM Stainless Steel or ASTM F136 6Al-4V ELI Titanium) or are they using the cheapest jewelry they can find?
5) Other Training - Do they have certification in Bloodborne Pathogens/Infection Control as well as First-Aid & CPR?
6) Proof of Work - Do they have a portfolio that displays a lot of their work? Is it healed work or fresh and bloody?
These are but a few small but very important things to ask when people consider these mall boutiques…Quite often the people offering the piercings at these places fail on a number of these questions.
+1 / 1 votes 
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 11 Comments
Sunday October 28th, 2007 @ 8:49 PM
I got my eyebrow pierced for the first time in August 2004, and switched the ring several months later, in spring 2005. I was very unaware at the time and just randomly shoved in a ring that was way, way bigger both in gauge and diameter, and the piercing rejected not long after.
I got it repierced in January this year, and switched the piercing several weeks later to a ring that was either the same size or (possibly, I forget) smaller than the original. I had no problems switching and now can even remove it daily (for a new, piercing-free job) and slip it back in at night no problem. But a little while ago I dropped the bead down the drain and have since been trying to find a new ring, with little success–my ring is 18 guage with a 5/16 diameter, and no one seems to make cute rings that size! The only ones I can find are either dull or not my style. I did see a totally cute one at 16 gauge and 3/8 diameter, and I was wondering what you think the risk would be if I started using this one, going up in size just a tad, considering that for most of the week I don’t even wear it, and the hole seems pretty well-healed? Would it get all messed up again, or do you think I would be in the clear?
Thanks!
Dear Poster,
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. For example you might find rings to be “cute”, yet if you ask my personal opinion they are not cute, but to each their own right?
In terms of cute however what is it that you find cute in certain rings? As there are not many other ways to make a ring other than have it in a ring shape. Are you referring to colours? attachments? Not really sure what you’re referring to by that statement as to me a ring is a ring they come in many colors, different size beads, different TYPES of beads,etc.
But to answer the question about the 16ga 3/8″ ring. I’d advise taking it to an high quality piercing studio for an experienced piercer to analyze the ring as well as the entry and exit points of the piercing, to determine if it is a suitable option. I personally am inclined to say it would not be an ideal thing since you’re wearing a 18ga 5/16″ ring in the piercing currently. The reason I say this is because 3/8″ is a bigger diameter than 5/16″ which could potentially lead to problems in the future. The more ring there is, the greater the chance for catching/snagging the piercing,etc, which can of course lead to migration and sadly rejection.
So my only concern with this is that it’s a larger diameter, not that it’s a larger gauge size…However sometimes with larger gauge sizes problems could also arise if your anatomy is not suited for that size. Sometimes 18ga work best, while other times 16ga will be ideal and even 14ga can be the jewelry gauge size of choice for the person,etc.
So yeah in closing I’d say if anything purchase a 16ga 5/16″ ring from a piercing studio and have the piercer taper it in for you. However it’s going to require you to keep it in for awhile to allow the body to become used to that size. You won’t want to try and taper it in and then remove it the very next day for work.
0 / 0 votes 
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | Comments
Saturday October 27th, 2007 @ 8:51 PM
Filed under: Nose
I had my septum pierced last Thursday and I love it. But it seems that every morning (or even a few hours after I clean it) there are snot crusties, rather than just blood or lymph. Nobody ever mentions any long-term crusty involvement and I was just wondering if I have to deal with this kind of thing forever, since it kind of hurts.
Hmm, I s’pose I assume that it’s common sense that jewellery worn inside the nose will tend to collect dried nasal mucus and have to be cleaned on a semi-regular basis - much as, one hopes, you clean the inside of your nose! 
Of course, your piercing won’t always be sore and cleaning it won’t be uncomfortable once the piercing has a chance to heal a bit, and it does become routine after blowing one’s nose to kind of give a little extra love to your jewellery with the tissue, to remove any extra junk from the piercings. Just be patient, I assure you that it will get easier within a month or two! 
0 / 0 votes
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Posted by Lori St.Leone | Permalink | 2 Comments
Saturday October 27th, 2007 @ 8:46 PM
Filed under: Ear
I had my tragus pierced about a year ago, but let it heal up about 6 months ago.
Would I be able to get it repierced, or would there be too much scar tissue?
It should be totally fine to repierce. Go visit your friendly neighbourhood piercer and have a chat with them about it, they should be more than happy to help you out with it.
0 / 0 votes
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Posted by Lori St.Leone | Permalink | Comments
Saturday October 27th, 2007 @ 8:30 PM
I’m not sure if this question has been answered or not but here goes: I just recently got a tattoo about a week ago and just today found out that I’m pregnant. Will this have any effect on my baby?
First of all, congratulations! I’ve recently discovered that we’re in the family way as well (I’m just over nine weeks pregnant as of this writing), isn’t it just the most exciting thing? It’s like joining some secret women’s club or something, ha ha!
It’s not ideal to get pierced or tattooed during pregnancy, and most reputable artists won’t even touch you if they know you are pregnant (because, from a liability standpoint, nobody wants to be the last person who did anything to your body before you miscarried, not to put too fine a point on it). Your immune system becomes depressed during pregnancy, and healing will certainly be impacted by that, and it’s just common sense not to put too much stress on your body while it’s working on such an important project - pregnancy is, after all, a temporary condition, and you can easily put off any projects for a few months until Bubs is here!
All of that being said, however, no, the fact that got tattooed before you knew you were pregnant really shouldn’t have any effect on your baby. I’m assuming that you went to a clean and reputable artists and the tattoo was done with sterile equipment, of course, but I can’t imagine any serious risk/trauma/stress to the developing foetus just from the act of Mum receiving a tattoo. I’ve known lots of women who quite intentionally got pierced and tattooed during their pregnancies - I’m reserving comment on that, much as I’m reserving comment on women who smoke and drink throughout their pregnancy - and their babies were fine, at the end of the day. Almost all pregnant women do SOMEthing naughty during their first few weeks of pregnancy, because they don’t know they’re up the duff yet, and their kids are fine and any dramas, if they have them, are unrelated. Don’t worry too much about it, just be good from here on in and take care of yourself and your bub!
0 / 0 votes
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Posted by Lori St.Leone | Permalink | 3 Comments
Saturday October 27th, 2007 @ 8:09 PM
Heya, this one’s for Lori or Warren!
Im currently located in Adelaide and was wondering if you know any reputable piercers who you feel would be able to perform dermal anchors.
Also where you suggest going to get tattooed, thanks heaps!
I’m spearheading a movement to get all our Aussie readers to call Warren “Wozza” from now on. C’mon, you know you want to. I’m just trying to help him feel more at home here Down Under, you understand. And for all of our other readers all over the world, don’t worry about it, it’s an Aussie thing.
I honestly don’t know who I’d recommend in Adelaide for microdermal/dermal anchors, and I don’t see anyone in South Australia on the Industrial Strength microdermal website. This does not, of course, mean there’s nobody doing them there, just that you need to do some research and call around to the better piercing studios and talk to them about it. Ask them if they do them, how many they’ve done, how the procedure is performed/what techniques are they using, how they learned to perform the procedure, how many they’ve removed and at what point in the healing process, what their success rate is, and for pictures of fresh and healed work.
As for tattoos, shop around - everyone has their favourite artists and I’ve seen good work come out of Adelaide. I’ve also seen some shockers, ha ha, so caveat emptor and all of that! Here’s where the new comments section will come in handy - South Australian readers, please do feel free to pitch in with your favourite artists and links to shops, to give us some help!
+1 / 1 votes
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Posted by Lori St.Leone | Permalink | 13 Comments
Saturday October 27th, 2007 @ 7:58 PM
Need some help, urgently…and asking you guys will get me a more informed response than calling my piercer.
My six month old microdermal, in the hollow of my throat, has rejected. The jewelry was IS, and the part that was implanted on top (towards my chin) was the short “heel”. This part, over the course of about a week, pushed itself right out with no redness, swelling, or pain, and there was no trauma to the piercing that I’m aware of.
As I have no access (5 hour one way drive) to a reputable piercer, I’ve removed the rest of it myself by sliding a 14g needle against the lower half of the implant, to slice through the well healed tissue which had grown through the holes in the metal (I figured if I tried myself to re-implant the top, I’d end up with no implant + big scar).
MY QUESTION: I now have the worlds finest fistula. This piercing had healed very well, and there is a nice pocket where it sat. Will the minor trauma of cutting it out make this pocket seal up? I’m not worried about a little external scar, I’m worried about a permanent hole beneath the skin. Any advice?
(and to the professionals who are concerned about the heel on this jewelry being so small; I believe this piercing would have been permanent had it been equal in length either side of the post. That heel seems to have been simply not enough to anchor the jewelry)
I’m sure the fistula will sort itself out (if it hasn’t already) in terms of healing closed, and if you want to try to reduce the appearance and texture of the scar tissue, I suggest you use a scar-reduction product such as Mederma or Bio-Oil several times a day until it looks better. You should begin to see results within a few weeks, depending on how long the microdermal was in place and how much scar tissue your body created.
I’ve removed a fair few microdermals now, and I’ve yet to have to cut any out of anybody - the ones I’ve removed have all been badly abused and on the path to rejection - but they way you did it certainly sounds like the way most people are removing well-healed ones that don’t want to come out easily.
Regarding the foot design of the jewellery, if both feet were the same longer length, they wouldn’t be readily inserted into a single pocket anymore - think about it! I can’t speak for how any other piercers do them, but I put the longer foot facing up, not down, just to give it something to hang on to against gravity.
+7 / 7 votes
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Posted by Lori St.Leone | Permalink | Comments
Sunday October 14th, 2007 @ 1:55 AM
I haven’t stretched for a couple of months, but recently noticed what I assume is a blowout, a little flap poking out the back of my lobe.
I’ve read the encyclopedia entry but I think most of the tips there apply to fresh blow-outs, where this must be a few months old. What can I do?! I have downsized a couple of mms for now.
Can I also add that I feel like an idiot because I was always so proud to have healthy ears.
It is unfortunate, I’m sorry that this has occurred. With blow outs quite often it’s not a result of the last stretch you did, more so it’s a result of a couple stretches before that.
The best option to do with this situation is to take your jewelry out completely and give your lobes a good massages daily.
When the blow out disappears completely find a jewelry size that easily fits into the current size of the pathway, do not try to muscle larger sizes in, put a comfortable fitted size in. From there keep the jewelry in through-out the entire day, but take them out once or twice a day and give the lobes a good massage.
Also I’d advise to maintain your lobes at this comfortable size for at least 6 months to a year before trying to fit the next size in.
+1 / 1 votes
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 7 Comments
Saturday October 13th, 2007 @ 10:15 PM
MY friends seems to think if you fly after getting a tattoo the blood vessles will “explode”. sounds like BS to me?
As someone who has flown on average more than 50,000 miles a year for the past 4 years I can tell you I have never had any blood vessels explode. I’ve even flown thousands of miles specifically to get tattooed and then flown back the very same day!
Tell your friend it’s total “BS” and that they can also drink soda and eat Pop Rocks.
+1 / 1 votes
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Posted by Rachel | Permalink | 4 Comments
Saturday October 13th, 2007 @ 2:57 PM
I’m new to the tattoo world and want to make sure that I am tipping my artist enough. I got 125$ worth of work done one day and tipped her 20$… it took about 30 minutes for the tattoos. Then I went back a few days later and got another tattoo that cost 75$ and I tipped her 15$. That one took about 15 minutes. I tip her about what I tip my hair stylist… thats what I based it on… am I giving her enough???
Tattoo artist generally make far more than waitresses, bartender and whatnot. On average most artist make 50% of the cost of the tattoo. I only mention this because I don’t feel people should feel they HAVE to tip there artist.
That being said, I always do tip my artist and tip them well, just as I feel you did. It’s been mentioned on QOD a bunch, but since this is a new format why not mention this once more: Once you get to know your artist feel free to tip with more personal gifts rather than cash tips, whether it be a gift card, cookies some random collectible they are into these types of tips will probably be more appreciated than the standard cash tip.
0 / 0 votes
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Posted by Sean Philips | Permalink | 5 Comments
