Friday October 12th, 2007 @ 11:30 PM
Filed under: Ear
I’ve always heard that after you get your ears pierced, you should wait atleast 4 months before you can start to stretch the piercings. But, my friend is stubborn and doesn’t want to wait that long. So, he asked his piercer how long to wait, and the piercer said a month and i thought that was way to short. Now for the question, and i know that you should always listen to your body first, but what is the best time to wait after getting your ears pierced before stretching them.
The best time to wait is when your ears are nice and loose. This could take 4 months, it could take six months, it could even take upwards to a year or more.
The faster you push the envelope the most risks that are going to be put in place. The faster you stretch the more you leave yourself open for causing micro-tears in the fistula which can create more scar tissue then desired, not to mention it can also create problems such as blow-outs,etc.
Personally nowadays I’m advising clients to refrain from actively stretching their lobes. Instead I instruct them to simply massage their lobes with some type of oil, ie: Vitamin E, Olive Oil, Jojoba Oil Neem Oil,etc. They are to do this every couple of days and simply wait for their lobes to get nice and loose/stretchy. From there all they simply need to do is get one gauge size larger and with a lil bit of water-based lubrication, the jewelry should just easily slip in.
By doing this, you’ll eliminate all the problems/risks that can occur via actively stretching. People are often impatience, they’re going to do what they’re going to do. But that’s also why there are so many people out there with badly complicated stretched piercings.
Patience is a virtue that needs to be implemented when it comes to this form of modification.
0 / 0 votes 
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 4 Comments
Friday October 12th, 2007 @ 11:29 AM
Why don’t we have the option of choosing who we address our questions to anymore? The recent changes in BME are really disappointing. It was nice to not have to seek out a professional in person every time you had to ask a question about something. This used to be a really helpful place to get information, but I can’t say I’ll be using it anymore.
Well, as said before, we are still waiting for all staff members to get their accounts ready, and we want to be sure they’re perfectly familiar with the new system. Once all staff members have their accounts, and personal information in the staff page (therefore you’ll be able to ask the -right- person the -right- question), there’s no reason why this feature wouldn’t be included, not to mention it’s very simple to implement.
As for your comments on how this ‘used to be a really helpful place’, I really don’t see how it’s changed, all the same information is still available. If anything it’s easier to read, indexed much easier by robots (hello google), and then we have comments, updates to technorati, pingbacks from other blogs.. Shall I go on? Also, given how QOD was not even down for a single day, I don’t know why you’re complaining about having to seek out a professional in person every time you had a question (phone? IAM?).
I hope you change your opinion of AskBME and join us again for some questions and comments.
Thank you.
0 / 0 votes
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Posted by AskBME | Permalink | 4 Comments
Friday October 12th, 2007 @ 6:06 AM
I wasn’t able to find this in the wiki or by searching the QOD so I apologize if this has been answered before. I normally hate the “My friend told me…” type of questions but I am really curious about this one. It has come to my attention that there are some who believe that small tattoos are a bad idea and that they don’t turn out as well as larger ones. But of course no definite reasons were given. I know that for detail work you have to have a certain size, but is there any reason not to have a very simple design done on a smaller scale?
The thing about tattoos is that you’re filling cells with the pigment, cells have a finite size. As the body ages the cell walls break down, as it breaks down the pigment in those cells spread/run. Depending on the size of the tattoo will dictate the clarity of the tattoo as your body ages, it might be visible for a couple years, or it might be visible longer.
All work has some manner of detail, unless you’re going for small blob solid colours. You want to make sure that the lines do not get too close because as I said as the skin ages and breaks down the pigment will expand from its spot and blur/blend with what’s close by.
This is why many artists will have a bare minimum size for tattoos they do, based on the detail of the piece. There are however people like Anil Gupta who are internationally known for doing postage stamp size tattoos of Salvador Dali paintings,etc. However he does these tattoos with very small needle groupings (quite often 1 liners,etc), he has a MASSIVE magnify glass. Also your skin must be of a very specific type, if not he won’t do the tattoo. Not to mention in his FAQ on his page the first statement is: 1) Does Anil do coverups, retouch or color enhancement on an existing tattoo? NO.
Letters, Birds, Butterflies, Tigers, Faces all these things require detail. Details that are being etched into a living canvas. Something that ages and decays, which is very unlike a painters canvas,etc.
Now with saying this, this doesn’t mean rush out to get a full back-piece. But the thing to consider with tattoos is to make sure it fits the frame. A small tattoo on a rather large space will simply not look right, visually to the eyes. Case in point look at the body builders who have very tiny suns, tribals,etc on their upper arm region. Their massive bulging muscles over shadow the piece so it gets lost amongst the muscle.
So like I said it doesn’t need to be a huge tattoo, nor small. The thing to always consider is: “Does this tattoo fit the frame of my body“
+1 / 1 votes 
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 7 Comments
Friday October 12th, 2007 @ 5:48 AM
For the past month and a half or so, I’ve been dealing with a rather large and painful lump on the top hole of my vertical lip piercing. I got it pierced in June and it was going fine until this thing showed up. It did get infected, but seemed to clear up. After the lump still didn’t go away, I went to the doctor and got put on antibiotics, which I still have 2 days left of. I’ve been doing sea salt soaks and have recently been using a small amount of tea tree oil.
Is there anything else I should be doing? I really don’t want to lose the piercing.
Finally, someone with a picture, thank you. As pictures definitely help us be able to analyze what’s going on better.
Its hard to say however from the picture what specifically is the problem. It could be placement or it could be the jewelry’s gauge size?
Do you play with this piercing a fair bit? ie: sucking on the top bead, etc? Have you caught it on things occasionally?
As for infection, define infection? What type of discharge was occurring? Infected piercings are usually very inflamed (red and swollen) as well as contains a thick greenish discharge.
It appears to me there has just been some sort of impact to the pierced location, perhaps if it was indeed an infection, this impact is what caused the infection. I’d personally suggest using the sea salt solution twice a day for 10 minutes each time. Also in terms of water to use the ideal type is distilled water, instead of regular tap water, filtered water or boiled water. The solution should be mixed 1/4 teaspoon to 8oz of distilled water which is either at room temp. or slightly above room temp.
To conclude: keep doing the sea salt soaks twice daily for 10 minutes each soak. Also is the jewelry 16ga or 14ga? You might require a 14ga to give it more stability, if it’s a 16ga piece of jewelry. Also consider placement as a possibility, the pathway of the piercing might be causing stress on the top hole. But without a in-person inspection of this, it’s really hard to say.
Also know that although some people can have success with tea tree oil, quite often it’s far too harsh a product to use on a piercing, it’s most commonly viewed as an Anti-Fungal essential oil. Something like 100% Pure Neem Oil might yield better results.
+1 / 1 votes
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 19 Comments
Friday October 12th, 2007 @ 1:07 AM
So might be a weird question, but I have a few ear piercings (right ear: tragus and rook, left ear: inner conch) that I wear barbells in all the time. I have the darndest time finding headphones for my iPod that don’t give me ear blisters because of my piercings (I didn’t have blister problems before I had the piercings with the same headphones). The most comfortable ones I’ve found thus far are the ones that come with the iPod; I’ve tried the ones that go inside the ear (hurt my tragus piercing, which is relatively new), the ones that loop around (bugged my conch), and ones like the old school Walkman ones (too much pressure on my rook, which is finicky to begin with despite being 3 years old and totally healed).
So does anyone know of any piercing-friendly headphones for smallish ears?
You guys rock.
One thing would be to instead of wearing a barbell in your tragus, to switch it to a labret stud. That way the flat back of the stud gets put against the back of your tragus, instead of having the bead there. That can elevate the problem with the tragus piercing and enable you to wear one of the various ear bud type headphones.
The other option is hip swanky DJ style headphones if you don’t want the retro look of the old school headphones. 
Personally I have this problem as well with headphones, even though I have no cartilage piercings. Headphones are really something that should require customization to fit the persons ear shape comfortably. But sadly nobody does that due to probably the expense among other things as well.
+2 / 2 votes
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 12 Comments
Thursday October 11th, 2007 @ 9:57 PM
I was planning on getting a nape piercing fairly soon but just noticed something tonight. I look at all these videos of the procedures and everyones neck seems to be quite loose. My problem is I can barely pinch the skin with my head up. Once I move my head down there is like no room for a piece of metal under my skin. This definitely puts a damper on my plans. Any advice?
The best idea for you to do is to seek out a qualified piercer who is capable of doing surface piercings with both methods (Freehand with Needle as well as Dermal Punch And Taper), provided you live in a location that does not have a ban on piercers using medical devices such as dermal punches.
So as I said make sure you find a very qualified artist who can analyze the tissue. An ethical piercer will listen to your claims and take you to the procedure room to do a consultation and investigate the matter. If they instantly jump on the idea of doing the work on you without even looking at your nape and analyzing it, go elsewhere. If you mind replying in the comments section with your location, perhaps I or one of the other QOD Staff,etc could direct you where to go. Or perhaps you already have a piercer who you go to, that is knowledgeable enough. If that’s the case make some available time to visit and have them look at your nape.
It might also suck but you must be prepared to deal with the potential situation, that you just might not be suited for a nape piercing, although that’s rare. If you aren’t suitable for a nape piercing, then as we often let clients know, there’s MANY other places to be pierced. 
0 / 0 votes
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 6 Comments
Thursday October 11th, 2007 @ 9:19 PM
I have a BIG problem with allergies and my stretched ear! My ear WAS stretched up to 0ga, with no complications and all with acrylic jewellery, but unfortunately it flared up and I switched to wood (dunno what type).
It got worse! So I’ve downsized now back to 4ga, and my ear is constantly flaky, dry, itchy and VERY sore. I am allergic to nickel and stainless steel won’t work with me. I can’t find ANY jewellery in titanium…Obviously, I’m now reacting to the acrylic, wood hasn’t worked, and I honestly don’t know what else to try!
I’ve heard glass is pretty hypoallergenic, I’m also in the UK, so materials aren’t that readily available either 
Any ideas would be lovely, thankyou very much! I don’t want to loose my stretched ear!
~Kitty
Dear Kitty,
You essentially went from bad to worse with your stretching practices. First off the acrylic currently used in the Body Piercing/Jewelry scene is made for cold storage, in warmer temps it will release toxic vapours which can irritate. Also know that the majority of most commonly sold acrylic cannot be autoclaved(sterilized), which means it is not safe to stretch with and wear long term.
You then switched to wood which is even worse as its very porous material and can harbor a lot of harmful bacteria around the wound. This can lead to seriously irritated piercings if not full blown infections.
As per your statement you can’t find ANY Titanium jewelry and you’re in the UK, you must not be looking hard enough my dear. As the EU Nickel Directive states all piercing jewelry must be nickel free steel or it must be Titanium. One of the biggest jewelry suppliers in the world is called Wild Cat and their main headquarters is located in the UK, same with another one called Cold Steel. Both companies distribute both steel and titanium body jewelry.
As for your allergy to nickel although it is common in the UK, something about the water source if I remember correctly. But one way of finding out if you are really allergic is by wearing a pair of buttoned up jeans (Levis 501’s,etc) or wearing a watch with a stainless steel backing. If you develop a rash from those items then you might very well indeed have an allergy. If you do not react from these materials I’d be inclined to say the locations where you’re buying your jewelry from, are not purchasing proper quality jewelry.
So in closing stop using the materials you’re using and switch to Titanium. Believe it or not but it IS readily available in the UK, due to the EU Nickel Directive that is in place. You may also use Pyrex Glass as well. But what you need to really make sure of is that you are only stretching one size at a time and using sterilized pieces of jewelry as well as a water-based lubricant.
Personally I tell clients they do not need to actively stretch their lobe piercings, as the piercings will naturally stretch themselves. I just tell them to have patience and wait anywhere from 6 months to a year, even more, and you should easily be able to slide the next size up right in. This method truly saves people from having to deal with tears, blow outs,etc.
0 / 0 votes
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 20 Comments
Wednesday October 10th, 2007 @ 10:08 PM
This is sort of a two-part question.
I have a 14ga helix spiral that’s about three months old. It’s still giving me a little bit of trouble and seems like it has a little while to go before healing completely. When I asked a local piercer about it, he told me my piercer should have never used the spiral for the initial jewelry and that there was no way I could heal it correctly. Would you agree?
Also, this same piercer told me that to treat the little bit of hypertrophic scarring forming around one of the holes, I should apply a paste of water and crushed aspirin every night directly to the piercing for three weeks. Thoughts/opinions? I’m not sure if that’s good advice or not. Thanks!
The thing surrounding these spiral projects is that they absolutely require precise angles, so not to apply pressure to the pathways.
I bet if you removed the jewelry and put barbells or labret studs in instead, the hypertrophic scarring will go away. Once they are gone you can then consult with a qualified piercer who can establish the angles of the pathway and custom order jewelry with the angles needed.
As for the piercer who advised you to crush aspirin and mix with water, I truly hope he is not an American. As by stating that he is putting himself at risk by giving such medical advice to people. In theory it could work due to the acetylsalicylic acid, but it’s not ideal for this problem. The reason being if the angles are off, they’re off, and nothing will help. As there will always be pressure applied to the area, causing the scar tissue to form every single time.
As I said the best option is to just convert the spiral into individual piercings with either barbells or labret studs. Do warm sea salt soaks and allow the hypertrophic scarring to go down. Once it’s gone you can then have a piercer analyze the angles and figure out a custom made spiral piece suited specifically for you.
0 / 0 votes
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 14 Comments
Wednesday October 10th, 2007 @ 9:42 PM
Hi there,
I got my nipples pierced in the early part of this year (the first one in March, the second in April). They are still forming crusties and recently the second of the two formed bloody crusties (I know, pleasant!). I took them both out last night to clean the bars and the nipples themselves and the smell was awful! I go through all the aftercare rituals as I should and can’t work out what the problem is, any ideas? Thanks a lot!
In order to troubleshoot this problem correctly, more information is required. We would need to know what gauge (thickness the jewelry is) to evaluate the situation better. If we are to simply go by the law of averages, I’d be inclined to say the barbells you have in your nipples are 14ga. From there however we need to determine what metal the jewelry is made out of: A) Stainless Steel or B) Titanium; as well as if it’s implant grade material or not, with a mirror finish.
Also what are the current aftercare rituals that you’re going through? As there are many different views on aftercare techniques.
To give a simplistic answer to your question “crusties” are quite often a mix of dead skin cells, body oils(sweat,etc) combined together. This occurs when the body realizes it has foreign material in the body, so it generates skin cells to seal up the hole. But due to the fact that you have jewelry is in the body, that matter has no other option but to expel from the wound.
As for the bleeding this is why I asked about the gauge size. The reason being because if it’s too thin a piece of jewelry and are prone to catching it, playing with it,etc then tears can occur resulting in the creation of the skin cells (crusties) as well as bleeding due to the irritation/tearing.
Everyone’s anatomy is different some people require 14ga jewelry, while others might require 12ga or 10ga+. It’s all based on the individuals development of their nipple.
As for aftercare protocols the best option is to use a very simple mild liquid castile (vegetable oil) based soap in the shower. As well as using a Sterile Saline Wound Wash (Blairex Wound Wash).
If the problem persists after all this I’d be inclined to suggest stretching to a larger size barbell then what you currently have and make sure the jewelry being used is Internally Threaded Implant Grade Stainless Steel or Implant Grade Titanium with a mirror finish.
Also if the bleeding and crusty matter is developing overnight, you might want to try wearing a snug shirt while sleeping. As you might be catching it on the bedsheets while you move around in your sleep at night. Also look to clothing that you are wearing that might be the cause of this irritation as well.
0 / 0 votes
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Posted by Warren Hiller | Permalink | 6 Comments
Wednesday October 10th, 2007 @ 4:36 PM
… definitely makes me happy. It’s very neat and I like the layout.
But here’s my question: is BME back now that things are changing or is stuff still being fixed one day at a time? Thank you guys for being so patient through the whole thing
–Bathory
Well Bathory, BME never left, it’s really that simple. The new QOD has been in development for months, all staff members have been silently playing with the initial version since September and we even had a few beta testers. That said, the old QOD was a legacy system that simply had to be replaced. The internet grows, evolves, and we have to be adaptable for the future.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” - Charles Darwin
0 / 0 votes
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Posted by AskBME | Permalink | 3 Comments
