Guide To Piercings
6:10 AM
This post covers what you need to know about piercings!
Here's what I've learned based on advice from my piercers, subreddits like r/legitpiercing, r/piercing, piercing forums and articles or videos made by professional piercers.
Aftercare advice?
(a) Most people find the LITHA (Leave It The Hell Alone) method to be the most efficient way to heal a piercing after a month of having just gotten pierced. During the first month, it's recommended to use sterile saline solution, but don't move your jewelry when you clean it. Rinse your piercing in the shower, and use sterile wound gauze or tissue to dry it as best as you can.
(b) You could also try cleaning it with sterile saline solution once or twice a day till it heals.
(c) Don't twist the piercing - it introduces bacteria and causes the fistula to tear which will lengthen the healing process.
(d) Try not to touch it but if you have to, wash your hands with antibacterial soap beforehand.
(e) Professional piercers usually recommend not cleaning up the crusties because it helps your piercing to heal. But if you have dried blood, or crusties that are about to fall off, use wound gauze or a paper towel to gently wipe it off. Don't use cotton swabs because the cotton fiber can get stuck in between your piercing and ear and it'll make you itch like crazy.
(f) If you're a side sleeper and you've just gotten ear piercings on both sides, try using a travel pillow that keeps you from sleeping on them to avoid getting irritation bumps. Or if you have it on one side, then try training yourself to sleep on the other side.
(g) Don't use alcohol/tea tree oil/creams because it will irritate your piercing and might cause it to close up.
(i) Try not to eat eggs or seafood for the next 2-3 weeks after you get pierced, it might make you feel itchy.
(j) Avoid getting into the sea, rivers, lake or any body of water that's not a shower because the bacteria in them increases the chances of getting an infection. I'm not sure about baths, but I think the soap/shower gel, fragrances and other bath stuff could potentially irritate your piercing.
Read the APP's guide on aftercare for more information. It's based on a clinic's guide for healing wounds (keep in mind, a freshly pierced body part is essentially just a wound to your body).
Piercing gun vs needle?
- Professional piercers in the industry do not recommend piercing with a gun although it's an extremely common practice that many opt for.
The common perception is that a piercing done with a gun is more affordable and piercing/tattoo parlors that offer piercing with needles are scary or not suitable for kids or teenagers.
Think about it this way, why wouldn't you go to a professional who knows what they're doing?
Some people have gotten piercings with a gun that turned out fine, but that's due to luck, really. My first gun piercings were okay, but the next four times was a two-year nightmare. I strongly advise against recommending unsafe practices, even if it turned out well for you because other people might not be as lucky.
Truth is, although a needle piercing might be a slightly longer and more expensive process, it's a much safer procedure (assuming you go to a reliable piercer - if a piercer makes you feel uncomfortable, has a bad attitude and doesn't listen to you, don't get pierced by him)
You're paying more when it comes to a needle piercing for higher quality jewelry, a piercer who knows what he's doing, sterilized environment + equipment, and more time is taken to make sure your piercing is done right.
You're paying more when it comes to a needle piercing for higher quality jewelry, a piercer who knows what he's doing, sterilized environment + equipment, and more time is taken to make sure your piercing is done right.
Reasons Not To Use A Piercing Gun:
- piercing guns have been proven to not be sterile (since it has plastic parts, it can't be placed in an autoclave to be properly sterilized)
- the blunt stud causes tissue trauma
- gun piercers generally do not have the proper training or knowledge required to perform a piercing properly
- the impact from a gun could shatter your cartilage
- it's harder to pierce precisely with a gun (e.g. if they mark it at a certain point, they won't be able to accurately control the gun to hit that exact point which is how people get uneven piercings)
- the jewelry used is not made of the right material (high nickel content might cause allergic reaction) and does not allow for proper healing (butterfly backs don't leave any space for swelling)
- the gun can also get jammed and stuck on your ear = high probability of having crooked piercings or having your lobes being ripped open when they try to remove the gun.
Reasons To Use A Piercing Needle:
Conclusion:
A needle piercing could be more painful if you have low pain tolerance, but it's only a 1-3 minutes of suffering so that you can have a properly done piercing that won't shatter your cartilage, cause trauma and you'll have jewelry that allows space for swelling while it heals and ability to avoid jewelry allergy issues in the future.
If any complications arises, you can rely on the guidance of your piercer as well, so there's no worry about having to deal with irritated or infected piercings on your own.
My 6 gun piercings costed less than RM 30 (RM 5 for one). My 5 needle piercings costed me RM650 (ignoring the different types of piercings, RM 100+ for one).
It's more expensive because they use a brand new sterilized needle for each piercing, instead of reusing it, for sterilization purposes. And obviously, higher quality jewelry (with little to no nickel content) will be more expensive. And again, an experienced, proficient piercer doesn't come cheap.
I'd go for the needle every time.
It's more expensive because they use a brand new sterilized needle for each piercing, instead of reusing it, for sterilization purposes. And obviously, higher quality jewelry (with little to no nickel content) will be more expensive. And again, an experienced, proficient piercer doesn't come cheap.
I'd go for the needle every time.
Is it painful to pierce with a needle?
- Depends on your pain tolerance and the type of piercing you're getting. Everyone's different so my experience is not necessarily what you will experience. I know it isn't much of an answer, but tbh, even if it's painful, just try to remember it's gonna hurt for a couple of minutes then (assuming you follow proper aftercare procedure and don't accidentally irritate it) the healing process is painless. Itchy, crusty and sometimes ugly, but for the most part, painless.
(Forgot to mention this but) certain piercings (particularly the ones done in thicker parts of the cartilage [i.e. rook or conch] are generally prone to swelling while it heals.
If you experience signs of an infection (red, swollen, pus, itchiness, burning, tenderness) after getting pierced, please contact a professional piercer and doctor immediately.
Where can you pierce your ears with a needle in Malaysia?
- Attic's Jewelry and Piercing in Sunway Pyramid, 1Utama, Dataran Pahlawan
- Spec Body Art in SS15, Subang Jaya & Sungei Wang
- Zoo Tattoo & Body Piercing in Sungei Wang
- Spec Body Art in SS15, Subang Jaya & Sungei Wang
- Zoo Tattoo & Body Piercing in Sungei Wang
Read reviews on them beforehand tho, and check out their portfolio. Don't be afraid to ask them questions about the procedure, cleanliness of the piercing studio and anything else.
My recommendation: Spec Body Art.
Jewelry
Internal vs External Thread Jewelry
Jewelry Materials
My recommendation: Spec Body Art.
Jewelry
Internal vs External Thread Jewelry
Jewelry Materials
What else should I know about?
- It's important to be well-rested, well-fed and hydrated so you don't get dizzy and faint when you're getting pierced.
- Depending on your body anatomy, some piercings may not work for you because of the shape and size of your body part. However, an experienced piercer might know a way to customize the piercing to suit you.
- With that in mind, it's important to make sure your piercer knows what s/he's doing. Look at their portfolio and analyze their work. Also do as much proper research (facts backed up by professional piercers) as you can about the piercing process, the best material for an initial piercing and healing process, instead of relying just on the word of others.
- Different parts of your body takes a different amount of time to heal. Don't change your jewelry when your piercing is still healing because it sets back the healing time. Exception: jewelry allergies - in which case you should go to the piercing studio and having it changed to something made with titanium.
- The most common issue that piercings face during the healing process are irritation bumps. Most people think that it's keloids but that's rare, and you won't get them unless you're genetically/systemically predisposed to getting them. The general advice for dealing with irritation bumps is to avoid aggravating it further by leaving it alone. It might take some time, but it'll go away eventually. It can also be caused by using improper jewelry (material/shape)
- Your piercings could migrate or reject. If you notice your piercing shifting, embedding or looking like it's forcing itself out of your body, please contact your piercer immediately.
Advice for someone who is thinking of getting piercings.
- All gun piercers are bad solely on the fact the equipment they use is unsuitable, some needle piercers are bad because they lack the skills or have improper training.
- Don’t take blog posts or Youtube videos as gospel because there’s a lot of misinformation about what a safe piercing is. (not to sound full of it, but this is not a contradiction of my own post. None of the advice I've written here is based on my personal opinion, it’s what I’ve gathered from legitimate sources. Unfortunately, there has been no credible scientific research done on piercing procedures and aftercare, but it’s safer to follow the advice given by proficient piercers than to follow someone else’s advice based on their personal experience.)
Anyway, I hope you found this helpful but please do even more research and try to be as well-informed as possible before getting your piercing :)
If you want to know more, a few reliable resources I recommend are:
- The Association of Professional Piercers. They have an in-depth FAQ article that shares their insights.
- The Piercing Bible - A book that has been approved and praised by established piercers in the industry for providing accurate information about piercings.
- Confessions of A Piercing Nerd - blog of an APP board of directors' member.
- The Point: Journal of Body Piercing - A quarterly journal by the APP about piercings.
- Urban Body Jewelry - An informative YouTube channel about piercings.
(Italicized words are links, I dunno why they're not highlighted, haha)
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4 comments
Hi!Great article you have here! Body jewelry enthusiast will definitely learn so much from this article.
ReplyDeleteFor your readers looking for some good quality body jewelry at a good price, you can always buy from a wholesaler. For example www.achadirect.com has really cheap but quality piercings, although the minimum order is around 150$ or so.
Hello! You have a fantastic article here! This article will undoubtedly teach body jewellery enthusiasts a great deal. You've probably heard of people getting their nipples pierced. So you're thinking about getting nipple piercings. Here's everything you need to know to be well-informed and confident when you finally pierce your nipples.
ReplyDeleteHi, I am a content writes who writes about body jewelry and piercing and I think that you might have heard stories about helix piercings are the most sensitive organ in the human body, and nipple piercing rings have been seen in crowds since time immemorial. They are usually denoted as sex symbols and are said to increase a partner's sexual gratification level.
ReplyDeletePiercing Guide
ReplyDelete