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BODY PIERCING TROUBLESHOOTING
FOR YOU AND YOUR HEALTHCARE
PROFESSIONAL
The following information is based on a
combination of vast professional experience, research, extensive
clinical body piercing practice, and common sense. It has
been compiled with the input and assistance of medical professionals
who are trained, experienced piercers.
FOR THE PIERCEE
CHOOSING A DOCTOR
It is always advisable to check with your
piercer if you have any questions or concerns about your
body piercing. A competent and ethical piercer is willing
to admit when a condition appears beyond the scope of their
expertise,and will advise you to seek medical attention.
Care,Maintenance,and Troubleshooting for Body Piercing is
not yet a course of study for most medical professionals.
Commonly, you as a piercee, may be more familiar with body
piercing than the very doctor you visit for advice and treatment
of a troublesome piercing. Medical personnel have tremendous
knowledge and experience about issues relating to the human
body, but that does not confer any specific knowledge of
this particularly unique form of body art. Therefore,it
is up to you to make certain that your chosen medical professional
has access to accurate information that will assist them
in treating you.
Before consulting a doctor about a body
piercing,it may be wise to ask a few questions:
- Do they approve or disapprove of body piercing?
- Does this doctor have prior experience treating piercings?
- Do they have a trusted expert body piercer to consult
with, or other resources for facts and information about
piercing?
- If the doctor has any questions would they be willing
to call your piercer to discuss it? You can save yourself
an unpleasant,unprodutive experience by avoiding a physician
who is disapproving, unwilling to learn, or does not
feel comfortable with body piercings.The following are
facts about body piercing and body jewelry to share
with your doctor in order to make certain your physician
is apprised of important data that can assist in decision
making about your care and course of treatment.
FOR THE DOCTOR
TROUBLESHOOTING
- The majority of troublesome piercings can be resolved
without the piercing being lost. Advice to simply "take
it out " is likely to be met with resistance from
the piercee.
- Many normally healing piercings become discolored
in the immediate vicinity of the piercing. This can
be a reddish, brownish, pinkish, or purplish discoloration.
In certain areas such as the navel this can remain for
many months and be perfectly normal.Since a piercing
involves the body healing around a foreign object rather
than the usual process of restoring the body back to
a pre-trauma state, discoloration may remain for a period
of time.
- Some localized swelling or induration is not uncommon
during healing stages and is not necessarily indicative
of complications. Oral piercings such as tongue and
lip often swell significantly for several days following
the piercing.
- Healing piercings normally excrete an exudate of plasma,
lymph, dead cells and so on. It should not be copious
in quantity, malodorous, or green. It dries on the ring
at the openings of the piercing forming a small amount
of crystalline-appearing crust.
- Ointments used for topical treatment are not usully
efficacious for body piercings. They are occlusive and
can limit oxygen circulation to the area,tending to
delay healing of this type of wound. Also,ointments
leave a sticky residue that makes cleaning the healing
tissue more difficult. If necessary, gels, creams, or
other water soluble products are preferred for topical
application.
- Jewelry in a healing piercing should not be too tight;
it must allow for a certain amount of air and blood
circulation, some movement during cleaning, and for
the expulsion of normal exudate from the wound.
- Piercings must be placed at a certain depth in order
to be accepted and sucessfully healed by the body to
remain long term. Those that are placed too close to
the surface (or with jewelry that is too small or thin)
may be perceived by the body as a splinter,worked towards
the surface and eventually ejected. If jewelry is removed
the holes close up and scarring is minimized. If the
jewelry is allowed to come through the surface by itself
a split scar may remain.If the area has been stable
for some weeks and is not red or irritated,the jewelry
may stay in place.
- If a piercing is shallow enough that the jewelry can
easily be seen right through the tissue, or if it encompasses
less than 1/4 "-5/16 " of tissue the jewelry
may require removal. If the tissue is red and indurated
across the entirety of the piercing and it is very superficial,
this generally indicates a piercing being rejected by
the body.
- Acceptable materials for wear in body piercings include
high quality stainless steel (specifically 316LVM F-138),
Niobium, Titanium (Ti6Al4V ELI), solid 14k or 18k white
or yellow gold, solid platinum and dense, low-porosity
plastic such as Tygon or PTFE. Appropriate jewelry has
no nicks, scratches burrs or irregular surfaces that
might en danger the tissue. Safety pins and other household
objects are not put into piercings by professional body
piercers.
- Unfortunately some piercers use inferior jewelry that
contains too much nickel or other irritating alloy resulting
in a "metal allergy." This condition is characterized
by the appearance of the tissue retreating from the
offending metal. The patient may present with complaints
of itching, burning and/or tenderness. S/he may feel
virtually no discomfort even though the piercing seems
highly inflamed. In addition to localized dermatitis,
the opening to the piercing will appear significantly
larger than the size of the jewelry, and granulation
tissue will be visible. This can be remedied by changing
to an appropriate bio-compatible jewelry, Tygon, or
PTFE.
- Sutures are not an appropriate size or material for
wear in body piercings. Any object that is too thin
has potential to damage the tissue by cutting it. (Sutures
used in the usual manner are positioned much closer
to the body and so they are not apt to be caught and
pulled, as can happen with a loop of suture hanging
from a piercing).
- Metal body jewelry will result in an opaque density
on x-rays but will otherwise not affect visibility in
radiographic examination. Nipple piercings are unlikely
to obstruct visibility of any pathology on thoracic
x-rays if both frontal and lateral views are taken.
- Appropriate metal body jewelry is not magnetic, and
as such does not need to be removed for MRI procedures
unless it is located in the region being examined. Gold
jewelry is much more thermal-conductive than steel.
JEWELRY REMOVAL
There are three basic styles of body jewelry
and many variations on those styles. The three styles are
a bead ring (fig.A), captive bead (fig.B), and circular
barbell/barbell (fig.C).
There is never any need to cut body jewelry
for removal. Even momentary removal of jewelry from a healing
piercing can result in amazingly rapid closure of the piercing,
and make reinsertion difficult or impossible. Removal of
jewelry in the presence of an infection may result in an
abscess. In the event there is a localized, draining infection,quality
jewelry should be left in place to allow for passage of
matter to the surface.
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Fig.
A
On a bead ring,the bead is attached to one side of
the ring. To open the ring for removal, simply twist
the ring open. Grasp the ring on each side of the
bead, pull gently and one end will pop out of the
bead. By pushing one end away from you and pulling
the other end toward you to open the ring like a spiral. |
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Fig.
B
On a captive bead ring, the bead is held in by the
tension of the ring. Grasp the ring with one hand
as close to the bead as you can and with the other
hand grasp the bead. Gently pull the ring and bead
in opposite directions and the bead should snap out
of the ring. Twist the ring a little (as in opening
a bead ring) and rotate the jewelry to remove the
ring. |
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Fig.
C
Barbells and circular barbells have threaded ends
which can be unscrewed.Like most threaded objects,they
tighten to the right and loosen to the left.On this
type of jewelry one or both of the ends will come
unscrewed. |
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Ring
Expanding Pliers or External Snap Ring Pliers can
be used to spread a ring open enough to pop a bead
in or out.Place the head of the pliers inside of the
ring and gently squeeze on the handle to spread the
jaws outward,opening the ring just enough to pop the
ball out. |
Please refer to the APP Aftercare Guidelines
sheets (oral or body & facial) for detailed information
on the approved and accepted means of optimally caring for
healing piercings.
DISCLAIMER
These guidelines are based on a combination
of vast professional experience, common sense, research,
and extensive clinical practice. This is not to be considered
a substitute for medical advice from a doctor. Be aware,
however, that many doctors have no specific training or
experience regarding piercing and may not be educated on
how to best assist you.
Copyright © 2000, by the Association
of Professional Piercers, any changes or deletions are strictly
prohibited and must be approved in writing by the APP.
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