Discuss “Health Talk: Piercings”

1. Brian (Agaru Tattoo And Body Piercing)
Apr 01, 2008 at 08:27 PM Report comment

Dear Shaleya,

I'm just curious on where (or who) you got your information from. Reading through this article, I saw many bits of info that was very wrong.

As far as infected piercings go, generally about 95% of the piercings people think are infected are not actually infected.

"The piercer should use a sterile needle or piercing gun". sterile needles, always a must. However a piercing gun is mostly made of plastic, and there is no way to sterilize plastic, (At least using an autoclave, or similar sterilizer that must reach a temperature of F260+) therefore it will never be truly "sterile". And as an added note, you have a FAR greater choice of contracting Hepatitis from a piercing gun in the mall, than from a sterilized, single-use, tri-beveled, laser cut, needle....

"most piercings are done with titanium or sterling silver." Titanium is ok to use after a piercing, however sterling silver and other cheap metals can contain traces of nickel, which many people are allergic to, so it's not recommended. The are 5 types of metals that can be used for piercing: 316L, or LVM or better "surgical" steel, titanium, niobium, PTFE (Or implant grade Dental acrylic), and gold. (not gold plated). The most common is surgical steel.

"Ear rings with short posts"... Any jewelry inserted into a fresh piercing, should be larger than you are eventually going to need, to allow for swelling, for example lips and tongues can swell up to twice (Or more!) it's normal size.

"... Infected piercing will be painful, red, and swollen. Other symptoms include itchiness and the presence of puss." Every attribute listed is in fact, very common in the piercings healing process, even "lymph-secretions" (Puss). As a matter of fact, if you're piercing is not sore, irritated, and swollen for the first couple days... you're dead. These are all natural reactions.

"... you can also tell that a piercing is probably infected if it does not heal within a couple of weeks." is also false. here is a list of a couple piercings and how long they GENERALLY take to heal.

Ear Lobe: 6-8 weeks
Ear cartilage: 4-9 months (up to a full year or longer)
Eyebrow: 8-10 weeks
Nostril: 8-10 weeks
Tongue: 4 weeks
Lip/Labret: 2-3 months
Navel and Nipples: 4-6 months
Surface Piercings: 1 year or longer
Genitalia: healing time varies, but is REMARKABLY fast.

Your information on keloids, was for the most part correct (high five). One thing to watch out for is "hypertrophic scars" are commonly self diagnosed as keloids.

Signs of infected piercings generally include a foul smelling discharge from the piercing (usually green/yellowish in color), running a high fever, you will sometimes see red streaks radiating from the piercing. One important thing to remember is that if you feel you have an infected piercing, you should consult a doctor for antibiotics. Even more importantly, jewelry should not be taken out until fully healed. If you have an infection, and allow the holes to close up, you are essentially trapping the infection inside of your body, thus making it more difficult to care for. The use of rubbing alcohol is ok for cleaning jewelry AFTER PIERCINGS ARE HEALED, but not advised for contact with skin, it is too harsh and actually irritates and dries out the skin and can delay healing. A warm water sea-salt soak (twice daily for 15-20 mins) along with 2 cleanings daily with warm sea salt solution is an excellent route for aftercare.

We'd be happy to answer any questions you might have in the future!

-Brian C.
AGARU TATTOO & BODY PIERCING
Wilmington DE 19806

1-888-TATT2-4-U
www.agarutattoos.com