Piercings and other bodily manipulations conversation

HTRN · Post by **HTRN** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 1:43 am

Uh huh, suuuurrrre...

HTRN

Arres · Post by **Arres** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 1:50 am

Like I said, I'm going to wait until AFTER swimming season is over. I will be having my roomie take pics though. And video if I can swing it. I WONT be using it as a "dressing ring" though.

scott311 · Post by **scott311** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 1:50 am

I'm very happy with it. I've had the PA for about 5 years now. Healing is a breeze and I've never had a problem with it.

Smaointe · Post by **Smaointe** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 2:59 am

[quote="wocket";p="507675"]General healing time is about 6 weeks if you follow strict rules about treatment[/quote]
That would be the initial healing period, not the full healing period. The full healing period is around 6 months. Most piercings have an initial healing period and then a longer period where it settles down properly. Tongue for example - initial swelling usually goes down in 3 - 5 days. At 2 or 3 weeks you can change the bar, and at 6 - 8 weeks it is considered healed, but it's not fully toughened up until a year later. Most piercings have that initial period of a few weeks where it is really fresh and needs to calm down.. but that doesn't mean it has finished healing.

I think this is why a lot of people take their piercings out before they are healed properly. For example, a couple of friends of mine have had their navels pierced, but after a month or so they took them out because they were "still not healed"..... navel piercings can take 6 or 9 months to heal properly; I think people are getting bored or impatient at the 4 week mark and giving up

It's important to understand the different healing periods that each piercing will go through... and while some might take only a month to heal, others can take a year.. you have to be prepared to take care of them for the whole time. /rant!

[quote="Deacon";p="507689"]I'm curious about tongue web piercings as well, since that's probably one of the least intrusive and most corporate-friendly (without being in potentially embarrassing places) locations...[/quote]
It's also low on the pain scale and very quick to heal. If I got it done I would want 12g though.. anything smaller and you risk it migrating and forming scar tissue - I've seen bars and rings get almost completely swallowed up.

Day 4 venom report:

- swelling down
- bruising improving
- still a little discomfort talking and eating
- still loving it

I keep looking at them whenever I go past a mirror.. I love them so much. Nobody at work has noticed my lisp yet... or if they have, they're too polite to mention it. I sound like Sylvester

wocket · Post by **wocket** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 3:42 pm

I understand it's only the initial healing period, but that's really all that I'm concerned with for the most part. If I get a piercing done, I'm leaving the piercing in, no matter what. Sure, I might change jewelry from time to time, but since that's all I'm going to do and the jewelry will not be out for an extended period of time, I'm really not concerned with the hole closing and whatnot.

Also...mom made me take the gauges out of my ears yesterday for senior portraits and put in "normal, pretty" earrings. By the time I was done with all the running around I had to do yesterday and had an opportunity to put the gauges back in...the hole had already started closing. It made me teh sad, because now I have to go through my whole cleaning regimen AGAIN and I thought I was past the point where I needed to clean twice a day.

Smaointe · Post by **Smaointe** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 12:17 am

[quote="wocket";p="508062"]I understand it's only the initial healing period, but that's really all that I'm concerned with for the most part.[/quote]
And I think this is what many people who have been forced to retire their rejecting/migrating piercings have said. Once the swelling goes down, they think the piercing has healed, and can't understand why it flares up and "still won't heal" several weeks/months down the track. What I'm trying to say is that you can't just baby it for the first few days or couple of weeks and then stop caring. The initial healing period is just the time for the swelling to go down and the wound to heal enough that you can safely change the jewellery, it has NOT finished healing, and you cannot treat it as a healed piercing. This has nothing to do with whether you can take it out for a day, we're just talking about trying to make the piercing permanent.

You might start out with a healthy piercing, but if you neglect it in the later stages, it could reject, migrate, form scar tissue....

Basically, if you want to keep your piercing, and you don't want to end up with ugly scarring, care doesn't stop after the first few weeks.

If I get a piercing done, I'm leaving the piercing in, no matter what. Sure, I might change jewelry from time to time, but since that's all I'm going to do and the jewelry will not be out for an extended period of time, I'm really not concerned with the hole closing and whatnot.

I probably wasn't very clear before, I wasn't talking about the dangers of taking the jewellery out and having it close over, I was talking about people thinking that after the initial swelling goes down, you can stop caring for it. My tongue piercing was "back to normal" after 5 days, but I was careful not to play with it for 6 weeks because I didn't want scar tissue forming.

My eyebrow was never swollen or sore, but we'll say it took 3 days to settle in. I'm still being gentle with it because I know it will take a good 6 months to toughen up. It may look healed, but I know that it isn't, even though it is past that initial healing period.

It's got nothing to do with whether I want to leave it out for the day... that's a separate issue.

Having said all that, I'm a strong proponent of the LITHA method (or "Leave it the hell alone" method). Babying for the initial period, then careful observation during the extended healing period, with as little interference as possible. That doesn't mean that I don't care for my piercings.. I just try to leave them to their own devices as much as I can (while keeping an eye out for any problems).

I'm not having a go at you, it's just my opinion/observation that a lot of people think that once the swelling has gone or they can change their jewellery, that's that, the piercing is healed and permanent... and it just isn't the case. Many people don't understand the healing times and aftercare requirements for a healthy, permanent piercing.. and there's nothing uglier than an angry, rejecting piercing.

wocket · Post by **wocket** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 1:33 am

Meh, I'm not the type to play with myself (shaddap, you, I meant in terms of piercings), so I wasn't really focusing on that aspect, which I probably should have since I was giving tips to someone else.

Basically, for me, initial healing period means cleaning at least twice a day, being very very careful, babying it as you said. Extended healing means cleaning it maybe once a week or so, if not less. After that, it's at the point where I don't pay attention to it unless it starts swelling or I want to change the jewellry.

Deacon · Post by **Deacon** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 4:17 am

When you refer to "migrating" what exactly do you mean?

Smaointe · Post by **Smaointe** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 9:31 am

http://encyc.bmezine.com/?cmd=search&query=migration

I'm a little concerned that my eyebrow piercing is starting to migrate. It's not angry... but one hole seems to be retreating very very slightly. I really hope not, since I would love to keep it. There's not much you can do though.

I should have asked for 14ga or 12ga.. it was only pierced at 16ga (I didn't think to ask for 14ga at the time). If it is migrating, there's not much I can do about it except wait and watch.

scott311 · Post by **scott311** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 8:30 pm

16g, whew that's tiny.

Smaointe · Post by **Smaointe** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 11:41 pm

Yes, and yet some people still get pierced at 18g :/

I'm just going to suck it and see, at this stage. If it migrates, it migrates. I'll take it out and do something else. I've got my venoms, I'm happy.

I can't believe how wonderful the titanium bars are. Haven't even come close to biting down on them, I can barely feel them. And they were only $9.. EVERYONE should use titanium as their healing jewellery. I'll never go back to steel.

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 1:23 am

Reading all of this makes me want to put my simple standard ear piercing back in, but my wife doesn't like the look of it so much and I'd send my in-laws into convulsions. Blah.

StruckingFuggle · Post by **StruckingFuggle** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 1:25 am

What kind of people have convlusions at guys having a pierced ear?

Well, despite the

I know there are people who're ridiculous like that (and yes I do mean that they are worthy of ridicule) ... just wondering what type of people they are.

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 1:29 am

I could make all sorts of comments regarding them and various affiliations with groups that would help clarify it, but sufficed to say that they're very traditional. If I let my hair grow out (well, if it'd do that anymore, damn baldness setting in), it'd cause similar conniption fits. I used to have three holes, and the top one has totally sealed up. The second is semi-closed, but the bottom one was in for years and has yet to close up.

Edit: It should be noted that if others have them, they don't spazz out and yell at the person, but the thought of someone in the family demonstrating such freaks them out a bit.

AzraeL · Post by **AzraeL** » Sat Jun 18, 2005 5:10 am

hmmmm. sounds narrow minded.

anyway, i was wondering, eyebrow: spike or ring?

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