Piercings

Ahhh Gina, Please share!

Well considering what you all have pierced perhaps it's not too gross at all!
Well I got me belly button pierced pre baby..back when I had those lovely abs of steel...lol. Well I bet it wasn't a year later that I got preggers with Lily. No biggy...the doc said..."once you start getting big take it out you'll be fine". So it took a good long while for me to get big that first time....probably 7 months along. So I go to unscrew the threaded ball that hold the ring on...and guess what? It just spins and spins, is there a trick to this? I saw the guy put it on...he twisted it closed!
 
I pushed up while turning and down...did the same without turning...I pulled on that sucker HARD didn't move. Well....okay. I am embarrassed so I don't sya anything to DH about it. But at the appts which become more frequent as you get close...the doc would remark on how erm...stretched the skin was getting...and it was...the skin was almost transparent where the ring when thru LOL! She tried to undo it for me...no dice. She says..."this has to come out...no jewelry in delivery...especially not where we might have to work if you end up with a section"...she says "if you go to a jeweler they might could take it off"...
 
I am SO ashamed at this point that I sure as heck ain't gonna plunk my belly down in some mall jewelry store while they attempt to remove it. I'd shower and look down at it and cry because I was so frustrated LOL!
 
Finally...one day...I was laying there cursing it...and I just kinda pulled on it....AND THE SKIN JUST SNAPPED IN TWO....and the ring was in my hand...free! Of course..now I was bleeding a bit...and I have a hideous scar there now due to the stretching...but who wants to look there anyways...now? LMAO...
 
Next to when Lily was finally yanked out...I haven't ever experienced such mixed feelings of relief and horror LOL.
 
So there's my piercing story.

[sm=eek.gif]Yikes ladies you are freaking me the hell out here with this conversation.  I think a lot of piercing look really cool.. but I wouldn#%92t ever get one. I almost got my belly button pierced in college but my roommate had so many problems with healing and reoccurring infections she eventually took it out and I didn#%92t want to go through any of that. 

  The only other one I have actually considered was the nose. I took my stepdaughter to get her nose done when she was 16 and I actually really like the way it looks. Problem is that I am 33.. not 23 and working in a hospital and having to be in a professional environment, I would have to take it out all the time.  It is kinda like tattoos for me though.. I just can#%92t imagine wanting it for very long so I don#%92t do it.

  But for me personally… nipples.. no freaking way… WAY TOO sensitive of an area…  
    I am impressed with all of you.. you ladies have some serious cojones![8D]

  Amanda, I think if you are interested and especially since you have had several different piercing before, you should go for it. Do it as a “post race” celebration!  [sm=dance.gif] 

I have had my ears peirced 4 different times. (not 4 different holes...same hole) But I have had to let them close up each time. After 2-3 weeks, the backs of me ears turn to blisters. I have a high pain tolerance....but it hurts like CRUD. Each time we try something different. Alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, the solution they give you...nothing works. And we just moved from FL, So I have actually swam in the ocean with them...so ocean water as well. I let them go as long as I can...but eventually the pain is too much. My body seems to be allergic to the medal. We've tried most costly (better medal) earrings..to cheaper ones. Nothing. Any suggestions anyone?

I must be one of the only guys I know who HATES body piereings.I don't even like ear rings..
I have a friend who goes nuts for piercings all over,and including down under..
i like to look at tatoos,and have been told I ought to get into doing them,and would consider it if it was one of my own designs..

 
Since we are on this subject Mark I have one thing to say to you...
 
"BAD HUSBAND"... not nice!  However does your scorching hot wife ut up with you?[8|]

ORIGINAL: lorib

Gee, I am boring.  I just have two holes in each ear and NO tats.  

 
I guess I'm even more boring.  No tats here either, and I just have one hole in each ear.
 
Joyce

I have 2 holes in my left ear, 6 holes in my right (1 cartiledge), 1 in my belly button and 3 tattoos (one on each shoulder and one on my inside left ankle).  Out of all of them currently, I think the one in my cartiledge hurts the most.  This is the 2nd time I've tried piercing it.  The first one I think was too high and I ended up taking it out on my wedding night (I had to have it for the wedding pictures).  I let it heal and then 3 years later I tried again.  This time I went to a piercer and placed it in a lower spot.  It doesn't hurt as much, but since I like to lay on my side when I sleep it gets irritated if I lay on it too long (or I don't use a soft enuf pillow). 

You're discussing bad piercing stories.  I have one.

When I was 18 I decided to get my belly button done.  Unbeknownest to me, you aren't supposed to use an ear piercing gun.  Man, what little I knew.  The lady pierced my belly button with a stud (that you use for ears).  She then took it out!!  THEN she tried to put a wire thin loop in.  At this point in time you would think I would quit, but nooooo.  So she finally gets it in (after about 30 minutes of trying).  I kept cleaning it and cleaning it for weeks, but it hurt soooo bad and wouldn't heal.  I ended up talking to a guy at Hot Topic and the best way he described it was my stomach was pushing it out (kinda like a wire cheese slicer).  I got home and immediately took it out.  I let it heal and then went to a REAL piercer (that time it didn't even hurt a bit).

Whenever I would get in a crappy mood I would pierce my ears.  I haven't had any desire to pierce anything else besides my belly button.  I like the way some of them look on people, but I don't think I would (or be able to handle the pain).  So now I just get tattoos.  [8D]

ORIGINAL: iluvbo

I After 2-3 weeks, the backs of me ears turn to blisters.

this is known as keloid scarring, and some people are just more prone to it than others, particularly people of african american descent. (who knows why...) it is also more common in cartilidge piercings, such as the upper ear.  i'm not sure about the best way to prevent it, except that if you are having your ears pierced with a "piercing gun" that might be part of the problem...  the gun just pushes the flesh aside; it doens't create an actual "hole".  if you go to a professional piercing shop, the piercer will use a hollow needle that will actually remove some of the flesh. edit to add  i have known people who have had keloids "pierced out" of their ears successfully.

I have a high pain tolerance....but it hurts like CRUD. Each time we try something different. Alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, the solution they give you...nothing works.

alcohol and hydrogen peroxide are NOT the best healing remedies.  they dry out the skin and can cause a lot of scarring.  i would recommed soaking in warm salt water and you can try a cleaning product called "h2ocean" followed by some kind of triple antibiotic.  also, listen to your body- severe pain is not normal and is telling you something is wrong- don't ignore it.

My body seems to be allergic to the medal. We've tried most costly (better medal) earrings..to cheaper ones. Nothing. Any suggestions anyone?

your piercer should be using sterilized surgical stainless steel for your piercings.  a good piercer will show you the autoclave machine and all jewelry will be in plasic bags, unless it's on display.  never allow someone to pierce you with display jewelry that hasn't been sterilized- who knows what you could pick up??  you shouldn't have a reaction to surgical stainless steel.  if you do, chances are it's not the real deal, and might have some nickel in it.  i am very allergic to nickel- i break out right away.  your other options are glass and niobium.  i have used niobium; it's supposed to be highly hypoallergenic, and i don't love it.  stay away from jewelry at mall stores like "hot topic" and similar things like that.  buy only from a real piercing shop, and preferrably someone who has certifications on the walls.

of course, this is only if you're having a problem[]  if you're not, go anywhere you like[] 

Since I have absolutely no self control, I had them pierced last night! 
 
A friend of mine was getting married today & I was a bridesmaid, so last night after the rehersal dinner, I decided to go hang out with the groomsmen instead of staying with the bride & other bridesmaids.  (They were drinking & I wasn't.  This tends to get me in trouble, because I intentionally try to get someone hauled to jail.) 
 
Anyway, I had my current BF & the ex-bf both at the same party, so I decided that BF & I were going to leave for a bit.  We drove down to the tattoo/piercing parlor & I had them done!  I was shocked that it didn't hurt at all!  It was actually a really cool feeling.  Had I not been wearing a strapless dress today, I would have left with a tattoo as well! 
 
My new jewelry garnered lots of attention today at the wedding reception.  It was a church wedding with a beach reception.  The bride decided that all of the bridesmaids should wear sarongs, with a bikini top of her chosing to the reception.  (Bad call!)  She picked out all of our tops for us & we didn't see them until last night.  I got stuck with orange.[:'(]  I don't wear orange, I look terrible in orange!  So, I traded with the girl who got the red top.  Unfortunately, she wears a smaller size than me so, my top was quiet tight & my new rings were very noticable to everyone!
 
I am loving these things so far!  I just can't stop looking at them![]

now remember, amanda, NO TOUCHING![][]

Wow! Thanks for the advice!

particularly people of african american descent. (who knows why...) it is also more common in cartilidge piercings, such as the upper ear.

 
Not african-american in me at all...and it was in my ear-lobes.
 
Yea, I had them done at the mall. And yes, it was a gun every time.
 

your piercer should be using sterilized surgical stainless steel for your piercings.  a good piercer will show you the autoclave machine and all jewelry will be in plasic bags,

 
What's an autoclave machine? Yea...the jewerly was in bags, though.
What are "real" piercers? We have always had them done at the mall.[8D] haha

ORIGINAL: badrap

now remember, amanda, NO TOUCHING![][]

 
TOO LATE!!!!![] 
 
These things are great fun!  I am not the only one who is in love with them.  BF just keeps admiring them too.  The bride nearly had a breakdown this morning when she saw them.  (She's been a PITA so I found it really funny.[])

I have double piercings in my ears and also at one point had double piercings in the cartilage at the top of one of my ears. They always hurt to sleep on though and when I talked on the phone, so I let those close up. I only wear one pair of earrings now (because I get ear infections easily)- diamond studs in the bottom hole.

I also had my belly button pierced, but of course it never totally healed, was always getting infected and my body rejected it. It traveled up and almost OUT of my skin (like what you're describing rwbeagles) except I was lucky to be able to take it out before that point. I was SHOCKED though to discover a few years ago that even though it had been years since having a belly button ring in, the hole is still open! [] So every once in awhile I clean it with alcohol, put on of my earrings in there, twist it around to keep the hole open. So I can actually wear a ring in it if I ever want to...

And, I have one tattoo- a sea star on my right hip that I got about 5 years ago. I don't like it though and wish I'd never gotten it done. [] Now I think it looks kind of tacky... to be honest I think very few tattoos actually look tasteful.

I have no piercings. []

I've always wanted my navel done, but once I quit doing gymnastics everyday I kinda lost my flat stomach and nice six pack and now I definitely don't need anything drawing more attention to my middle!!

I had my earlobes done for the first time six months before my wedding b/c I wanted to wear dangly earrings.  I had small 14K gold piercing studs put in and they were fine for almost two months.  Then in just two days, they started oozing greenish puss and started to swell.  I didn't want to take them out so I kept turning them and cleaning them but it got worse and my lobes got really hard and then the holes started bleeding.  I thought the big backs were the problem, so I took the studs out and had my friend put tiny rings in instead.  I just never healed though and was turning into a nasty mess, so I took them out and within minutes the holes had swollen shut in the back.  I couldn't get a needle back through so I gave up.  They closed up within a day, but I had this hard scar tissue in my ear lobes for several months.

ORIGINAL: iluvbo

What's an autoclave machine? Yea...the jewerly was in bags, though.
What are "real" piercers? We have always had them done at the mall.[8D] haha

an autoclave machine is a sterilizer.  they are used in piercing and tattoo shops to properly sterilize equipment after use in order to prevent the transmission of disease....  think about this:  1 in 4 people who are infected with HIV don't know it.  hepatitis is also highly contagious.  do you really want someone poking holes in you if the person before you might have some contagious (and potentially  life threatening) disease??

look in the yellow pages for "piercers"  and/or "piercing".  often, certified piercers will work out of tattoo shops, but sometimes tattoo shops don't want piercers and vice versa.  since you live in FL, you should have no trouble finding one.  certified piercers normally complete an apprenticeship (spelling?) under another piercer.  they should also have completed a course in bloodborne pathogens.

i'm not going to knock "the gun"- a lot of people have plenty of success with it- but in your case, i would steer clear of it.  it can be a great shock to the flesh, and most times the jewelry used is not good for people with allergies to metal, as you seem to have.  ETA  i won't knock "the gun" for EARS.  it should NEVER be used to pierce anything else.  NEVER.  very, very irresponsible- akin to BYB...