A chat about piercings

​By En

So, you want to get a piercing?

Piercings can be tricky to navigate. Whether you want to figure out if it would suit you, how easy it is to keep or even where to get it done - it can be easy to be overwhelmed by all the factors that may pop up.

I’ve had five piercings done. I’ve had my ears done three times, my nose done and my septum done. Out of the five, I’ve only managed to keep three, and that was out of pure desperation because I didn’t want to take them out.

Out of those five piercings, four were done with piercing guns. If you’ve been pierced with a piercing gun and it’s healed properly with little to no hiccups, that’s brilliant, but it’s still very dangerous. Some reasons to avoid piercing guns are-

• Piercing guns can’t be cleaned properly, which increases the risk of infection
• Piercing guns rely on blunt force, so instead of being pierced with a sharp needle, you’re essentially having something that’s too blunt to pierce properly pushed in using force to get the jewellery through
• Quite often, people using piercing guns aren’t trained to do piercings, they only receive training on how to use a piercing gun

Out of the four piercings I’ve had with a piercing gun, I’ve only been able to keep two. The first time I had my ears pierced, they got so badly infected and I ended up on antibiotics and had to take them out. A few years later I got them done again, and it started to get infected but luckily with a lot of aftercare,they stuck around. I had the same issue when I got my ears pierced again, but they’re both thriving now.

The last piercing I had that used a piercing gun was my nose. It got infected, and I had it for about a month before I had to take it out. For me, the infection looked like a raised bump and depending on the severity, would be painful and would leak pus. It isn’t pretty and absolutely isn’t ideal. Please see a doctor if you think your piercing is infected, don’t just take it out because it could trap the infection.

The most notable shops I’ve seen use piercing guns are Claire’s, Blue Banana and even Superdrug. These aren’t the places to get pierced. Sure, they’re cheap,and quite often you don’t need an appointment, but it’s not worth the risk.

The last piercing I got was my septum. I got it done with a professional piercer at a reputable studio, and the difference was as clear as day. Just from the appointment alone - I had to wait about two months to be seen, and then when I went to it, the room was completely wiped down, and every bit of equipment she used was sterile and she binned it all after using it so it wouldn’t be reused.

One of the most telling bits about that was the fact she asked for ID because she wouldn’t pierce anyone under the age of eighteen, both because it’s a body modification and because of the commitment to aftercare can be a lot for a minor, and the fact she made me wait for five minutes after getting the piercing to make sure I didn’t have an immediate reaction like passing out. In any other appointment they just couldn’t wait to get rid of me to get onto the next customer. 

That’s not to say that this piercing didn’t have its hiccups. I went so overboard with aftercare that it got very irritated. It took me a while to realise why it was so irritated, maybe about four months, so I definitely made it worse while I was trying to treat it. It’s been five months now and it’s been the smoothest healing period I’ve ever had.

Some of the pros I found to going to a professional and getting a needle rather than a piercing gun were-

• The healing was and still is so much easier. I’ve left it alone for a month and it’s still fine, but if I did that with my other piercings then that would have ended badly
• Everything was cleaner. Really stupid thing to say, but everything was sparkling in there and it did smell of cleaning products. It felt a lot safer in that way
• The needle was sharp enough to pierce the skin properly
• I had an issue and I emailed her and she answered all my questions
• It’s even and in the right place - my ear piercings are very wonky which means I can’t get a third on my lobe

Even though a professional piercer is more expensive and you’re going to have to wait a little longer, there are so many more benefits to going to a professional rather than going to a retail shop to get it done.

Every piercing is going to hurt. Cartilage piercings are going to hurt more. Out of all of mine, my septum hurt the most. It felt like I had been punched in the face. It didn’t last for much longer than a few seconds, though. I remember it hurting and what kind of pain I thought it was like at the time, but now I can’t remember how it felt, only what I thought about it.

Where you get your piercing is also important. Surface piercings are much more likely to reject. A surface piercing is a piercing on a flat area, like an eyebrow piercing. It’s important to research what piercing you want before getting it done, and it’s important to know the risks.

Aftercare is important. Personally, for the first few weeks I washed my piercing with salt water about three to four times a day. After the first two to three weeks, I toned it down to just doing it in the morning and night. I stopped at about four months, but I’m checking it almost every day to ensure it’s healing. It’s important to move your piercings, but only do this when they’re either wet or are moving on their own. Don’t force them to move.

Personally, I leave the original jewellery in for anywhere between six months and a year. I’m going to leave my septum in for nine months, just because of the hiccups I’ve had with irritating it, but that could change if something goes wrong again. It’s important you don’t change it before it’s healed, which means when it’s not tender and when it isn’t crusty.

I’m not a piercer. I’m just a nineteen-year-old who loves piercings and has no self-control. I’m already looking at getting my nose re-pierced. Because I can be impulsive, as soon as an idea pops into my head, I do the research because I know it’ll only take one drunk night for me to book an appointment for a piercing. I want to be prepared for that.

It’s important that you do what feels best for you, and what’s safe. If you want a piercing, research the piercing and the place you want to go to to get it done. It’s so important to know what these piercings need and what to do if something goes wrong. 

Useful links - 
What to know before getting a piercing - https://www.insider.com/what-to-know-before-getting-a-piercing-2018-8#you-can-usually-still-breastfeed-after-a-nipple-piercing-11
Aftercare - 
https://www.astridandmiyu.com/pages/piercing-aftercare