Piercing

Swelling is a normal part of the healing process for every piercing. If the jewelry is too short and the ends of the jewelry are pushing into your skin, the jewelry will trap drainage inside the tissue around the piercing, and the wound will not be able to drain effectively. This will lead to more swelling in the area around the piercing. If the swelling becomes too great, it can sometimes cause the beads on the jewelry to loosen or even fall off, and with nothing holding that jewelry in place, you run the risk of the bar or hoop falling out. If the bead sinks deep into your skin there is a chance your body will heal around the jewelry, trapping it beneath a layer of skin and tissue. This is especially common with oral piercings that are allowed to swell too much. No one can tell for certain how much you will swell after receiving a piercing. Some people swell very little, while others need to get even longer jewelry than they were pierced with to allow for excessive swelling of the pierced area. If your jewelry looks or feels uncomfortably tight, come back and talk to a piercer. We will help you find an appropriate piece of sterile jewelry to purchase that will allow more room for swelling, and help you change out to your new jewelry so you are sure it’s comfortable before you leave the store. It is important to have help with your jewelry change out this early in the healing process, because sterile jewelry can help prevent introducing bacteria to the wound. Swelling can affect the way the jewelry sits in the piercing wound. We will have you check our markings before each piercing, and have you check the piercing after the jewelry is placed in the piercing to get your approval. There is minimal swelling immediately after the piercing, so if you were pleased with the placement, but your piercing looks crooked a few days after the piercing when swelling is at it’s worst, give the piercing several more days to heal before making a final determination on straightness.
It’s important to keep in mind that every person’s body is different, with a different layout of capillaries (very small blood veins) in their body tissue. One person may have very few or very small capillaries in the area they wish to be pierced, while another may have slightly larger or a greater number of capillaries in the same area of the body. If you are adding a piercing in the same general spot where you have other piercings (for example, you have more than one piercing in your ear), there is a higher chance you will bleed because the body needs to increase blood flow to any area of the body that has been injured. It can take your body several months to two or more years for a wound to completely heal and the body to break down and dispose of the additional capillaries it produced to increase blood flow to the injured area. Getting pierced again in the same general spot as a previous piercing will increase your chances of bleeding during (and after) a piercing service. These very small blood vessels are unable to be seen with the naked eye. Because a hollow needle is used to puncture the skin and remove a small amount of body tissue from the piercing site, some of these vessels will be damaged during the piercing which can cause the new piercing to bleed. The second factor that can affect the amount of blood produced during the piercing process is the location of the piercing in relation to the heart. If you are lying down during the piercing, the piercing tends to bleed a bit more as it is on the same plane as the heart. As you elevate the piercing above the heart, the bleeding will begin to slow and come to a stop. The third factor that can lead to bleeding during a piercing is the presence of blood thinners in the body, primarily that of either medication or alcohol. Any alcohol in your system can cause the piercing to bleed more than usual as well as increase swelling. While we will not pierce you if we suspect you are under the influence, it is best to avoid alcohol consumption within 24 hours of being pierced. We also recommend keeping the use of any blood thinning pain relievers (such as ibuprofen or aspirin) to a minimum both before and after the piercing as it lowers the body’s ability to clot the piercing wound. The type of tissue being pierced also plays a factor in the amount of blood flow from a fresh piercing. Typically, piercings located in cartilage will bleed more than piercings in soft tissue, like eyebrows. Cartilage does not have its own blood supply, so the tissue surrounding the cartilage helps the initial healing process by providing blood flow to the area. The same principle applies to areas that contain scar tissue. While there are factors that can increase the risk of bleeding during a piercing, the reality of the matter is, even if you do everything you can to prevent bleeding, there is no way to know for certain whether or not you will bleed during the piercing, or for a few days afterward.
Everyone’s pain tolerance is different, even on different parts of the same body. What one person thinks is their most painful piercing might be another person’s least painful piercing. Part of a piercer’s job is to make this potentially uncomfortable experience as comfortable as possible. The actual piercing (pushing the needle through the body part to remove a small piece of body tissue) happens quickly, and by the time you feel the pain, the piercing is usually over. There can also be some pain as the piercing heals. The area around the piercing wound can be swollen, red, and sore for the first few days, weeks, or even longer, depending on the location of the piercing wound. Jewelry insertion, which is the second part of the piercing process, is usually more a feeling of pressure rather than pain. The anticipation or general uneasiness you might feel while waiting to get pierced is usually the worst part of the whole process for most people. It is important to remain relaxed and still for the duration of marking the area to be pierced, and the piercing itself. Take long, deep breaths, and do your best to relax your entire body. Your piercer will coach you through the process.
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