VCH Piercing Jewelry Problem

Here's an email I received from a woman who was experiencing a problem because the jewelry that was placed in her VCH piercing was too short: Hi there, I've contacted my piercer too, but I'm looking for some guidance and hoping you can help.  I had my VCH pierced a week ago.  It was initially healing very nicely with no issues.  However, when I had it pierced, I was told that my hood was very long and he probably could have used a longer barbell (I have a straight barbell in now).  This morning when I was cleaning it in the shower, I noticed that it was uncomfortable and found out that the bottom ball on the barbell has retreated into the piercing hole.  I tried to manually push it back through but it is stuck and very uncomfortable. What should I do?  Will my piercer be able to remove the jewelry and hopefully put a longer barbell in? I'm worried that it's healing around the ball and will be very difficult to remove. Thank you for any help you can give, Amanda Amanda, Go see your piercer immediately! You MUST have a longer bar put in ASAP! If you allow jewelry that is too small to remain in place then it is likely to end up embedded. As the ball sinks in, your tissue grows around it, and soon you'll need the assistance of a doctor to remove the embedded jewelry by making an incision or two near it! Wearing ill-fitting jewelry is dangerous, especially when a piercing is so new. A curved bar gives you the advantage of some extra space without adding extra length--I usually start VCH piercings with them. This excerpt from The Piercing Bible explains proper VCH placement and jewelry: Read More

HCH Piercing Questions

I received this question from a piercee who hadn't been well informed by her piercer: I got the horizontal hood piercing. I have a bead ring, Brenda the lady who pierced me said she couldn't use the barbell like the one in my tongue. I love my new piercing but Brenda is on vacation and I got some questions. I work in recieving and I'm constantly moving my ring always moves to the side; is that normal?? My period is coming cuz I could feel the cramps, do I need more than sea salt water and antibacterial soap to clean it?? And how how long do you have wait to have sex. My piercer said a week but I don't think that sounds right. Well these are my questions I hope to hear from you soon.. Thanks Christina Read More

Need For Consumer Education

Filthy conditions regularly force the closure of tattoo and piercing studios in the US and Canada (and other areas, too, I'm sure). Read More

Debunking Piercing Myths

Here's another 5-star review from a professional piercer: Read More

A Reader Enthuses About The Piercing Bible

I received this wonderful email from a reader who was impressed with my book: Read More

"Very Informative"

This is another great review, but I'd like to ask the reviewer where he thought The Piercing Bible fell short, since he gave me Read More