AWFUL MODS

First of all, sorry for my bad english.

The thing is last week I went to a piercing/tattoo shop to have my septum done. I feel like it may be too low and now that the scab has gone the holes appear to be crooked. What do you think? What should I do? Thank you in advance.

MODERATOR COMMENT:
Well, because you included a picture, I’ll post it anyway even though you’re “anon at anon@anon.com” and usually we won’t respond to questions that don’t have an asker we can directly contact.

Anyway, I can’t tell you for sure, but it does look kind of low and a bit off center. The off center part could just be how your jewelry is sitting. However, where it should be in your nose is NOT in any cartilage. It should sit in your “sweet spot”. If you pinch your septum between your fingers you’ll feel this little area where it’s JUST skin. It’s between the outer part of your septum, and the cartilage that goes up your septum in the center. I think you’ll know what I’m talking about if  you feel your septum. If it’s not pierced in the sweet spot or where you’re happy with it, i’d take it out and get it redone somewhere better.

-Kat 

i had been wanting a conch piercing, so i went to get one at the place i get all my piercings done. it’s a very clean place, they autoclave everything, use gloves and needles, etc. i got my 2 previous helix piercings there, and they were both healing really nicely.

anyway, i got the piercing and it hurt so much less than i though it would. it hardly hurt on the way home and for the first five days, i could barely tell it was even there.

then it started to get sore and hurt. i thought it was just part of the healing process, so i just continued with the twice-daily sea salt soaks. however, it started getting worse and worse. after around 3 days, the pain was so bad that i was popping ibuprofens every couple of hours. my entire conch and anti-tragus area was swollen and red. it started oozing yellowish pus after a few days. the pain got so bad that i could’t focus on doing anything. 

i asked my mom to take me to the emergency room, and despite me trying to explain how you’re not supposed to take the earring out as that can cause an abscess, the doctor and my mom made me take it out. then the doctor made me lie down and proceeded to try and push all the pus out. it was the most excruciating pain i have ever experienced in my whole life. i knew they were going to do something painful and i was telling myself i wouldn’t cry, but i ended up screaming and crying. then they gave me antibiotics and really strong painkillers.

for the next three days, i was still in extreme pain and my ear was still very swollen and full of pus. when i went to see an ENT, she sliced the back open so the abscess could drain. i was still in constant pain for around a week before it started to feel a little better. it’s been getting better since then, but my ear still looks far from normal.

i honestly don’t know what i did wrong, and how i got that horrible infection.

MODERATOR COMMENT:
Sometimes weird unfortunate shit happens. :/ It’s okay to take out the jewelry if you’re on anti-biotics. If it were really really bad, the doctor who lanced it the first time (or even the second) would have put a tube in there anyway so it could drain. At least I hope they would… Anything could’ve happened to cause that (probably post-piercing if they’re as clean as you say). The world is gross and anything could’ve just flown into your ear and gotten all up in the piercing and then BAM you’re in lots of pain. Sorry that happened to you. :/

-Kat 

Submitter Comment: This came up on my facebook recently. 

What’s Awful: She wants to tattoo herself and has zero experience and wants to do this in her home etc. She also has the funds to go to a professional, so I have no idea why this is the first choice. 

How it can be fixed: Don’t self tattoo!

SOURCE

Submitter Comment: Tumblr ‘famous’ user Daisy Lola often preaches about “respecting tattoo culture” and will not hesitate to pass judgement on the placement and quality of other people’s tattoos, but apparently those “rules” apply to everyone except her.  Having once taken a stance against scratcher tattoos, we see the hypocrite in its natural habitat, getting a scratcher tattoo in a very unsanitary looking environment.  Admitting your shitty tattoo is shitty does not detract from the fact you don’t think there is anything “wrong” with getting tattooed by someone who etched some shaky lettering into your knees.

What’s Awful: NO GLOVES, being done at home on a chair that is likely ripe with bacteria by someone who is not a professional; in fact this was allegedly their second tattoo.  Real apprentices practice on fruit for a reason but #YOLO and all that.

safepiercing:

Titanium is a lightweight metal that is ideal for people with concerns about nickel sensitivity. This material can be anodized to create jewelry of different colors without affecting the safety. Look for implant certified titanium (6Al4V ELI) that is ASTM F-136 compliant or ISO 5832-3 compliant, or commercially pure titanium that is ASTM F-67 compliant.
http://www.safepiercing.org/piercing/jewelry-for-initial-piercings/

There are many, many different titanium alloys, but for the sake of body piercing you will primarily hear about three of them.

The two that are acceptable for initial piercings due to them having an implant grade designation are F-136, and F-67, as mentioned above.

Titanium that is 6AL 4V ELI  means it is made from 90% titanium, 6% aluminum and 4% vanadium. ELI means “extra low interstitial”.  

ASTM F-67 is commercially pure titanium, meaning it is unalloyed. 

Both of these materials have been tested and approved for medical implantation if manufactured according to the specifications set forth by the ASTM (American Society for Testing & Materials) or ISO.

The third type of titanium the piercing industry has heard about, especially in the past few years is G23 titanium.

Contrary to what some companies are leading consumers to believe, G23 is not an implant grade of titanium.

Brian Skellie wrote an article about G23 titanium and how it pertains (or rather, doesn’t) to body piercing.

“Grade 23 and the ASTM B series standards are not specific descriptions of materials for contact with the human body, rather they are wide designations for commercial, industrial and engineering purposes.”
http://brnskll.com/shares/titanium-standards-why-not-g23/

Cody Vaughn - Outreach Committee  

(SOURCE)

SUBMITTERS COMMENT: Saw this on my Facebook Newsfeed, honestly not a surprise. This is the same girl I submitted the story for a while ago, the one who kept her jewelry around her pet rats! She pierces herself a lot, so again, no surprise, but this is the first time she’s posted a photo. 

(As a quick side note, the large pinchers are her second holes, and she’s gone from a 6g to whatever size that is, in under a month, she just doesn’t have photos to really show all that much about it.)

WHAT’S AWFUL: Well, that’s an unsanitary sewing needle through her ear. It’s not a proper instrument to pierce with, and the string can’t be doing any good either. 

HOW IT CAN BE FIXED: Take that needle out of there! And stop piercing yourself, and others, with improper, unsanitary ‘tools’!

Submitter comment: When I was 14, I witnessed one girl from my school piercing another girl’s ear with a thumbtack. To make matters worse, this occurred in the restroom of a local public swimming pool. 

What’s awful: what isn’t?? Thumbtack aside, if you’re looking for a sterile environment, a damp mouldy pool restroom is not it. 

How it can be fixed: well, I’m fairly sure said girl removed the piercing and got it done by a professional. By some miracle, there was no associated infection. Just don’t do it kids!