I’ve been a follower of this blog for awhile now, and have learnt that a few of the piercings I got professionally done and then subsequently had to remove could have been avoided through simple means.
My helix is possibly the worst one I can think of, and this is why. I got it pierced at Angels and Unspeakables in Masterton, New Zealand by Steve. Before the procedure, while I was sitting on the bench asking if it was okay to wear a ring initially and then asking if it was wise to have it plastic too, he brushed the questions aside, told me he’d “had plenty of training” and proceeded to pierce me. A month into having it I woke up one night and realized my ear was throbbing. I had some panadol and just went back to sleep, thinking nothing of it. Upon waking in the morning, there was blood on my pillow and my ear was still throbbing and had started swelling badly. I went to the piercer that day and asked if that was normal, and he just suggested saline soaking it five times a day. I went away for a week, and during that time it just got worse to the point I was crying whenever the ring moved slightly. I went back to him again, and asked him to have another look, and he told me it was infected and that it would be worse to keep the jewellry in, but that he wouldn’t remove it “just in case.” I left the shop crying from him moving the ring around, went to my friend’s house, sat down and grabbed a pillow, screamed “GET THIS FUCKING THING OUT OF MY EAR” and proceeded to bite the pillow while three of my friends yanked the ball out of the ring (it had crusted blood caked all around the joint part), and then when they took the ring out I fainted from the pain.

How it could have been avoided: better initial jewellry! Not plastic jewellry at all! BETTER TRAINING