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Why Go To A Piercer?

As a jewelry company that cares a lot about the product we are creating everyday, we are often posed the question: Why go to a piercer?

     There a host of reasons. The best thing you can do for yourself if you are considering getting a piercing is to visit a professional studio. Your decision on where to go and who to have perform your piercing ultimately rests in your hands; do your homework! When you visit a professional, you not only are getting the knowledge and experience they carry with them, but you get a place to ask questions, and a person to help you solve problems that range from what stone looks best in my navel, to does my navel look infected?

     From a health standpoint, visiting a local studio is a no brainer. A piercer using proper aseptic technique and freshly sterilized tools and jewelry offers an infinitely greater sense of comfort than a friend or home piercer who may be using inferior and ineffective methods of disease control and transmission.

     Allowing a professional to handle your piercing ensures that it will be placed in an anatomically correct and aesthetically pleasing spot. Trying to pierce yourself can often yield piercings done at awkward angles, done too deep or extremely shallow which can all lead to complications with the healing and long term comfort, if the piercing even makes it that long.

     Something else to consider is that one size does not fit all. A lot of people need custom sizes for their jewelry, it’s not unusual! A nostril screw for instance, needs to be bent to fit the anatomy of the individual who will be wearing the piece. If not bent to fit, these can easily cause irritation to the piercing.

     Maybe you have a healed piercing and are looking to downsize your starter jewelry. Maybe you have a healed piercing and are looking to stretch. Both are great opportunities to allow a second set of eyes to look at places you can’t see (back/inside of your ear, nostrils, nape of the neck). Body jewelry is a onetime purchase. Plenty of people see a piece of jewelry online for a good price and purchase it based on “it probably being close enough”. Improperly sized jewelry can cause irritation and aggravation, even in well healed piercings.

    Stretching is easy, right? You just shove the next size in, right? Do you know how long you should be waiting in between stretches? Do you know the tell-tale signs that your piercing is ready to stretch, or that you haven’t waited long enough? These are just some of the great reasons, but by no means all, that you should have a professional opinion weigh in on when you should go up a size.

      Encountering a problem with a piercing? Trouble shooting from an experienced piercer is a lot more likely to be effective than with advice found in a forum on the internet or “doing what my friend said worked for them”. A piercer can assess your particular issue and give advice based on first hand observation of the affected area.

     Why should you buy your jewelry through a local piercer? There are plenty of places you can purchase jewelry online and generally at a slightly reduced rate than you could if you bought it in person. Here are a few things to consider: When you buy through a shop, you get the expertise of the piercer to help you with your decision. You can have your piercing measured for accuracy against the part you intend to order. Often, you can have most questions answered on the spot. You’ll be able to look at pieces that you will be able to buy in person and if you’re planning on making a custom order, you’ll be able to see comparable material colors (titanium, gold, and niobium) as well as stone colors and how they may work together. Computer screens don’t always do the true color justice.

     The money you may save on jewelry you are buying based on a couple of photos online will probably be made up for by shipping, or possibly shipping the piece back if you are even able to make an exchange. Beyond that, buying jewelry from your local shop keeps your money *local*. Piercing and tattoo shops are local, small businesses staffed by folks in your local community, and deserve to be supported.