Piercings, consent, and identification.

Getting a piercing involves a lot of red tape, form signing and reading. And all for good reason, of course! Your piercer needs to make sure they are operating within the rules set by the local government, and that they are legally allowed to pierce you. They also need to protect themselves from sue-happy individuals by using consent forms and information forms.

Identification: If you’re classified as a minor in your area, both you and your parent or guardian needs to have a valid form of government issued identification. This can be a photographic driving license, passport, birth certificate, or any other official identification. (A lot of countries run a scheme where you can pay for an ID card that will be country recognised, without it being any of the above). If you and your parent or guardian have different surnames, you may well be expected to bring in documentation showing that they are still your parent! (Divorce, adoption certificates etc) As this prevents your mates parent pretending to be yours! (It happens a lot, believe us)

The piercer or counter assistant will check your identification, and will often photocopy it. This ensures that the shop will have all records to show who has been pierced, how old they are, if parental permission was issued and if it was legal to be pierced. Council inspections need to see these sorts of things to make sure the shop’s operating legally. If you aren’t comfortable having these details photocopied (forgery worries etc), you can ask them to write down the number/code/issue number of the document on a separate piece of paper, as well as ‘photo seen’ or similar. A lot of shops will give you that option. Remember, all of these will help your piercer do their job well and avoid any issues brought up by the governing body.

Consent forms: These are hugely important to the piercing. There are a lot of stock ones floating about, some shops prefer to make their own. They should contain places for you to fill in your address, name, date of birth, phone number, what piercing is being carried out, a place for you to sign (and your parent/guardian if needed), a place for you to disclose any medical conditions. Asthmatic? Diabetic? Prone to fainting? Haemophilia? All need to be written down so the piercer can prepare for any complications post piercing.

A disclaimer should always be present. A lot read similarly, ‘I fully understand that I am to be responsible to take care of my piercing after I leave the shop as per aftercare instructions. Healing complications may occur, in which you can consult us. I understand healing can take anywhere between 2 months to 2 years to heal fully. I understand all jewellery and equipment will be fully sterile. I understand the jewellery used will be slightly longer for initial piercing to allow for swelling’ Reading this is always important, and signing it shows you fully understands the terms and conditions of the piercing. It means if someone gets a load of problems from not cleaning their piercing correctly, it’s their fault, not the establishment, meaning the piercer’s ass is covered if that person get’s ‘sue-happy’

A perfect example of BME’s stock release form can be found here.

Consent forms and identification are crucial to the piercing process, and remember, even if you’re over the age of consent, bring your ID with you!

The Great Jewelry FAQ

Not sure if we’ve already posted this. 

Jewellery materials FAQ.

We get a lot of questions about is X material okay for Y piercing, can you be allergic to X material, is X material okay for initial piercing, and so on and so forth. So, here’s an in depth run down list of the most commonly used jewellery materials and what they mean for you.

Jewellery materials can generally be split into two categories: Organic, and non-organic. That pretty much speaks for itself!

Non organic jewellery:  Steel, titanium, niobium, glass, silicone, plastics, and precious metals, such as gold and silver.

Organic jewellery: Wood, horn, bone, and stone

So, those are our two categories, let’s delve deeper into these materials.

Non organics:

Name: Surgical Steel

Extra uses (apart from jewellery): Needles and clamps, trays, bins.

Can you have an allergy to this material? Yes, surgical steel contains nickel which you can be severely allergic to! Some premium brands such as Industrial Strength and Anatometal’s Surgical Steel has a very low nickel content, which is very useful for those who want a high shine with little chance of allergic reaction. It is possible to develop an allergy to nickel, but it’s more likely to be caused by something other than your jewellery!

Vegan? Yes

Autoclavable? Yes

Extra Information: Surgical steel is used globally for jewellery, and piercing tools. It’s illegal to use surgical steel as initial jewellery in the EU due to the high nickel content, meaning titanium is used instead. In the rest of the world, however, it’s fine to use surgical steel as initial jewellery, however if you have a known nickel allergy, let your piercer know! It’s shinier than its counterpart titanium, with a more silver look, compared to the shiny gunmetal grey that titanium exhibits.  There are three kinds of SS commonly used in jewellery, 316, and 316L, with the L standing for ‘low carbon’.  Finally, 316LVM stands for low carbon vacuum melting, which reduces the contamination and generally produces pure steel, which significantly reduces the nickel content. Your premium brands, like the ones listed above, use this.

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Name: Titanium

Uses: Jewellery (initial and otherwise)

Can you be allergic to this material? It’s incredibly rare, and is generally considered the only material not to react to the body, so, whilst you can, it’s virtually unheard of.

Vegan? Yes

Autoclavable? Yes

Extra Information: Titanium’s awesome. It’s practically hypoallergenic, and it’s what’s going to hold your bones together if you ever need it! This, in many people’s opinions, makes it the optimal material for initial and post-piercing jewellery. It’s non porous, and you can easily clean it with warm water and a non-scented soap. Because it’s non porous and virtually hypoallergenic, it’s also super good for freshly stretched ears. Titanium can also be anodized, which is another positive, as you end up with really nice colours! Using an electrical current and a solution, the current causes a very thin metal coating to form on the titanium, and the colour depends on what voltage is passed through. Anodisation can sometimes rub off or fade over time, but this doesn’t affect the integrity of the material, simply the aesthetics.

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Name: Niobium

Can you be allergic to this material? Niobium and its alloys are inert and therefore hypoallergenic.

Vegan? Yes

Autoclavable? Yes

Extra Information: As niobium is a very soft metal, it can’t be lathed to be threaded, meaning it is only generally used for CBRs and other jewellery with no threading. It’s also more expensive than titanium and surgical steel, and is also the heaviest of the three, which can cause irritation to some wearers. Like titanium, it can also be anodised, just not to the wide range of colours that titanium can be.

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Name: Precious metals, Gold and silver.

Can you be allergic to this material? You can be allergic to the nickel present in some of the alloys

Vegan? Yes

Autoclavable? No, making them unusable for initial piercing.

Extra Information: Lower carats of gold are unsuitable for body jewellery as they are very soft and just wouldn’t withstand the pressure that body jewellery goes through on a daily basis. It’s also easily scratched, so low carats = no bueno. If you’re so desperate for initial gold coloured jewellery, use gold coloured titanium. Avoid gold plating because it’s often easily chipped and will expose your piercing to a maybe dangerous metal underneath. Stick to 14 and 18K! Silver: Generally marketed as sterling silver, and is safe for jewellery. Silver can, however contain nickel, and a high nickel content can cause problems. Silver is not safe for initial stretches or piercing, as it can tarnish and cause a dark mark around the piercing, sometimes called a ‘silver tattoo’. Save your silver jewellery for those special occasions, it’s definitely not for long term wear like the three main metals.

Name: Plastics (Acrylic, dental acrylic, delrin, Bioplast, Bioflex, PTFE)

Can you be allergic to this material? Not necessarily allergic, but it can be severely irritating in some aspects.

Vegan? Yes

Autoclavable? Only Bioplast, bioflex, PTFE and dental acrylic are autoclavable.

Extra information: The body jewellery industry freaking loves acrylic. It’s cheap, cheerful, comes in bright colours and is easily lathed and moulded. This doesn’t however, always make it your material BFF. It’s very porous, which can irritate your ears/nose/wherever you put it. It’s not autoclavable meaning it’s a no-no for initial piercing and stretching jewellery. Dental acrylic is slightly different, autoclavable, and good for long-term use as balls and backs in oral piercings. PTFE (Teflon), Bioplast and Bioflex (all very similar materials, same properties, different names) are also autoclavable, and suitable for long term usage, and initial piercing. Some piercers swear by it for industrials as less pressure is exerted on the holes, however some others dislike it. It’s all down to your piercer, and your personal preference. These flexible plastics are commonly used in oral piercings (less tooth and gum damage) and are used as flexible retainers, such as for pregnancy and high impact sports. You can clean non-autoclavable plastics with warm water and non fragranced soap.

___

Name: Silicone

Can you be allergic to this material? Yes

Vegan? Yes

Autoclavable? Yes, however only the higher, medical grades. If you stick a $1 silicone tunnel in the autoclave, you’d probably end up with a nasty gooey mess.

Extra information: There’s two grades of silicone you’ll find in body jewellery, industrial, and medical. Steer well clear of industrial grade silicone. It’s in the name, it’s not meant to be in the body! I’ve seen examples of cheap silicone jewellery react even badly to plain old soap. If it’s going to disintegrate when it touches water, what on earth is it going to do when it’s in your ear? Another important tip: do not, under any circumstances, use silicone as jewellery in a fresh stretch. It’s not okay, nor is it okay to fold up a ¾” tunnel into your 5/8” lobes because you’re lazy. It’s going to ruin your ears. One more thing, recently, there’s been incidents of industrial strength silicone being marketed under the name ‘Kaos’ or ‘Softwear’. Kaos Softwear is the only silicone brand that works with medical/implant grade silicone, and you should only buy if you are confident that it is that brand. Before wearing any silicone, wash them well with warm soapy water to remove any dust or lint.

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Name: Glass (pyrex, borosilicate, soft glass)

Can you be allergic to this material? Nope (although it can cause ‘wet ear’)

Vegan? Yes

Autoclavable? Yes

Extra information:  Glass is arguably the most awesome material. Ever. You can use it for initial jewellery, plugs, tunnels, everything. And there’s hundreds of different things you can do to it for it to be awesome. It’s totally safe for long term wear, too. That’s all there is to it, it’s awesome.

___

Now, we can move onto organics. There’s only four materials in this category, and they’re pretty similar care wise, so it should be easy to read through!

Name: Stone

Can you be allergic to this material? No reported cases!

Vegan? Yes

Autoclavable? No

Extra information: Stone is probably the most amazing natural material, purely for the sheer diversity of the types of stone, the polishes, and cuts available. It’s most likely to be shaped into the double flare saddle shape, as this gives the stone the most integrity. Stone’s a pretty heavy material, and not suitable for really long term wear. There are hundreds of different types, to cater for all tastes, which really does make it versatile. It cannot be autoclaved, meaning it’s not suitable for initial piercing jewellery. It can be cleaned with warm soapy water, or dusted with a microfiber cloth.

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Name: Wood

Can you be allergic to this material? People can react to certain types of wood

Vegan? Yes, however some woods are finished with beeswax

Autoclavable? No

Extra information: To quote a favourite jewellery company of mine, ‘Wood is Good’. It’s versatile, easy to wear and available in many different designs. Wood can warp if it’s left in water, so no swimming, showering or soaking with wood jewellery in! Wood needs to be oiled with an oil of your choice every 1-2 weeks (depending on wear) to prevent it from drying out, and in some cases, cracking. As it’s not autoclavable, it’s obviously not okay for initial piercing wear/initial stretching wear. It shouldn’t be exposed to extreme temperatures either.

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Name: Horn and bone

Can you be allergic to this material? they can cause irritation in rare cases

Vegan? No

Autoclavable? No

Extra information: If you’re going to buy horn or bone, always make sure that it’s been ethically sourced and gathered. They are animal products, and many people don’t agree with it. Personally, I don’t wear them because I just don’t like the materials themselves, but that’s my own prerogative. They need to be cared for much like wood (they both, as well as wood, come under the umbrella of porous organics) They should be cleaned very lightly with a damp cloth as when desired, as to prevent cracking and warping. They are both very fragile and should be treated carefully, no exposure to water, extreme temperatures. Rub a little coconut or jojoba oil onto them to help retain shine, and make sure you don’t use wood treatment oils on them. Store them away from light if possible, as they are fragile materials and do need to be treated with respect.

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Any questions about jewellery materials? Ask!

 Written by Emily Armstrong - Hayflick

Awful Mod’s New and Improved Super Huge Stretching Guide.

Awful Mod’s New and Improved Stretching Guide

Before we start off, and you ask ‘why isn’t there anything about tapers on here?’ well unless used correctly, which they usually aren’t, tapers can cause uneven stretching, tissue damage, and often encourage rushed and ill-thought out stretching, so for the purposes of this guide, we won’t be discussing stretching with tapers, a separate guide will be made for that. Stretching with tapers is also vastly more expensive than using the taping method!

Please remember that ALL times given are simply MINIMAL estimates. Waiting longer will only be better for your lobes. Stretching your ears is not a race.

Taping Method: Written by Emily.

The taping method is a gradual way of stretching a piercing using wraps of skin-safe tape over a pair of plugs, gradually increasing the amount of tape used per week, until a new mm is reached. This is far slower and causes less trauma to lobes that aren’t easily stretched. It’s also a lot cheaper! To get to where you can start taping, I’ve also provided a quick description of a dead-stretching method used to get to 8g.

What you need: Skin-safe tape. PTFE or Bondage tape is the safest. Skin-safe oil. Bio-oil, jojoba, emu, vitamin E, the list goes on! KY Jelly to use as lubrication, a lot of patience and a lot of time. For the purpose of this exercise, we’ll assume your lobes have been pierced at 1.2mm or 16g for at least 6-9 months and are fully healed with no complications.

Digital callipers will really come in handy here, as you cannot be sure how thick the layers of tape are, meaning you don’t know how thick your plugs will be, or how many layers of tape will make a whole mm. They can be picked up very cheaply from Amazon. For the purpose of this guide, we’ll assume that one wrap of tape is 0.25mm, which is way thicker than most tapes, but it’ll make it easier to understand.

Getting to a size you can tape at: Starting out: Get some 1.6mm or 14g internally threaded or non threaded jewellery. It can be a labret, barbell, septum keeper. Massage your ear whilst bathing/showering, and cover the jewellery, and the front of your lobe with the lube. Slowly, push the jewellery through. If you meet any resistance, stop, wait a week (whilst massaging daily) and try again. Congratulations, you’ve made your first foray into the world of stretching!

Now, you want to wait a month minimum, or until your lobes feel looser around the jewellery,  and get some 2mm/12g jewellery. Make sure, it has to be internally threaded/not threaded. Repeat the process again, remember. Any pain, stop, and wait a week whilst massaging your lobes daily. Continue through 2.4mm/10g to 3mm/8g, waiting at least a month and ensuring your lobes are loose enough to accept new jewellery.

Now, we’re up at 3.2mm/8g. It should have taken you at leasr three months to get here. Now we want to start taping. You want to get some surgical steel/titanium plugs (or tunnels, your choice!). Lube your ears up, and gently insert them in following the rules above.  Most people find using the tape method below 8g is hugely fiddly and very difficult.

How do I start taping?! Wait a week after the initial stretch. Make sure the stretch is happy, healthy, and not sore in anyway. Carefully cut a strip of the bondage tape, and wrap one layer around the plug. You want to make sure it doesn’t overlap, as you just want one layer on the plug to begin with. Cover the tape and plug in your chosen oil, and slowly put it back in. If you experience any discomfort, remove the tape, reinsert the plug and wait a week. Now, wait for another week, and do another tape wrap, and then repeat. Remember if there’s any pain or resistance, stop, wait. Ensure you oil your ears, plugs and tape religiously, it makes everything a lot easier and nicer on your lobes, as tape can be drying. So, you’ve done three tape wraps in three weeks. Every other day, you want to remove the plug and cover it in oil again to make sure the tape doesn’t dry your lobes out.

You repeat this method up until you reach your goal size, and you can buy cheaper economy plugs and over tape them, doing one more tape wrap than needed on the smaller size, meaning you can go straight onto another pair of plugs with one tape wrap on immediately, meaning your lobes don’t touch the economy plugs. Some people use acrylic as these plugs, as they never actually touch the skin, but I personally wouldn’t recommend it at all.

Here’s a quick run down.

  1. Insert plug safely.
  2.  Wait a week, tape wrap, oil well.
  3. Wait a week, tape wrap, oil well. Your plug will now be at X.5mm.
  4. Wait a week, tape wrap, oil well. Remember to change the tape to keep your lobes safe.
  5. Wait a week. You should be able to insert a new plug 1mm bigger than your original.

You can keep doing this as long as you want, until you reach your goal size.

Dead Stretching Method: Written by Kat.

Stretching with just plugs, otherwise known as dead stretching, is perfectly safe. Essentially it is waiting until your ears have self-stretched to the next size over time and can accept it easily, without the aid of stretching tools like tape or tapers.

Round-backed colorfront plugs are perfect for the job and also come in those awkward “in-between” sizes (like 1g, 11/16”, 13/16”, 15/16”, and such). Round-ended steel plugs are a pretty good alternative, but are more limited in sizes. Both are pretty cheap. (Note: Those particular metal plugs are low quality economy grade plugs and you should use caution if you buy them. If your ears don’t like economy steel because of a nickel allergy, you should definitely go with glass or higher grade steel or titanium. I provided them as an alternative to the glass plugs, which frankly are prettier and better for your ears anyway, but people like to have options. The polish on those plugs is also inferior and the glass will be a lot smoother.)

Metal (or even glass) eyelets/tunnels are okay to use, but can be sharp on the edges and often have o-ring grooves, which can both make stretching more difficult or uncomfortable or be the reason your ears react badly to a stretch. Use those at your own risk.

Dead stretching, like any other method, should be very very minimally uncomfortable at the most. Proper lubrication should be used - some sort of oil or lotion that you are not allergic to; this is not the time to try out something new. When I say “uncomfortable” I mean that the new plug (which should be 1mm larger than your current size at most, but glass plugs can vary slightly) might feel a bit tight in your ear or you might feel a very slight stinging sensation or your ear might turn a bit pink and warm-ish for 5-10 minutes. Anything more than that most likely means you’re doing something wrong and should go back down a size and try again in a week or two (providing there was not any blood or ripping involved in which case more time should be given). 

Also please note that some people’s ears just aren’t stretchy enough for this to work and she might have to try another method. :)

Written by Hayflick and Kitteh-Pants 2012

We get a lot of asks asking if we know any good Tattoo Studios in certain areas.

In all honesty, chances are we don’t. So here’s a handy guide which shows the easiest, fastest and best way to find a good studio in your area.

Step No.1


It sounds ridiculous, but Google is your best friend to begin with.

Hello google!

Step No.2


Again, a very easy step that can end in really good results.

Type in ‘Tattoo Studios in X’

(X Is obviously referring to the town or city. Please change it from X. Unless you live in X)

I’m just using my town for ease of making this.

Easy. And we’ve got quite a few results, and Google is even nice enough to map them out. Now you’ve got these, you obviously want to find the best, right? There’s a few options here. One, if the Studio has a site, check it! Chances are it will have a gallery of their work, and contact numbers.

Step No.3(1/2)

So, we’ve found a studio with a site. Bingo! Hopefully they’ll have examples of their work. Which luckily, this one has.

Galleries? Check. Contact? Check. Contact is great because if you still want to ask questions, you’ve got details right there. But the gallery is your essential tool at this moment. So, go on and check the work. A piece i picked out for this example is this Lemmy piece by Jason Butcher.

Done. Great work, many examples of it and contact details!

Step No.3 (2/2)

So, maybe you see a studio listed but you don’t see a website. Don’t fret! try Facebook. A lot of studios have Facebook, so it’s always worth a try. I’ll just use another local studio for the example.

Search and you will receive. 

So, you’ve got a contact number, opening times, and pictures. Jackpot, everything you could need! So, again, straight into the pictures we go!

The example I’ve got here is done by Steve Prizeman who works at Eternal Art.

And there we go, great work, and contact details.

It’s really simple, but it works! I found two great studios in my town just with a google search and some snooping. It sounds silly ‘just Google it’ But it does deliver results

-Scott.

Eternal Art Facebook Page

(Rock and roll back piece)

Immortal Ink- Website

(Lemmy tattoo)

How to: Find a Good Piercing Studio.

Awful Mods How To: Find a reputable piercing studio.

We get a lot of questions asking, ‘how do I know this piercing place is good?’ ‘how do I know I can trust them?’ and so on and so forth. The reality is that it can be a tricky process to find your soul mate studio.

There are two ways of going about this. The relatively easy one for those in the US, and the one that a lot more people have to work though.

Method number one: The APP method. The APP stands for Association of Professional Piercers, we talk about them a lot, well, because they’re gosh darn awesome! Now, not only is their website a bountiful treasure chest of interest and information, but they also have a handy shop finder. What’s so good about an APP shop, you ask? Well, all members have to go through a rigorous testing process to ensure they meet the APP’s high standards, be totally compliant with local governing laws, and practice safely. So, by using the APP’s local shop finder, you can find an excellent and well trusted modification shop.

Head to http://www.safepiercing.org/locate-a-member/ and enter your ZIP or postal code, and the local shops to you will pop up!

Now, the main issue for me is that there’s not one single APP registered studio in the UK. There’s basically very very few anywhere outside of the US. So where does this leave us? Or those who can’t travel 100~ miles to the closest APP shop?

I thought I’d come up with a checklist to help us find a good, reputable shop for all our piercing and jewellery needs.

Piercer, Pricing, Portfolio, Pressure, Shop and Sense.

These six things should hopefully cover everything you need to see, know and feel about a shop before committing yourself to get a piercing there. Let’s start off.

Piercer: Go in and meet the piercer. Do they have a friendly yet professional demeanour? Are they dressed appropriately? This means non-restrictive clothing with no silly frills and such that would get in the way. Does the piercer seem comfortable with any question you throw at him/her? Are they knowledgeable? Don’t be afraid to ask about aftercare and their preferred piercing methods. Is the piercer fully licensed to practice with the relevant certificates displayed? Do they look at home and are they respected by other staff members? Are they confident? If you can answer yes to all of these, then the piercer is probably a good person.

Pricing: Is the pricing reasonable? How do they price? A one-off all inclusive price or a price for the basic piercing and then add on for jewellery? Is the price really cheap, so cheap they probably aren’t making a profit? Are you comfortable paying what they’re asking? Pricing is important when running a shop. Too cheap, and that can set off alarm bells, and if it’s totally out of your price range, ask if they pierce with basic titanium jewellery.

Portfolio: There should be a diverse mix of piercings, from all over the body, displayed neatly in a book or on the walls. They should show a full range of healing, fresh and fully healed piercings. If they want to display 18+ piercings, are they in a separate book? If you’re unsure or worried about a portfolio piece, ask the piercer. Why did they decide to use this jewellery instead of another kind? If you see any huge red lights (like straight piercings in a surface bar), ask them about it. If they make up some form of rubbishy excuse, that’s probably the time to leave.

Pressure: Do you feel under pressure from the people in the shop to get something done then and there, did they pester you to buy something? Were they friendly? Ask yourself if you felt comfortable in the shop.

Shop: This one’s really quite important. What does the shop look like? Is it neat and tidy? Merchandise kept behind glass casing? If there’s any clothing or other merchandise, is it well organised? Is the shop floor totally clean? Fire exits marked clearly? No rubbish lying about? Hygiene and local licenses displayed? Does the shop have an autoclave? Ultra sonic cleaner? Do they use one use needles? Brand new jewellery? Autoclaveable clamps? Are the staff friendly? Once again, is everything clean, neat, tidy and well turned out? Basically, you need to ask yourself: Is this shop spotless? Spotless with everything, ethics, staff turnout, the floor, jewellery organisation and everything. Are you happy with how everything is? Make sure you are!

Sense: This is basically the most important one here. Your common sense and judgement. Even if everything ticks all the boxes and you still don’t feel right about it, then trust your instincts. If someone felt a little off, something didn’t feel great, then trust what your heart says.

Sometimes it takes a while to find a shop you’re happy with. Sometimes the right shop for you will be the wrong shop for someone else. I hope this guide will hopefully help someone else in the future!

-Emily

A list of things your ears shouldn’t do when being stretched:

hayflick:

They should not do any of the following, because if they do, you’re doing it wrong.

  • Ooze
  • Swell
  • Pus
  • Lymph
  • Bleed
  • Tear
  • Hurt in any way, shape or form
  • Go bright red
  • Or, even worse, purple.
  • But if they’re yellow, they’re far too thin and you’re probably screwed.
  • If they look like labia, you’re screwed.
  • No, seriously, vagina ears aren’t attractive.
  • Blowout
  • Get any weird skin flaps
  • Cat butt
  • Get all wrinkly
  • Look like an anus of any animal.

And now another list:

  • If it hurts, you’re an idiot
  • If you stretch too fast, you’re an idiot
  • If you think wearing tapers is ‘hip’ and ‘cool’, then you’re an hipster idiot
  • If they look like vaginas, you’re an idiot
  • If they bleed, ooze, pus or lymph, you’re an idiot
  • If they tear severely, you’re an idiot
  • If you skip sizes, you’re an idiot
  • If your ears look like anuses, you’re an idiot
  • If you have blowouts the size of Jupiter, and think it’s okay, you’re an idiot
  • If you stretched your ears moments after piercing, you’re an idiot
  • If you wear acrylic for more than 8 hours, you’re an idiot
  • If you think it’s okay to stretch a size a day. IDIOT.

Yeah.

Stretching correctly. It’s an art form.

This has been a rant.

Occasionally I need to repost this to get my angst out.

(via awfulmodifications)

The Dreaded Bump: Hypertrophic Scarring and How to Treat.

The bump. It’s a pain in the ass and virtually every pierced person will have experienced them at some point. They are often caused by a mix of placement problems, jewellery not fitting just right, knocking it, bashing it, or sometimes, just plain bad luck! However, there are some lucky-as-balls people who have never experienced it!

Certain piercings are more prone to scarring than others, often ones with low bloodflow, such as cartilage. Also, cartilage piercings are easiest to bash about and knock, as well as getting hair caught in them. Nostrils are a common place to have bumps, too! 

So, how do you identify a hypertrophic scar?

Wikipedia states thus:

A hypertrophic scar is a cutaneous condition characterized by deposits of excessive amounts of collagen which gives rise to a raised scar, but not to the degree observed with keloids.[1] Like keloids, they form most often at the sites of pimples, body piercings, cuts and burns. They often contain nerves and blood vessels. 

 

  • They are red or pink in colour, however can fade to a lighter tone.
  • Are fleshy bumps that stay within the boundary of the piercing, often forming in a ring shape, or as a dome off to one side.
  • Often very itchy
  • Dry skin can flake from them
  • No pus or draining fluids.

They are not to be confused with keloids, which are darker in colour, spread far beyond the bounds of the piercing site with no real specific form, often tender, painful and itchy, they are red or much darker than the normal skin tone, they carry a lot of collagen, and they can often develop months or years after the piercing. 

Help! I’ve got a scar!

Step one, don’t panic. They take a long time to treat, but the sooner you spot and identify them, the sooner you can begin treatment, of which there many different types. Not every treatment will work on every scar, but keep persevering. If you’re sure a certain treatment isn’t working, then move onto the next one.

These treatments are listed from the most common and safest, to the most extreme.

Treatment one: The chamomile salt soak.

Salt soaks are awesome, and everyone knows that. However, the addition of chamomile tea soothes and calms the affected area further, which can greatly reduce scar reduction

  1. Pop on the kettle
  2. Add 1/4tsp to the mug, add the boiled water (leave some room at the top)
  3. Ensure all the salt’s dissolved.
  4. Add the tea-bag, allow to brew for 5 minutes.
  5. Make sure that the water’s hot as you can stand, but not boiling as this can be very harmful. (Derp!)
  6. Using a soaked cotton pad, hold and press hard on the bump, avoiding knocking the jewellery. 
  7. Do this twice a day for 5 minutes, or more if you want.

Pointers: Make sure you use chamomile tea with no added extras! If you have a ragweed allergy, avoid this method! 

The compression and soothing nature of this method should help the bump break down and go. This is the most common and often most effective method.

Treatment two: The breathable tape compress

I’ve never tried this method, but I have heard good things about it. Elayne Angel discusses this method in ‘The Piercing Bible’. It is an example of compression therapy.

  1. Get some breathable medical tape. MicroPore is the most common and most effective.
  2. Choose the tone that is closest to your own skintone.
  3. Using clean scissors, cut into a small strip that will cover all of the bump and about 1-2mm of unaffected tissue.
  4. Apply tightly, so the bump is being actively pressed on.
  5. Wear the tape continuously, changing when you feel it’s grubby/peeling.
  6. Discontinue this method after 2-3 months if you see no improvement.

Pointers: Use this only on healed piercings, as the adhesive could irritate a healing one. 

Treatment three: Salt soaks with topical treatment.

Once again, this treatment is outlined in Elayne Angel’s Piercing Bible. I have used this method with success in the past.

  1. Perform mild salt soaks twice a day for 5 minutes.
  2. Using a q-tip, apply ONE of the following: alcohol, 3% hydrogen peroxide solution, or tea tree oil. Compressing with the q-tip will add compression.
  3. Continue this for 2-3 weeks and you would see an improvement.
  4. Try a new treatment (ie, alcohol to HP) after 3 weeks if not improvement is seen.

Pointers: PLUG YOUR EAR CANAL! Hydrogen peroxide can cause deafness/hearing damage if it enters the ear canal, so plug it before using H2O2 to keep yourself safe. Only use one of them at a time!

Treatment four: Topical application of hyrocortisone cream.

  1. Apply with concordance to the instructions on the packet.
  2. If no improvement is seen after 6 weeks, discontinue use.

Treatment five: Hydrogen Peroxide application.

This treatment is outlined in Compunction’s Healing Guide.

once you've determined WHY your piercing grew the big lump of 
tissue, you can take to removing it. i've found holding a q-tip wet with 
hydrogen peroxide directly on the bump to be very effective. re-wet the 
q-tip as necessary to keep the bump soaking for five minutes several times 
a day for a few weeks. hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) eats away at new tissue, 
which makes it completely inappropriate for the cleaning of a piercing, 
but quite suitable for destruction of scar tissue. it will fizz & burn, & 
eventually your scar tissue will probably scab over. keep up the 
treatments, & you should see results.

Remember, Hydrogen Peroxide can and will deafen you if you use it without caution. This treatment isn’t always recommended, so caution should be used at all times, and you must understand this risks of this treatment.

If none of these methods work, then you can ask to be referred to a dermatologist, who should be able to provide a more aggressive treatment.

Any bump questions, and we’re always open for business, so ask!

Awful Mod’s Ultimate Festival guide.

Summer’s here! (almost) for Europe and America (Sorry Eurasia!), which means it’s FESTIVAL SEASON! Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a festival newbie, keeping your modifications healthy and safe is always important!

There are many precautions you can take to prevent your awesome modification from morphing into an awful one, which is quite easy when you’re in an environment full of dust, mud, sweat, bashing, crowds and lack of bathrooms! 

First of all, write a damn list. It might seem stupid, but your body will thank you for it when you remembered to pack your saline wash. 


Think about it, what piercings do you have that will close up if you lose the jewellery? Do you have spare jewellery you won’t mind getting lost? Do you have a pair of plugs that are safe for long term wear that you don’t mind losing? Is there a particular piercing that is pissy all the time? What salves and lotions do you need? Are you healing a piercing? These are all questions which you’ll need to ask yourself!

Here’s what my list looks like for a five day festival (I have 18 piercings)

  • 4 1.2mm x 8mm labrets
  • 6 1.2mm x 3mm balls
  • 2x 12mm CBR’s
  • Spare pair of plugs
  • Holey Butt’r
  • Salt solution in spray bottle*
  • 2 nostril screws
  • 2 curved barbells
  • Nitrile gloves
  • Navel curve
  • Spare 4mm silicone tunnel

That’s quite a lot of jewellery to have, I know! A lot of the jewellery are pieces I purchased specifically for festivals/emergencies, or ones I bought and never wore.

In order to work out my list, I worked out how many piercings use the same jewellery. I have 5 piercings at 1.2mm that are straight! Same goes for all the other bits! The curved barbells are for my forward helices, and so on and so forth. You have a brain, you can work out what you need!

Now, for any music event, I wear tunnels. Why? I can put a CBR through them, and never have to worry about them falling out and losing it in a muddy field full of ick. It works! Make sure they’re of a large enough diameter to fit through the tunnel, otherwise you’ll waste money on something that doesn’t fit. The balls make sense of themselves, loose a ball? Stick on a new one!

Now, the gloves might have some people confused, but you DO NOT want to be messing about with your piercings (especially new ones) with grubby hands. We all know, no matter how much you wash them at a festival, you can never get them clean enough. The gloves will protect your piercings from any toilet/mud nasties lurking on your fingers. 

Holey Butt’r, well, I don’t want my lobes getting irritated or dry!

*The salt solution is optional, but I bring it just in case! It’s easy enough to make. I buy a new empty pump spray bottle from Boots (Walmart will have some if you aren’t in the UK, not sure about where else in the world!.) I then make up the salt solution in any way I normally would. 1/4 tsp salt to a mug of pre-boiled water, using a funnel, it then goes in the bottle. Carry on until it’s full! Obviously you won’t be able to use it warm so you won’t get the best effect, but it’s still a useful thing to have with you if you have any healing piercings.

Other points:

  • Sleeping with your plugs out is awesome, just, if you take them out, remember where you put them!
  • Don’t take all your spare jewellery out with you from the tent. If you lose your bag, you also lose all your jewellery (not that it’s the most important thing in a bag, but…), if you have an emergency, at least you have some knocking about back-at-base in the tent.  
  • There will always be jewellery and modification stalls at festivals*, which will always carry some jewellery. You can always buy some if you don’t have any, but it is often very expensive.
  • *DO NOT get a piercing at a festival! It might seem fun and convenient, but ask yourself this: Do you want the pain to be on your mind the rest of the festival? Fancy having to deal with the aftercare? How are you going to keep it clean? How do you know the shop/truck/caravan/TENT?! will be clean and even adequate for piercing in? (protip, it probably won’t be), how do you know the shop/tent/caravan/truck/cess-pit’s got an autoclave and haven’t just pre-prepared? You don’t. Just. Don’t do it, lest ye regret it for the rest of the festival!
  • See someone in a jewellery emergency that you can fix? Help the poor guy!

Oh, and have fun! 

Me and Scott will be at Download Festival, so if you fancy coming and meeting us for a hug, come let me know on my personal!

Septum stretching guide!

hayflick:

What will you need?

  • Oil to massage with (Emu oil, jojoba oil, Bio Oil or vitamin E oil)
  • No flared plug/tunnel (no, not acrylic or silicone)
  • KY Jelly (or any other water-based lubricant)
  • Insertion pin:

Most of you will have had your septum pierced at 1.2mm (16g) or 1.6mm (14g) so the first insertion pin you’ll need to buy will be at 2mm (12g).

  1. Make sure you wash your hands with antibacterial soap (even better if you have gloves (no, not washing up gloves)
  2. Massage your septum with the oil for a good few minutes
  3. Take the lubricant and rub it all on the insertion pin
  4. Start placing it through your septum, slowly but surely. You will feel a stinging sensation, but that’s normal because of the nerve endings. The slower you go, the nicer it should be for you
  5. Once you have the pin through, get your plug or tunnel and line it up with the bigger end of the pin. Push both the jewellery and the pin towards each other AS you push it through your septum to get the jewellery through
  6. Push the jewellery over a bit in the direction you were going, and then the other way to even it all up
  7. Ta-da
It might be very sore for a few days or a week or two. That’s normal. Just keep bathing! If it swells, a hot compress is always good; warm water from the kettle on a cotton pad and press it on and around your septum.

What sizes do you go up in?

1mm. Any more and it’s going to seriously hurt and/or you could get a blowout (yes, you can get blowouts in a piercing other than your lobes)

How long will it take to heal?

Between 1-2 months usually, but please keep in mind that just because it seems fine, doesn’t always mean it’s fully healed.

What about the taping method?

The smaller the size, the harder it is to tape. It’s the same as with lobes.
About 6mm (2g) is an ok size to start taping. It can be a little awkward with septums though. Depending on how loose it is, a layer or two every few weeks should be fine!

What about the dead stretch method?


Dead stretching involves using round ended (often) glass plugs in half sizes to stretch the fistula. It’s a debated method, however one that’s often used. It should only be attempted if you are able to find plugs that are in 0.5mm sizes up, if not, it’s generally not advised.

Source: awfulmodifications