“Dermal” Self-Piercing

SUBMITTER’S COMMENT: I was searching the ‘dermal’ tag on tumblr when I found this text post:

Piercings, you shall be mine soon.

So I found a site where I can buy dermal anchors and the kit to pierce myself. Hoping to get it after I get my Christmas money. Then hip dermals here I come! Fuck going to have other people do it for me. I like doing it myself.

Eventually I’ll have:

  • 2 matching sets of hip dermals
  • Dermals in my tattoos (preferably the keyhole one that’s going on the back of my neck)
  • Bellybutton! (I’m sooo re-doing that sometime soon)
  • Most likely tongue (again)
  • Industrials
  • Tragus
  • Maybe septum? (not sure about that one, it hurts like a bitch)

I’m so excited. :3’

WHAT’S AWFUL: self piercing, self piercing a DERMAL!

HOW IT CAN BE FIXED: Just don’t self pierce! You can’t be stingy with your safety

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MODERATOR’S COMMENT:

Self-piercing horror aside, I’m gonna use this as an opportunity to throw down some more terminology info for y’all.

Please, please, please. Stop calling them “dermals.” And before you say, “PAH THIS IS JUST LIKE THE GAUGES THING WHATEVAR”, hear me out:

The term “dermal” gives the implication that surface anchors are something other than just single-point piercings. It’s actually super abbreviated from “micro-transdermal” (like “transdermal implant”), which classifies them as implants. They are not implants. They are merely single-point piercings, which can be done with a needle just like any other piercing, and do not need to be surgically removed (like implants do). When you call them “dermals”, the legislative types freak out and want to group them in with implants, and they make them illegal. Obviously that’s bad for both piercers and piercees.

Just call ‘em “surface anchors” or “single-point piercings”, mkay?

Hopefully this clears up some other misinformation floating around out there about surface anchors. They are single-point piercings. They are NOT implants. They do NOT need to be performed with a biopsy punch, and they do NOT need to be removed via scalpel or other surgical procedure. I remove surface anchors all the time using nothing more than a tool to hold the top, and tissue massage.

- Hayley

EDIT: Wow, I’ve already gotten one response from another piercer saying you definitely CAN NOT remove surface anchors without cutting them out, and one person implying you can’t do surface anchors with a needle. The entire reason they were invented was to provide a piercing-friendly alternative to heavier modifications like transdermal implants, so that piercers can do them without the use of medical devices like biopsy punches! Punches are illegal on a federal level in the US, so I’m not sure why people think we’re all lawbreakers?

I’m going to try to put together a FAQ about surface anchors, until then here is a picture of some long-healed surface anchors from my shop done with the needle method:

image

I’ve personally removed tons of surface anchors without cutting tissue, including three from my own body. And I’ll point out that they were Industrial Strength surface anchors, since the piercer who messaged me said if I can remove them without cutting them, I’m using shit jewelry.

The official response to iDermal.

The APP response:
It has come to the attention of the Association of Professional Piercers (APP) that a video has been widely circulated that depicts the installation of four surface anchors and immediate magnetic attachment of an electronic device to those fresh piercings.

The members of the organization have several concerns about this:
While the APP recognizes surface anchors (the preferred terminology for this form of body art) as a “regular piercing,” the procedures in the video were performed with an instrument called a “dermal punch” or “biopsy punch.” This is a medical tool that is expressly forbidden to be used by body artists in the state where the piercer was located (New Jersey).
Surface anchor procedures should be performed with the standard tool that piercers use for all piercings (an ordinary piercing needle). The video sets a bad example for others, and potentially opens the piercer to legal problems.

Though the procedures were self-done by the piercer on his own body, it is rumored that he is also offering the same service to the paying public. The Association would like to make it clear that attaching any object or device to fresh piercings is not an appropriate or acceptable procedure. There are added risks of complications from attaching anything to a fresh piercing including irritation, trauma, infection, migration, and rejection.

This is in response to this video, which has been making the rounds recently.

We must say, just because it looks cool, doesn’t make it safe or sanitary.