AboutBrian Skellie Expertise I can answer questions in regards to and not limited to: jewelry safety, specifically material, shape, proportion, and related issues; aseptic technique and sterilization as it applies to piercing safety; ethical issues of technique and bedside manner; the aftercare and recovery process for piercings.
Experience
Past/Present clients
Tens of thousands of one on one client experiences. http://www.piercing.org/ Body jewelry design and safety expert: Member ASTM committee F04(www.astm.org)
Member AAMI (www.aami.org)
Research advisor and educator for the APP for over a decade(www.safepiercing.org) teaching advanced studio setup, sterilization and equipment management, freehand piercing, aseptic/sterile technique and much more.
Distributor for SciCan StatIM sterilization and cleaning products. http://www.piercing.org/statim/
Expert: Brian Skellie Date: 6/15/2008 Subject: Industrial Piercing
Question In July 2007 I had a scaffold piercing done and the piercer put a long PTFE bar
through both piercings straight away. He told me it would take up to a year to
heal but the long bar would keep the holes aligned.
In April 2008, it felt like it had not healed at all and i was getting sore crusty
lumps around the piercing. I went to a different piercer and asked what was
wrong, he said that it was because of the long bar and he changed it to two
short barbells.
Since he changed the jewelry, the back piercing has healed really well but i'm
worried the front one may be infected. It bled a lot after he changed it and
now is very sore to touch and oozing sticky greenish fluid. How can i help it
heal if it is infected?
thankyou
Answer Pain, swelling, redness and discharge, especially discolored are all signs of infection and could also be that your jewelry does not fit.
Consider that the new jewelry may be better, but still not good enough. You might need to change the jewelry to an autoclave sterilized titanium barbell that is loose enough to have 1/16 inch [2mm] free space for cleaning. http://piercing.org/shop has examples of these safe pieces.
http://piercing.org/care.pdf describes gentle care that can help you heal. Assuming that the piercing is contaminated, you'll want to use the care appropriate for a piercing that you got dirty: basic soap and water cleaning and hot compresses.
See a doctor if this continues and the jewelry fits correctly.
