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: 6/21/2008 Subject: downsizing
Question My daughter wants to remove a spacer but thinks she has to put a larger one in to break the skin again before it can heal back to a small regular ear piercing hole. What is the best process for downsizing. The spacer she has is not very large - she's not sure of the size - but it looks like half the diametre of a pencil (or less)
Thanks
Answer The enlarged piercing will not likely shrink back to a 1mm [18g] opening quickly, but should shrink quite a lot on its own, if given time. It seems like she is only at 5mm [4g] or less, which is not much to contract, and could just be left out for a few days or weeks.
The longer she wore thicker jewelry, the longer it will take to shrink. Breaking the skin is not a good idea, as it can cause infection and the piercing could close completely.
