Expert: Brian Skellie - 9/27/2005

Question
I've had many a piercing and to be honest have had a little trouble with all of them except my tounge piercing (which was a surprise to me), my body tends to reject them, however after a while they settle down and do stay.
...To the point.
I had an eyebrow piercing done almost a year ago, which only lasted, sadly, a month at the most, before I got so frustrated with it growing out I just ripped it out right then and there. Theres a scar under my eyebrow now. I'd asked another piercer how it could've grown out so fast, and he told me that it was probably because they'd put in a straight bar, even though I did request a curved. Is it worth giving it another shot? Can I pierce under my scar if I want to? ...I got told that because I'm asian and I have very taught skin in my face piercings would be trouble for me. But I liked it so much....
Also, is there any way to prevent growing out? And if I put heavier jewellry into a bottom naval piercing, will it tear at my skin more?

Answer
If it is worth doing, you certainly should be able to try again with a titanium curved barbell to prevent scarring and rejection from chemical and mechanical issues. As for the bottom navel piercing, heavier jewelry should only be attempted if the thickness is 12g or larger, and even then only be worn temporarily, for a special occasion.

Thank you for your interest in our services.

Although the most common response we hear from our clients would be along the lines of,
* "That's it?" *
The results seem to be based primarily on what they bring to the table.
Our methods are designed to eliminate any trauma during the procedure, including psychological.
We can't work magic and make everyone feel entirely comfortable with changing their bodies.
Perhaps it comes down to disconnected emotional and physical states, one racing ahead of the other.
Individuals with a strong sense of self and a clear desire to wear a new piece of jewelry do it effortlessly.

Ignore everything anyone has ever told you about the process and recovery.
Most of what is done in the name of piercing is neither safe nor comfortable.

To begin fresh:
First, you want to wear a new piece of jewelry, but to keep it in place, it needs to go through your body. This means a tiny passageway of new skin needs to form in which the jewelry may reside. To prevent the ignominious scourge of infection which seems to beckon, the process must be done with new, freshly steam or radiation sterilized materials. These materials need to have been tested and certified to ensure your health and safety. In particular, the jewelry must meet implant material quality standards to prevent poisoning.

We use: a pointy thing designed to make the opening by instantly and gently enlarging a tiny incision; a small amount of gauze to clean, dry and align the tissue; gloves as barriers for our hands to prepare the area, and sterilized gloves for the application of aseptic technique; certified implant materials for jewelry; high filtration surgical masks for particulate barriers; eye protection for barriers against chance droplets.

We massage and align your skin by hand. We do not use clamps or guns because they cause trauma.
Putting in the jewelry takes only an instant.

After the jewelry is in place, let you skin grow. Healthy white blood cells will protect your growth.
Avoid chemical and biological irritants. Do not interfere with the process of tissue repair.
Anything that would burn or sting if it got in your eye would likely cause trouble for your growth.
Hydration and good diet play a crucial role in building new tissue.
More water and healthy food in your system helps your cells get what they need to seal and make room for your jewelry. Drinking purified water will also help wash away food residues so they do not break down and encourage biological problems.

A healthy person should have new normal skin within two weeks.
When it looks and feels like the surrounding tissue shortly thereafter, it should be done.

Happily ever after...

********************
As for the eyebrow:

No more immediate danger for infection is significant when you pierce through the flat area of skin on the eyebrow to wear jewelry, assuming the appropriate levels of safety precautions are taken. Full autoclave steam sterilization, proper handwashing, mask, examination and skin preparation, proper use of sterile gloves, isolation of the area with sterile drape, and atraumatic tissue handling to be specific should prevent disease and infection in any piercing procedure.

Considering options for jewelry, the most common and seemingly feasible choice would be some close fitting bar, shaped to your anatomy, perhaps even flexible. The material must critically be tested and certified for human implant applications for it to be suitable for healing and wear. Most common options and sources of body jewelry do not even come close to these specific standards (www.astm.org) for F 86, F 602, or F 136 Titanium.


The skin surrounding body jewelry heals similarly to any cut or scratch, and does so in the simplest and swiftest when left alone, without chemical or biological irritation such as soap, antiseptic or even tap water. Keeping it clean and dry like you would a scab or stitches allows it to grow faster than when any soaking or washing is done with any solution, pharmacological or natural.

Within two weeks, the first layers of skin should have sealed the wound around the jewelry. This seems to begin the circulatory problems for superficial piercings like the eyebrow or any other flat area of skin, even some flatter eyebrows and nipples. Excessively granulated scar tissue from overgrowth of capillaries tries to feed new skin at the edges while the skin on the inner edges dries and sheds as its circulation is cut off. Tissue dehesion sets in after a few more days, followed by further granulation of scar tissue along the outside of the openings trying to fill in the recently vacated spaces the jewelry once lived in. As all of this occurs, acute cellulitis sets in, causing the area to redden significantly and swell. At this point the risk for infection increases greatly as more raw tissue is exposed and shedding cells feed scavenger organisms.

Unattended cellulitis or further infection in the area may harm the eye and major blood vessels. Severe infection can mean a trip to the emergency room, and the grave risk of emergency medical treatment, which could be deadly.

Timely antibiotic treatment often will temporarily reduce or get rid of any infection, but the tissue dehesion often continues unabated. Hot compresses or soaks do not reduce the rate of tissue loss significantly, nor does any application of chemical or natural substances. Piercing underneath the scar tissue formed does not consequently make a more sturdy foundation for a second try, or third or fourth...

We have tried just about everything within our means to encourage this type of piercing to work, and even to trick the body into letting it live there. Our experience is by no means dissimilar to what other piercers with a similar level of expertise have found.
We only want the best for you, and will be happy to give you a great number of further suggestions for unusual decoration with body jewelry. Please feel free to call me at your nearest convenience if you would like to discuss this or other possibilities at 800-646-0393, or drop by the studio.

All my best,
Brian Skellie
Piercing Experience


"You already have the precious mixture that will make you well. Use it."

                               -- Rumi