The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

I wrote this in a form post, but I thought I'd stick in here to be referenced later.



First rule.... Find a good piercer. Preferably APP (Association of Professional Piercers) certified. Practically nowhere actually requires any type of certification beyond a buisiness license and Red Cross blood-bourne pathogen and basic first aid certifications.

One good way to check up on the piercer, ask to see spore samples from their autoclave. If they don't have them, don't have an autoclave, are reluctant to show them to you, or they're more then a month old, go somewhere else. Make sure all needles go into a medical sharps waste bin.



As for the piercing itself.... things like half your face becoming paralyzed from a botched eyebrow piercing.... All those silly little rumors are COMPLETE AND TOTAL BULLSHIT. Is there a chance of a piercing hitting a nerve? Of course. You've got thousands of nerves spread throught your body. If you shove a needle through it, chances are you WILL hit a nerve. There's a reason this stuff hurts, and it doesn't take a degree in anatomy to figure out why.



Now, you've got your nice new shiny piece of metal through your skin. And I hope it's at least 316LVM stainless steel. Preferably titanium.

Is it going to get infected? Not if you take care of it properly. 1/8th of a teaspoon NON-IODIZED SEA SALT to a cup of very warm water. Soak the piercing for about 15 minutes once a day. If you have trouble finding a way to soak it, try cotton balls soaked in the saline solution. Right after soaking, take a shower. Was the piercing gently using an anti-microbial soap. Satin is ideal. It's designed for healing piercings. Rinse extremely well.



Other then cleaning, DON'T play with it, DON'T let other people touch it, DON'T pick at the little crusties that form. Avoid clothes that rub against it, avoid sleeping on it, and so on. Avoid swimming.



95% of the time someone starts screaming "My piercing got infected!" It's not really an infection. The most common cause of what people think is an infection: Cheap Jewelery. Any steel other then 316LVM, and in extremely sensitive individuals, not even that, are likely to cause a reaction. You know what happens when you wear cheap rings, cheap earrings? Ears get tender, fingers turn green, etc? That's generally a nickel allergy. Cheap body jewelery will cause the same problems, and it's much more unpleasant in a fresh piercing. Titanium is your best bet. I've known heard of less then a half a dozen cases of someone having a reaction to implant grade titanium in the piercing community.



Second common incident mistaken for infection: Rejection. Reasonably common with eyebrows, navels, and other surface piercings. If it is easier for your body to force the jewelery to grow out then it is to heal around it, it will do so. Proper jewelery style, size, and good placement minimizes this for most piercings. Except for nose studs, never have anything pierced at anything smaller then 14 gauge. Preferably 12 or lower. Picture a cheese slicer. What cuts easier, a cheese slicer with a thin wire, or a thick one? Think of your skin as the cheese, and the jewelery as the wire.



Third common incident mistaken for infection: Natural Healing Process. Your piercing quite possibly will bleed. It will ooze strange liquids you're not used to seeing from a wound. Ranging from clear, and runny, to yellow, to white and thick. All of this is normal. Don't screw with it. Your grubby fingers prodding around with it very well may cause an infection.



Now, how do you tell if your piercing really is infected? EXTREME soreness, far worse then right after the piercing was done. Same with swelling and redness. IE... if it's a typical earlobe piercing.... you're entire ear is going to be red, swollen, and very sore to the touch.

The other sign of infection, if anything starts oozing out of the piercing that is not yellow, clear, red, or white, but GREEN. Out of the colors mentioned in this post, the only one that is not the color of some type of fluid in your body that I can think of, is GREEN. Green stuff coming out of your body is bad. Unless you've eaten green Play-Doh.



What do you do if a piercing gets infected?

Do NOT take out the jewelery. This can cause the surface of the piercing to heal over the infection, and cause a nasty abcess. If you're pretty sure your piercing really is infected, go to the doctor. He or she will confirm that it is indeed an infection. Then they'll give you anti-biotics. Take them as instructed, while continuing normal care of the piercing as much as possible. Then you're probably going to want to start paying a little more attention to soaking and cleaning it, because if you got an actual infection more then 3 days or so after the piercing was done, more then likely it's your fault, and you weren't cleaning it well enough.



Any more questions? Feel free to message me and ask. Piercings are one of my biggest passions.