I received a message from a gentleman who was having problems with a "pubic piercing"

Hi Angel,
I would like to seek your professional opinion and consultation on my current piercing.
I have got my pubic piercing 2 months ago, but it seems to be rejected in the last few weeks (picture of initial piercing and current status are attached for your reference)
My questions are:
1.       Should I take it out now and abandon the piercing?  Let it healed and re-pierce later.  My concern is will there be any risk to trap any bacteria in the piercing?
2.       Or should I leave it there and hope it can settle with this status?  The worst case will be torn out, right?
Any advice will be highly appreciated.   It really makes me embarrassed as I have not encountered any piercing rejection before for all my healed piercing including PA, nipples and others…
Thanks in advance for your kind advance.

My reply:

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I got an interesting message from a man who had received a poorly placed Prince Albert piercing:

Hello Ma'am,

I recently 2 weeks ago got a PA at what is know as a good local piercer at my town.  The piercing was done with a 12g after the initial pain went away I began to feel like a blade cutting into me.  By day three I saw that the hole had already stretched so I changed it to an 8g.  The 8g fit right in, no pain, no more discomfort and it felt great when in use.  By the end of the first week I no longer had any discharge, pain, redness, nothing.  It felt like its been there all my life.  I liked the piercing so much I started to read everywhere about things I could do to make it cooler or better.  At one point I saw your site and did a lot of reading there.  (By the way, best site on the net about piercings) I noticed that every good PA had at least past the penis glans.  As you can see on the picture I sent my hole is just 1/4 inch from the tip of my urethra split.  I also noticed by week two the my PA had stretched a little more.  Even though I had no pain and it looked great I felt I had too little skin  for the PA to remain.  This picture was taken only 24hours since I took out my PA and already the piercing is closing.  Now I love the PA and will do it again.  So I need some opinion from you. 

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I received a some photos and quetions from a man who got an apadravya piercing

My name is P. and i am from Germany.
I am very confused right now because of my Apadravya and wanted to know, if you could be so kind to say me, what i can do.

I got it done at the 31 August in 2012.

After a few stretchings i am now at 2.4 mm with a length of 25mm.

About 3 weeks after i got the piercing there was some tissue growing in front of my Piercing and i tried to make it go away by sticking a needle in it.

Now the tissue is still there. It is dead, so i have no feeling there and it is very hard.

I wanted to ask another piercer what i could do to make it go away but she said, that the real problem would be, that my Apadravya is way to near the tip of my penis and that i should take it out because it will definately migrate.

I am very desperate now and wanted to ask you if this is true and if it is not, if you know what i can do to make this tissue go away.

Thank you very much in advance

Yours sincerely, P.

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I received a message from a man who had questions about the healing progress of his self-performed Prince Albert piercing:

Hi Elayne,

First of all, thank you for maintaining such a wonderful and informative website.  If only all interests had such a great resource online...

I'm writing today about a PA that I've had for about five weeks now that is still giving me some trouble.  A little bit of background on the piercing. I have to start out by telling you that it IS self-done.  I know I know... but to allay concerns as best as I can I took all precautions one can at home short of creating a sterile field, I used a sterilized needle and sterilized jewelry with clean hands and gloves.  I also didn't go this route out of being cheap or anything either (I've payed for piercings in the past plenty of times), I had a real desire to do this one myself and accepted all the risks and consequences of my actions!  That's actually not my question though, but may factor into your response.

Basically, my piercing is still just about as sore as the second or third week of having and has shown little change over the last two-three weeks.  There is also still some discharge from it and what appears to be some scarring or swelling on the glans-side of hole.  When I have an erection it is the most sore, and this is especially a problem when sleeping, where I have little to no control.  My question is basically, is the piercing fundamentally flawed (poor placement, etc.) and needs to be removed and redone, or do I just need to be more careful with it and give it more time?

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Hello Ms. Angel,

My name is F. I am an apprentice piercer and I have a married couple coming in and they both want to get pierced. The Husband (uncircumcised) is adamant on getting an Ampallang, but he wants a hoop for the initial Piercing. I can not find any information online or through other piercers if this is safe. I would really appreciate your advise.

thank you.

Hi F.,

What about your mentor? If you're an apprentice, there has to be an expert you're studying under, right? What does he or she have to say….? If you do not have anyone to guide you through such advanced piercings, you MUST refuse!

If someone came to me with that request, my response would be, "No, I'm sorry--I won't use a ring for initial jewelry in that area. My experience allows me to be certain that would not be safe or helpful for healing. I can start it using a bar, and after you are fully healed you can explore other jewelry options."

In any case when it comes to dealing with clients, you're in charge. Regardless of how "adamant" somebody is, it is up to you to always stand by your ethics and only do piercings for which you are qualified, and to refuse to participate in any piercings (or jewelry selections) that are a bad idea.

Just say "no." If they say they'll go elsewhere for it--that's fine. You can't be responsible for their bad decisions, but you can be responsible for avoiding making your own. I always tell people, "Any piercer who is wiling to do that does not care about your safety, wellbeing, or the success of your piercing--only your money. I DO care, which is the reason I'm going to refuse to do anything that is a bad idea."

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I received a message from a man who had questions after he had to abandon his PA piercing due to migration:

Hi Elayne.

I was hoping I could get your opinion on the 2 attached photos of my PA.  It slowly began to have an extension of the urethral opening about 6 1/2 months after I got it pierced.  The situation is I was pierced at 6g with a titanium circular and then stretched to a 4g captive 5 months after the initial piercing.  When we did the stretch, there was very little resistance and we did not see any of the migration that you can see in the photos.  I used emu oil on the piercing after the stretching.

My Piercer had me remove the jewelry for now as we did not want to risk any further thinning of the skin.  He suggested that maybe we could pierce it a little further down the shaft in the future, but I don't know.

I have psoriasis as well and do have breakouts.

Do you have any suggestions as why this may have happened and what's the best course of action?

Thanks in advance for any information you can give me!

Best wishes!

B

My response:

Hello B.

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I received a message from a man who was considering nontraditional placement for an apadravya piercing:

Question:

I am interested in having my penis pierced. Basically, I am interested in an Apadravya, but I wanted to know if it is necessary that the top hole be in the head of the penis? I would like to have it emerge through the shaft, just behind the head. Is this possible? Or does it have to be through the head?

Thank you so much for all that you do.

K.

My response:

K,

Some piercers are willing to do that for you, but I suspect they haven't seen a cross section of penis anatomy indicating the central location of the deep dorsal vein and artery. 

Being well aware of these crucial structures, I will not do a shaft placement on an apadravya (nor an ampallang).

Did you need a referral to a piercer in your area or were you considering getting pierced by me? Where are you located?

This is from my book, The Piercing Bible--The Definitive Guide to Safe Body Piercing:

Apadravya Piercing: Placement and Choice of Jewelry

The apadravya is pierced vertically through the penis head. It may rest in the center of the glans on the top or be placed closer to the coronal ridge. Because it passes through the urethra, it usually heals faster than an American ampallang.

The apadravya is unique because this single placement encompasses multiple piercings: it is comprised of a Prince Albert on the lower portion and a reverse Prince Albert on the upper.

The apadravya is usually started with a barbell from bottom to top. Later, separate jewelry can be worn in various combinations: a ring in the PA, plus a barbell through the entire head; or, separate jewelry in the PA and reverse PA segments, for example.

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I received a message from a man who was concerned about his apadravya piercing:

Hi Elayne,

I love my aprydavya, but I have been having problems with it lately.  I have been doing the sea salt solution (1 teaspoon per cup of distilled water).  It has been irritated over the past two weeks and was not getting better with the nightly salt soaks of 20 minutes.  Also, I think I may have screwed up with making a batch of the solution, storing it in a separate container and poring it into another container to soak as opposed to making a fresh batch every time   Now I make a fresh batch of the solution,  but do you think I should see a doctor about the irritation?  Also, do you think that the jewelry may be too long?  When wearing tighter pants, it really contorts the angle and I think that is were the irritation started.

I have attached photos.

Thanks!

My response:

It doesn't look worthy of a doctor visit to me. It may be from trauma, as you mentioned in your message. You'll need to check your own jewelry fit. When you're fully erect, if there is still extra room then you can and should get a shorter post put in.

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I performed a consultation for a man who abandoned an Apadravya piercing:

Hey Elayne.

I have had an Apadravya in for 11 years. I believe it was originally pierced as a 10G and then stretched to an 8G.

An apadravya piercing

It is time to take it out. I took it out about 48 hours ago. I almost feel like my penis is now more in danger than it was when I had the barbell in. And am curious to know if the holes will eventually close up or if an 8 Gage is too big of a gap or maybe too much time has passed to allow this to happen. Like a doctor couldn't cauterize the hole to gap it, right?

Maybe too much worrying going on in my head. I just don't want these new un-covererd holes from getting infected and I almost want to pump someone full of baby juice at somepoint. So this tripple pee spray is not the spread I want.

Thank you for any and all information.

Thanks for listening.

M

y reply:

Hello D.

When abandoned, a piercing that old won't "heal" per se, but it is very likely to shrink. Your piercing has "epithelialized" as cells have grown to line the channel making it a sealed hole within your body. So it isn't an opening wound, but a channel all to itself (a "fistula"). This is assuming, of course, that you weren't experiencing irritation, a flare-up, or other problem, which can indicate that there is open tissue.

This is from my book, The Piercing Bible--The Definitive Guide to Safe Body Piercing:

Will It Close?

read more

I received a message from an uncircumcised man asking for a piercing evaluation for a Prince Albert (PA) piercing:

Hi,

I got a PA done just over a week ago, and I'm a bit concerned about the positioning. I'm can't see any sign of migration (yet?), but I'm not sure there's enough flesh holding it, and while I don't plan to stretch to jumbo sizes I do want to go up to at least an 8g. I'm uncircumcised, which adds the additional complication of positioning it with my foreskin, so I'm not sure if it could have gone further back or if I'm just unsuited to this piercing. If unsuited, would an apadravya (either converting the PA or healing and getting it done new) be an option, or would you recommend a reverse PA?

Thanks.

My response:

Without being able to manipulate your tissue (see your foreskin in it's "resting" position and also pull the foreskin back) it is hard for me to evaluate whether there is a suitable PA placement option for you that is further away from the lower edge of your urethra.

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I received a message from a man who had questions about optimal placement and healing issues with upper frenums:

Hi. I was wondering if top frenums are frequent for migration and rejection. I have had mine pierced three times and they keep migrating out. The first two times were at 14g and this last time was at 10g. I started with 3 top frenums at 10g but after 2 months I lost one and a few weeks later another one. I'm thinking that the 10g rejection was caused by my switch of jewelry after 2 months of getting them redone. My idea for the frenums is to wear large diameter CBRs in the frenums like c-rings. I wanted to try the jewelry out and wore it for a few weeks.

When I stretched my bottom frenums (which have given me no problems) and the last top frenum to 8g, my piercer has advised not to wear that jewelry for long term wear as they would cause pressure and migration. She was noticing the signs on the 10g CBRs I was wearing at the time of the stretch. Do you think it would be worth trying a fourth time on one of my top frenums that is near the middle of my shaft length or should I just be happy with the bottom ones?

My response:

Hi.

Upper frenums can be harder to heal for many men. There tends to be less pliable tissue on the top and that seems to lead to complications like migration and rejection. 

It is possible 12 gauge would be a better starting size. It is large enough to be sufficiently sturdy, but will not cause as much pressure against the tissue as a 10 ga (especially if you don't have a lot of excess skin).

Also how much tissue was pierced between the entry and exit during the initial piercings? Do you have any photos of the piercings when they were new?

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Here's a consultation I recently performed for a man who was experiencing healing problems with his new frenum piercing:

Dear Elayne,

I'd like your input on a piercing. I got a 8g frenum piercing done 3 weeks ago by a fairly reputable piercer.  I had some personal references and saw some of her work.  

In any event, I have been having some healing problems.  While the marking was spot on, once the piercing was done it was slightly crooked.  That wasn't much of an issue for me, but the bigger issue was that one side (the exit side) appears to have been done shallow.  

Looking at the piercing, the side that is healing fine you cannot see an outline of the piercing, but on the "bad" side it seems like the bar passes close to the surface for the last 1/8 inch or so before it exits.  From the first day it was pierced you could see an outline of the bar (as if about a 2-3mm tube of skin was surrounding the bar just before it exited), and the skin has since the day it was pierced felt taut there.  A few days later it was raw around the outside of that side while rest of the piercing felt fine. 

That side has in the past few days taken to crusting and emitting a lot of milky goo when I give it salt soaks (2x daily since I got the piercing).  It also has started to feel a little prickly (a pinching sensation every now and then).

The little red area by the silver ball end is the skin area that has always felt taut/raw.  I have also tried to show how the area behind/around the "bad" side looks.

Besides the regular see salt regimen, I have tried vitamin E and switching to a larger ball (the blue one) on the opposite end of the bar in the hopes of taking pressure off of the irritated area.

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I received a message from a man who abandoned his new Prince Albert (PA) piercing due to symptoms of metal reaction and wanted to get repierced: 

Hi Ms Elayne Angel,

I am sorry to bother you but I have a piercing question and I am getting such a wide variety of answers; I thought I'd go to the source.

I had a PA and had a bad metal reaction and had to remove it after 5 1/2 weeks. I plan to get it redone but was wondering what steps to take to get ready for the re-piercing and how long I should wait. 

The answers have varied from 2 weeks to 3-4 months. 

I was just wanting to clear up the confusion. 

Thank you for your time and I appreciate all you have contributed to the art of body modification. I have your book and it is a great book.

By chance are you planning any trips to the Charlotte NC area anytime soon?

Thanks in advance,

M.

My response:     

Hi M.

Thanks for the positive feedback about my book; I really appreciate it and I'm glad to hear your opinion about it.

Well, the "confusion" can be attributed to the fact that it really depends on your body and how quickly you recover from the effects of the first piercing and the reaction you experienced. I have a number of questions for you and it is important to find out exactly what went wrong the first time before having the piercing redone. When you repierce, you must do something different or you can expect the same problematic results.

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I received a message from a man who was experiencing healing problems with a new frenum piercing:

Dear Elayne,

I'd like your input on a piercing.  I got a 8g frenum piercing done 3 weeks ago by a fairly reputable piercer in Washington DC.  I had some personal references and saw some of her work.  

In any event, I have been having some healing problems.  While the marking was spot on, once the piercing was done it was slightly crooked.  That wasn't much of an issue for me, but the bigger issue was that one side (the exit side) appears to have been done shallow.  Looking at the piercing, the side that is healing fine you cannot see an outline of the piercing, but on the "bad" side it seems like the bar passes close to the surface for the last 1/8 inch or so before it exits.  From the first day it was pierced you could see an outline of the bar (as if about a 2-3mm tube of skin was surrounding the bar just before it exited), and the skin has since the day it was pierced felt taut there.  A few days later it was raw around the outside of that side while rest of the piercing felt fine.  That side has in the past few days taken to crusting and emitting a lot of milky goo when I give it salt soaks (2x daily since I got the piercing).  It also has started to feel a little prickly (a pinching sensation every now and then).

The little red area by the silver ball end is the skin area that has always felt taut/raw.  I have also tried to show how the area behind/around the "bad" side looks.

Besides the regular see salt regimen, I have tried vitamin E and switching to a larger ball (the blue one) on the opposite end of the bar in the hopes of taking pressure off of the irritated area.

read more

I received a message from a man who had questions after he had to abandon his Prince Albert (PA) piercing due to migration:

Hi Elayne.

I was hoping I could get your opinion on the 2 attached photos of my PA.  It slowly began to have an extension of the urethral opening about 6 1/2 months after I got it pierced.  The situation is I was pierced at 6g with a titanium circular and then stretched to a 4g captive 5 months after the initial piercing.  When we did the stretch, there was very little resistance and we did not see any of the migration that you can see in the photos.  I used emu oil on the piercing after the stretching.

My Piercer had me remove the jewelry for now as we did not want to risk any further thinning of the skin.  He suggested that maybe we could pierce it a little further down the shaft in the future, but I don't know.

I have psoriasis as well and do have breakouts.

Do you have any suggestions as why this may have happened and what's the best course of action?

Thanks in advance for any information you can give me!

Best wishes!

B

My response:

Hello B.

read more

I received a message from a man who was considering nontraditional placement for an apadravya piercing:

Question:

I am interested in having my penis pierced. Basically, I am interested in an Apadravya, but I wanted to know if it is necessary that the top hole be in the head of the penis? I would like to have it emerge through the shaft, just behind the head. Is this possible? Or does it have to be through the head?

Thank you so much for all that you do.

K.

My response:

K,

Some piercers are willing to do that for you, but I suspect they haven't seen a cross section of penis anatomy indicating the central location of the deep dorsal vein and artery. 

Being well aware of these crucial structures, I will not do a shaft placement on an apadravya (nor an ampallang).

Did you need a referral to a piercer in your area or were you considering getting pierced by me? Where are you located?

This is from my book, The Piercing Bible--The Definitive Guide to Safe Body Piercing:

Apadravya Piercing: Placement and Choice of Jewelry

The apadravya is pierced vertically through the penis head. It may rest in the center of the glans on the top or be placed closer to the coronal ridge. Because it passes through the urethra, it usually heals faster than an American ampallang.

The apadravya is unique because this single placement encompasses multiple piercings: it is comprised of a Prince Albert on the lower portion and a reverse Prince Albert on the upper.

read more

I received a message from a man who was concerned about his apadravya piercing:

Hi Elayne,

I love my aprydavya, but I have been having problems with it lately.  I have been doing the sea salt solution (1 teaspoon per cup of distilled water).  It has been irritated over the past two weeks and was not getting better with the nightly salt soaks of 20 minutes.  Also, I think I may have screwed up with making a batch of the solution, storing it in a separate container and poring it into another container to soak as opposed to making a fresh batch every time   Now I make a fresh batch of the solution,  but do you think I should see a doctor about the irritation?  Also, do you think that the jewelry may be too long?  When wearing tighter pants, it really contorts the angle and I think that is were the irritation started.

I have attached photos.

Thanks!

My response:

It doesn't look worthy of a doctor visit to me. It may be from trauma, as you mentioned in your message. You'll need to check your own jewelry fit. When you're fully erect, if there is still extra room then you can and should get a shorter post put in.

read more

I performed a consultation for a man who abandoned an Apadravya piercing:

Hey Elayne.

I have had an Apadravya in for 11 years. I believe it was originally pierced as a 10G and then stretched to an 8G.

An apadravya piercing

It is time to take it out. I took it out about 48 hours ago. I almost feel like my penis is now more in danger than it was when I had the barbell in. And am curious to know if the holes will eventually close up or if an 8 Gage is too big of a gap or maybe too much time has passed to allow this to happen. Like a doctor couldn't cauterize the hole to gap it, right?

Maybe too much worrying going on in my head. I just don't want these new un-covererd holes from getting infected and I almost want to pump someone full of baby juice at somepoint. So this tripple pee spray is not the spread I want.

Thank you for any and all information.

Thanks for listening.

My reply:

Hello D.

When abandoned, a piercing that old won't "heal" per se, but it is very likely to shrink. Your piercing has "epithelialized" as cells have grown to line the channel making it a sealed hole within your body. So it isn't an opening wound, but a channel all to itself (a "fistula"). This is assuming, of course, that you weren't experiencing irritation, a flare-up, or other problem, which can indicate that there is open tissue.

This is from my book, The Piercing Bible--The Definitive Guide to Safe Body Piercing:

Will It Close?

read more

I received a message from an uncircumcised man asking for a piercing evaluation for a Prince Albert (PA) piercing:

Hi,

I got a PA done just over a week ago, and I'm a bit concerned about the positioning. I'm can't see any sign of migration (yet?), but I'm not sure there's enough flesh holding it, and while I don't plan to stretch to jumbo sizes I do want to go up to at least an 8g. I'm uncircumcised, which adds the additional complication of positioning it with my foreskin, so I'm not sure if it could have gone further back or if I'm just unsuited to this piercing. If unsuited, would an apadravya (either converting the PA or healing and getting it done new) be an option, or would you recommend a reverse PA?

Thanks.

My response:

Without being able to manipulate your tissue (see your foreskin in it's "resting" position and also pull the foreskin back) it is hard for me to evaluate whether there is a suitable PA placement option for you that is further away from the lower edge of your urethra.

read more

I received a message from a man who had questions about optimal placement and healing issues with upper frenums:

Hi. I was wondering if top frenums are frequent for migration and rejection. I have had mine pierced three times and they keep migrating out. The first two times were at 14g and this last time was at 10g. I started with 3 top frenums at 10g but after 2 months I lost one and a few weeks later another one. I'm thinking that the 10g rejection was caused by my switch of jewelry after 2 months of getting them redone. My idea for the frenums is to wear large diameter CBRs in the frenums like c-rings. I wanted to try the jewelry out and wore it for a few weeks.

When I stretched my bottom frenums (which have given me no problems) and the last top frenum to 8g, my piercer has advised not to wear that jewelry for long term wear as they would cause pressure and migration. She was noticing the signs on the 10g CBRs I was wearing at the time of the stretch. Do you think it would be worth trying a fourth time on one of my top frenums that is near the middle of my shaft length or should I just be happy with the bottom ones?

My response:

Hi.

Upper frenums can be harder to heal for many men. There tends to be less pliable tissue on the top and that seems to lead to complications like migration and rejection. 

It is possible 12 gauge would be a better starting size. It is large enough to be sufficiently sturdy, but will not cause as much pressure against the tissue as a 10 ga (especially if you don't have a lot of excess skin).

Also how much tissue was pierced between the entry and exit during the initial piercings? Do you have any photos of the piercings when they were new?

read more