How to Retire a Piercing
http://www.articlefit.com/How-to-Retire-a-Piercing/a8244_1
Nymphetamine
By Nymphetamine
Published on 02/2/2009
What you need to know about how to safely remove a piercing you no longer want.
How to Retire a Piercing
Piercing has become very popular over the last ten or fifteen years. As with so many things, some people get piercings on a whim, others change circumstances in their lives and can no longer keep their piercings, still others decide they simply don't want them anymore.
So what happens when you decide you no longer want a piercing? How do you properly and safely retire it? How long will it take to heal? Will it leave a scar? Here are your answers!
Taking out your piercing
It's pretty easy actually. When you decide you no longer want your piercing, just remove the jewelry. If you have any signs of infection (redness that radiates away from the piercing, heat, fever, green pus and pain) leave the piercing in and go to your doctor. Once the infection is cleared up, you can safely remove the piercing.
Keep the piercing site clean. Do sea salt soaks 1-2 times per day for the first few days. You don't need to cover it with a bandage, but keep dirt and other contaminates away from it.
Healing time and scars
If you just had the piercing done (up to about 3-4 weeks) and decide to remove it, it should heal in about 2 weeks. This will leave a small scar, which should fade over time (up to about a year) Vitamin E oil once it's healed can help reduce scar tissue.
For older piercings, you need to understand how piercings heal (with the jewelry in). Piercings heal from the outside to the inside, forming a fistula. This process can take up to a year or even more, depending on the type of piercing.
If you have a piercing that is still healing, it will close in the middle fairly quickly (2-3 weeks) but you will be left with what looks like holes on the outside. These will usually shrink with time, but can remain noticeable.
If your piercing is fully healed (a year old or more) it will never close up. The hole will shrink but will not go away. If you decide you want the piercing again, a piercer will be able to open it up with an insertion taper. If you want the hole gone permanently, you can have it removed. An experienced piercer can sometimes remove the fistula with a larger gauge needle or dermal punch. Plastic surgeons can also remove the fistula. Both procedures will leave you with a scar.
How much a fistula shrinks or how much scar tissue is left behind will be determined by your body. Some people heal better than others. Some scar more than others. There is no way to accurately predict how each person will heal.
It should be remembered (and explained to new clients) that while the perception of piercing is that it is temporary, it is not. Piercing will permanently alter your body, by either leaving a scar or a fistula. For this reason, I explain this to every new piercing client and have it written into my consent form. Thought and research should go into every body piercing, including the long term consequences.
So what happens when you decide you no longer want a piercing? How do you properly and safely retire it? How long will it take to heal? Will it leave a scar? Here are your answers!
Taking out your piercing
It's pretty easy actually. When you decide you no longer want your piercing, just remove the jewelry. If you have any signs of infection (redness that radiates away from the piercing, heat, fever, green pus and pain) leave the piercing in and go to your doctor. Once the infection is cleared up, you can safely remove the piercing.
Keep the piercing site clean. Do sea salt soaks 1-2 times per day for the first few days. You don't need to cover it with a bandage, but keep dirt and other contaminates away from it.
Healing time and scars
If you just had the piercing done (up to about 3-4 weeks) and decide to remove it, it should heal in about 2 weeks. This will leave a small scar, which should fade over time (up to about a year) Vitamin E oil once it's healed can help reduce scar tissue.
For older piercings, you need to understand how piercings heal (with the jewelry in). Piercings heal from the outside to the inside, forming a fistula. This process can take up to a year or even more, depending on the type of piercing.
If you have a piercing that is still healing, it will close in the middle fairly quickly (2-3 weeks) but you will be left with what looks like holes on the outside. These will usually shrink with time, but can remain noticeable.
If your piercing is fully healed (a year old or more) it will never close up. The hole will shrink but will not go away. If you decide you want the piercing again, a piercer will be able to open it up with an insertion taper. If you want the hole gone permanently, you can have it removed. An experienced piercer can sometimes remove the fistula with a larger gauge needle or dermal punch. Plastic surgeons can also remove the fistula. Both procedures will leave you with a scar.
How much a fistula shrinks or how much scar tissue is left behind will be determined by your body. Some people heal better than others. Some scar more than others. There is no way to accurately predict how each person will heal.
It should be remembered (and explained to new clients) that while the perception of piercing is that it is temporary, it is not. Piercing will permanently alter your body, by either leaving a scar or a fistula. For this reason, I explain this to every new piercing client and have it written into my consent form. Thought and research should go into every body piercing, including the long term consequences.