I was stretching my left ear from 6g to 4g on Saturday night. Thought I could save time by skipping the 2 weeks of waiting and just force it through. Ended up with a nasty blowout that's still red and angry on Wednesday. Any tips for healing a blowout this fresh without losing too much progress?
Was trying to stretch my second lobe from 14g to 12g last week and kept jamming the taper in wrong. Blood everywhere. My coworker who used to do piercings said to wrap the new jewelry in unwaxed floss and pull it through like a wick. Worked first try with zero pain. Wish I knew this 3 years ago when I ruined my first set of lobes. Has anyone else tried this method or got a better trick for stretching?
Tried to do my own helix at 11 PM last night and the hollow needle bent halfway through my cartilage after hitting a tough spot. Has anyone else had a needle go sideways mid-pierce and what did you do to finish it clean?
So a buddy of mine who's done a few home tattoos told me to rub Dawn dish soap on my skin before starting. Said it'd numb it up like lidocaine. I tried it on my forearm last month and let me tell you, it did absolutely nothing except make my skin feel weird and slippery. The needle still hurt just as much and the soap dried out my skin so bad it flaked for a week after. Has anyone else fallen for a bad tip like that or am I just gullible?
I was in my bathroom trying to finish a simple linework piece on my thigh, using a 5RL needle from a kit I got online. The needle just snapped right off the tube about halfway through a straight line, and I had ink and blood everywhere. I had to stop, clean the whole thing with antiseptic, and wrap it up with gauze until I could find a better setup. Has anyone else had a needle fail like this mid-stroke and how did you handle the cleanup?
Was chatting with my buddy who does piercing at a shop in Portland last weekend, and she saw the titanium rings I got from Amazon for my helix piercings. She said they're probably cheap alloy with a coating, not real implant grade. I've been wearing them for 6 months with no issues, but now I'm worried about long term stuff. Has anyone actually had problems with cheaper jewelry down the line, or is it fine if your ears aren't angry about it?
Used to just grab whatever from the craft store. Thought it was fine. Then a buddy's piercing got infected bad. Hospital bill was $800. Switched to proper single use surgical needles after that. No issues since. Anyone else cheap out on tools and regret it?
I used to swear by the boiling water trick for my piercing tools until a 3-day fever and a $200 ER visit proved the $150 secondhand autoclave was worth every penny.
I used to always wipe down my fresh tattoos with rubbing alcohol after cleaning them, thinking it was killing all the bacteria and keeping things sanitary. But about 6 months ago, I did a big thigh piece on myself and woke up the next morning with the whole area bright red and angry. Turns out alcohol was stripping off way too much of my skin's natural oils and drying out the healing tissue way too fast. A friend who's been doing stick and poke for like 8 years told me to just use plain unscented soap and water, then pat dry with a paper towel. Now I only use alcohol on the tools before I start, not on the actual tattoo. Has anyone else had their healing go bad because of using the wrong cleaner?
Figured a $15 kit would do the same job as a $55 professional needle setup but that gun jammed halfway through the cartilage and I had to yank it out. Ended up paying $80 at a real piercing shop for antibiotics and a proper repierce. Anyone else learn this lesson the hard way?
I did my own nostril piercing 3 weeks ago in my bathroom in Brooklyn and it's been a nightmare. The swelling went down but now there's this persistent red bump that won't go away no matter how much saline I use. Did I mess up by using a cheap 16g hoop instead of a stud? Has anyone else dealt with this crusty bump situation?
I used a 5RL needle and india ink but didn't go deep enough so the lines spread out like crazy after it healed. Has anyone else had their work look good at first then totally fall apart after a month?
Was up late last night and decided to swap out my 14g septum ring for a new one I got off Amazon for 8 bucks. Sterilized everything with alcohol and boiled the ring for 10 minutes. Got it in first try with no blood and the hole isnt angry at all today. Anyone else have good luck with cheap jewelry from online?
I've been at 14g for like 8 months and finally worked up the nerve to go to 12g with a pincher last night. Used vitamin E oil and a glass taper from a kit I got off Amazon for $12, and it slid right in with barely any pinch. Has anyone else had luck with a certain size jump that they thought would be way worse?
I was dead set on piercing my own helix about 3 months ago and had to choose between buying good numbing cream or just going for it raw. I went with the numbing cream because I'm a chicken, but I didn't let it sit long enough and it barely worked. The needle went through fine but holy crap the ache afterward was way worse than the actual poke. Ended up having to ice it for like an hour while my roommate laughed at me. Has anyone else had numbing cream backfire or was I just using it wrong?
I was at a tattoo convention in Denver last month and watched a piercer use a surgical marker to map out placement before even picking up the needle. Tried it myself for my last nostril piercing at home and honestly it saved me from a crooked hole. Those cheap ballpoint pens can irritate your skin and smudge. Has anyone else tried marking with iodine or surgical markers?
I tried the dental floss method on my tongue last month and it healed weird - one side is now thicker than the other. I'm wondering if proper scalpels are actually safer or if this is just a scare tactic. Has anyone else dealt with uneven healing?
I was all set to do my own scalpeling at home with a kit I found online. But last month I went to a reputable piercing studio in Austin to ask about placement and prep. The artist there showed me how easy it is to mess up the angle or depth without a steady hand and a clamp they use. She also had to talk me out of using a scalpel I bought off Amazon that wasn't even sterile packed. Now I'm saving up the $150 for her to do it properly instead of risking a scar that looks like a worm. Has anyone else had a pro talk them out of a home job they were dead set on?
I got my lobes pierced at a shop 6 months ago, they healed fine. Then last week I bought a pack of 20 fake silver hoops off Amazon for like $8 to swap styles. Put one in on Friday, by Saturday night my ear was red, hot, and leaking yellow goo. I thought it was just irritation but it got worse overnight. Now I'm doing warm salt soaks 3 times a day and put antibiotic ointment on it. Lesson learned - cheap mystery metal is not worth saving a few bucks. Has anyone else had a bad reaction to those bulk piercing packs? How long did it take to clear up?
I used to spin my piercings a bunch every day during healing because I thought that stopped them from sticking. After getting my helix done about 6 months ago, a piercer friend told me spinning actually tears the healing tissue inside. She pulled up a photo of an irritated piercing on her phone and it clicked. Have any of you wrecked a piercing from bad aftercare before realizing it?
Went with the piercing needle from a kit my friend gave me after doing research and it was way smoother than I expected, barely any pain. Has anyone else had issues with irritation using those cheap disposable guns?
I was showing off my chest piece at a cookout last weekend and my friend Dave said it looked like I was trying to hide some ugly truth under all that ink and scarring. He asked me if I even liked how it looked or if I was just covering stuff up for other people. Made me wonder how many of yall actually get mods because you want them versus just coping with something.
I spent last Saturday fighting with my own stick and poke on my ankle. The ink kept bleeding into lines I hadn't meant to hit. Then my buddy who does this way more than me said to wipe the area down with 70% isopropyl alcohol before you start. It degreases the skin way better than just soap and water, and it made my lines way cleaner. I did three tiny stars on my other ankle afterward and the difference was night and day. Anyone else got a weird little prep step that changed their results?
I was visiting my cousin in Portland and stopped by this little shop off Hawthorne that's been around since the 80s. The guy running it showed me their old Tuttnauer autoclave in back, still running strong with just a new gasket and a fresh calibration sticker from last year. Made me think about how folks today spend hundreds on brand new equipment when the older stuff just keeps going if you take care of it. Has anyone else found an old piece of body mod gear that still works better than the new stuff?
I figured I'd save money and bought a rotary machine kit online for my first home tattoo. The needle kept falling out mid-line and the power supply died after two uses. Anyone else get burned by cheap starter kits like this?