It might be strange for a blog about body jewelry to say this, but it’s true: sometimes you just have to face the fact that a certain piercing isn’t for you.
Maybe you got your piercing on a whim in your younger days, and you’re wondering whether the piercing suits you anymore. Or perhaps you’ve been trying to get your piercing to stick, but you keep having to get it re-pierced because of complications like piercing bumps or rejection.
When it’s time to say goodbye to a piercing, new or old, you’ll start to see the signs. Here are some of the biggest ones.
There are so many factors that go into healing a piercing including your aftercare habits, the expertise of the piercer who pierced you, your body’s ability to heal, and more. Because of this, there are some things that can go wrong during healing that are simply outside of your (and your piercer’s) control.
If you’re experiencing complications due to human error—you damaged the healing piercing, you haven’t kept up on proper aftercare, you changed the jewelry too soon—your piercer might recommend that you let the piercing heal and try again later.
However, if you’re still having issues healing your piercing after the second or third try, it’s probably time to give up on that piercing.
There could be a chance that your lifestyle simply doesn’t work with the piercing that you’re trying to get, and you’re inadvertently damaging the piercing as it’s trying to heal. (For example, you might be sleeping on the piercing without realizing it.) But, it might be that case that your body just won’t accept that piercing.
Whatever the reason, don’t continue to put yourself through the torture of another failed piercing. Either give up on piercings altogether or try again in a different location.
Trends and styles change. Piercings that were all the rage ten years ago might not be as trendy today. When that switch happens, it’s easy to feel a little uncomfortable with your piercing, even if it’s one that you once adored.
That’s not to say that you should only wear piercings that are in vogue. If you still love and feel comfortable in your piercing, then you should absolutely continue to rock it! After all, the piercing world is all about individual expression, and the only thing that matters is if you feel good about yourself.
However, some find importance in adhering to current trends. And, that’s more than okay. If you’ve recently begun to look into the mirror and feel trepidation or a lack of excitement surrounding your piercing, then you might consider moving on. This could be the perfect time to get a hot new piercing, or you could take a break from piercing styles for a while.
The worst thing that could happen is that a few months or years from now, you miss your piercing, and you get it re-pierced.
It’s springtime. The weather is getting warmer, you’re bringing out the crop tops, and you decide that it’s the perfect time to get a navel piercing.
The first few weeks go by fine. You’re taking care of the piercing and cleaning it as directed.
But then, the first heatwave comes along, and you and your friends start to plan a beach trip. But, guess what, you can’t go into the water with a healing navel piercing. What to do?
At this point, you have two choices: either give up on the piercing or stay out of the water.
It happens. A 12-week healing period doesn’t seem so bad until you’re in the middle of it. If you’re weeks into the healing process, and you decide that you can’t take care of your piercing anymore, then take it out. You can always re-pierce it at a better time or choose a piercing with a healing period that you can adhere to.
You should never slack off on your healing practices just because you get tired of them. When you’re done taking care of your piercing, then it’s time to say goodbye.
Depending on the location of your piercing and your activities, it might pose an annoying hindrance. For example, if you have an eyebrow piercing, and you often have to wear helmets, you might see some jewelry snagging. This will get annoying fast.
Even if you take the time to consider the placement of your jewelry, you don’t really know how it will affect your daily life until you get it. While you can often get used to the jewelry and automatically begin to adjust around it, sometimes that’s not going to happen.
Don’t let your body piercing become a constant annoyance. It’s okay to give up on it and choose a piercing that won’t get in the way.
Oral piercings, specifically, can cause enamel wear and receding gum lines if the jewelry clacks against the teeth.
Other piercing styles, like tongue and cheek piercings, can cause problems if they’re pierced incorrectly.
Your health is way more important than your piercing. If you’re experiencing issues because of your piercing, don’t push through just because you love the look. Get rid of the piercing. There are plenty of piercing styles to choose from that won’t harm your body. Opt for those instead so that you can look great and feel great.
This is a big fear for many who are tired of their piercing. They want to take out their jewelry, but they don’t know if it will leave a mark, and they might prefer to keep the jewelry in rather than sport a scar.
The good news is that most piercings rarely leave a mark behind. This is a big reason why piercing retainers exist: even piercings that have been healed for years can close fairly quickly when left without jewelry.
The most that you might be left with is a miniscule mark that you can barely notice, and chances are, you’ll forget all about it eventually.
Stretched lobes will heal a little differently. Surprisingly, you can stretch them fairly significantly before they won’t go back to normal. Most piercers agree that you can stretch up to 00G, and your ears should go back to normal eventually. Of course, this depends upon the individual.
If you’re on the fence about whether or not you need to say goodbye to one of your piercings, then consider the fact that you might just need some new jewelry to freshen your look.
Before you send your piercing to the curb, here are some jewelry styles that might cause you to reconsider.
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