A question for piercers only.

See a doctor and take them out, immediately.

are you sure i shouldnt try and keep it? i mean do you have medical study experience? i really like them but not worth risking my breast. its not bleeding or swollen, just irritated.

How long ago did you change out the jewelry? What kind of metal did you have in for the past 9 months? What kind did you put in when you changed them out? It could be irritation from changing out the jewelry, especially if you’ve had the original jewelry in all this time and you weren’t turning it to avoid having your skin heal onto the jewelry. Did you have barbels in before? If you went from a straight barbel to a curved ring, that can cause irritation as well due to the way the piercing healed. Personally, if they are still irritated, I would take them out and be done with it. It’s not worth having problems in the future (in my opinion).

ohhh no ive changed them multiple times before. i only left the rings they pierced them with in for 2 weeks. ive always had straight barbells and sterling silver never gave me a problem. now all the sudden i buy new ones from the same place i always get them and they only make one of them sore and irritated. ive changed it, washed it with dial soap, and dried it, then cleaned it with saline and dried it again. what should i do?

It could be a reaction to the other metal. If you’ve put the sterling silver ones back it, it will take several days for the reaction to the other metal to go away. If it looks like it is getting better after switching back to the sterling silver, you can try leaving it in for a few days to see if it continues to get better, but if it doesn’t get any better at all, you’ll need to take it out. You should get a doctor to look at it as well to be sure that it is a reaction to the other metal.

okay thanks(: i think ill just see how it looks in the morning. if not better im snatching this sucker out. not worth the pain, stress, or doctors expense

Sounds to me like a case of irritation but before I commit to that…. Do you have any type of rash or bumps around the piercing? Is the pain like a sharp stabbing pain or is it more of a tenderness?

A nipple piercing takes about 6–8 weeks on average to heal. Any kind of “trauma” (e.g. catching the jewelry on objects, children/pets climbing and ripping at the area, changing out the jewelry too early) can cause the healing time to delayed until there is adequate time to heal. If you changed it out at two weeks, then you set your healing time back a bit. That’s not to say that it hasn’t fully healed by this point but that could be part of your problem. Just because it doesn’t hurt, doesn’t mean that it’s healed. I’m actually will to bet that your piercing hasn’t healed all the way which could make for pain and bleeding when you change it out.

The second thing is like what @Seaofclouds was talking about. People often react differently to different types of jewelry. You could be allergic to whatever metal you currently have in. Just because you bought it from the same place doesn’t mean that it’s the same type of metal.

More than likely, it’s just a little irritation. I would highly suggest putting in (and leaving in) jewelry made of stainless steel. Stainless is not very porous so bacteria and other microbes cannot soak into and “hang out” in the jewelry. Leave the stainless in for a month or two if you can. Watch it closely for the next week. Clean it like you did when you had the piercing done. If your condition worsens or shows no improvement within the next seven days, then it’s time to take it out/seek medical attention.

People sometimes have allergic reactions to even high quality jewelry. Various alloy metals in the gold, silver or stainless are often the culprit. The only metal that seems to have almost no allergic reactions is pure titanium; much of the highest quality body jewelry is made of this for that reason.

And that is why I can never get pierced. The only reason I can even wear my wedding band is that it is effectively laminated so the metal never actually touches my skin.

okay guys good news!
my nipple is healed after changing the ring back.
i gots to keep it.
yay for me :)

That’s good. I’m glad it healed up for up. Just be careful of what you put in it in the future. :)