h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi

I had some piercings done some time ago (Nov 03) and am having trouble healing them. We're trying to decide if they were done too deeply into the skin, would this cause the problem healing? If so, how deep is too deep, I don't think I could go through getting them re-done if I had to let them heal ;-{ Any thoughts?

Depends where they are.

If they were done by a professional then it is unlikely to be a bad piercing.

My naval took months to heal, because it is a sweat trap and I have poor immunity, but everyone I have spoken to has said theirs took a while too.

Bathing in salt water daily, and no picking or squeezing

Taking the jewellery in and out will irritate it until it has healed.
If you have any worries then go back to the place they did it and ask them to take a look and see if they can offer any advice - perhaps alternative jewellery etc. They won't want unhappy customers as places rely on word of mouth in that business.
Thats my thoughts anyway

Thanks for getting back to me Mort.

They are outer labia pierces, fairly far forward. I had a pair done previously further back and they healed really well - I was surprised because I have a desk job , they were relatively shallow. These are deeper and despite twice daily salt water bathing they continue to be red and slightly inflamed. This is accompanied by some weeping of the holes. On previous pierces I've used tea tree to help and it's worked well, all I get this time is a REAL stinging sensation .

All my pierces, 11 in total, have been done by my partner, and I've had no problems so far; my navel took longer because it got irritation from clothes. It was his concern on seeing them and seeing how long they were taking that they may be set too deep.

Any suggestion gratefully received. Thanks.

In that case I would take a trip to the doctor. It may be that an infection has been grumbling on and your good hygeine has been keeping it at bay but it may need a course of antibiotics to just clear it up.

Sometimes no matter how careful you are bacteria sneak in. Sometimes I get an infection and sometimes I don't and I don't do anything differently!

But it does sound as if you should get some antibiotics as you have tried everything else

Hope it gets sorted soon!

You could try supplementing your diet with Zinc and Vitamin C - these should help boost your immune system. Zinc and Vitamin E are particularly good for helping to heal the skin.

Colloidal silver would also help - you could use this to bathe the infected area and also take it orally.

Just started showering my bits in the morning, when I get home from work and last thing at night, applying tea tree each time. The inflamation seems to be going down and the redness clearing. I'll try the Zinc and Vit E too, see how they get on.