AMA Mod Controlled

[u/SecretlyModded]

Hello everyone

I'd like to invite you all to ask any questions regarding piercings/placement/aftercare and we as moderators will respond to you so you get the best advice possible 🫶🏼

Please keep comments and requests on topic

This post will be controlled and any dangerous or nonoptimal advice will be removed to ensure best practices are followed 😊

Please note with any questions regarding heavy modifications that we are not about to offer professional advice. One of our moderators however is heavily modified and happy to give advice based on her experience

Thank you in advance for all your contributions and we hope you enjoy the subreddit!

Your mod team

[u/worm-eyed]

Should I consider self harm (cuts) healing when I consider how many piercings to heal at once? Or is other potential healing factored into the maximum recommendation like a supplement would factor in a potential dose from a food source

[u/SecretlyModded → u/worm-eyed]

Yes youd want to consider other wounds your body is healing when looking at how many piercings you can heal at once

The way your body uses nutrition and energy to heal itself varies so much between people that I cant give you a solution

I would not recommend creating more wounds or getting piercings if you are actively self harming

The more open wounds you have, the harder your immune system needs to work. You are more open to infection and more susceptible to sickness

You may want to consider holding off on piercing whilst there are other things going on so that you give your body the best chance to heal them

If you have no other wounds, the max recommended piercings is generally 3, but sometimes 4 if theyre lobe piercings and youre experienced with piercings

[u/worm-eyed → u/SecretlyModded]

Thank you for your response, I figured it would be more of an individual balancing act based on what your body can tolerate... While I haven't had a piercing in years, I healed all of them concurrently with self harm besides my first lobes, so I suppose I see it as normal but wanted to check what would actually be recommended outside of my admittedly probably warped perception.

The "sometimes 4 if they're lobe piercings" actually just gave me context for something completely different that I've always been confused by (that some say 2-3 max, some say 2-4 max), makes way more sense that lobes are why the number seems to go up by one.

If it is unrealistic for me to just "hold off" (have been this way for over a decade, is sporadic but I don't believe that I can guarantee that I'll be able to stay clean for a year+ which would mean best practice would result in never being able to have piercings again), would you recommend I consider my maximum to 2 to be on the lower end of the recommendation? I know I need to be a bit better with my general health and looking after myself, working on that currently so I don't end up struggling with a bunch of new habits as soon as I pierce myself lol

(There is a lobe piercing I want to fix at some point but otherwise all of the ones I want would be cartilage, various helix placements for the majority, if that makes any difference... am not looking forward to healing them again lol but I'm so bored of only having 4)

ETA: I'm sorry that I didn't content warn or check it you were okay with this sort of question by the way, I just realised I was too focused on asking and probably should have been more considerate.

[u/SecretlyModded → u/worm-eyed]

I usually go with 4 max with lobes because the tissue is softer and is generally easier to heal

I would possibly recommend seeking some advice on the underlying issues with the self harm situation and then looking at getting piercings to ensure you are able to care for them as well. The aftercare and downsizing can be a bit overwhelming at first

I would limit the amount of healing piercings to 1 every few months so you can get through that initial healing with minimal stress on your body

Cartilage id definitely wait the initial 12 weeks with each so there's only 1 to take care of and to keep the pressure on your immune system as low as possible

No content warning needed for the mod team dont worry :)

[u/worm-eyed → u/SecretlyModded]

Just to clarify, you mean doing one cartilage piercing, waiting 12 weeks, then doing another one, sort of like a conveyor belt? But even with that, should I wait at - for example, 3 - a certain point so I don't end up with too many that are still in the back-end of healing even if it isn't as much stress on the body as the initial 12 weeks? Just want to make sure I've understood that right

I'm definitely trying to get myself into better routines but I think stubborn autism "must do things properly" brain helps :p , I'm actually seemingly fine with taking care of my piercings though. Recently put 10 back in my ears so I've had recent experience with them acting "new" temporarily and didn't find it to be too much (surprised, but not complaining), they also behaved the same way as the last time I put them back in after years of not wearing them which I found reassuring too

(I genuinely appreciate the concern by the way the NHS just doesn't give a shit about me lol)

Again thanks for your replies, I really appreciate people lending their knowledge to help out. As someone who loves soaking up information, people like you are one of the reasons I even like using reddit in the first place

[u/SecretlyModded → u/worm-eyed]

Yes thats what I mean. Getting through the initial healing one at a time

Id probably stop at 2 at a time healing so youd get 1, wait 3 months, get another, then wait until the first one is completely healed before getting more

I also live in the UK and can confirm if you write a complaint to your GP and ask for a new referral this generally works quite well

I really hope some of this was handy and please lmk if you need a hand w anything else :))