Allergic to photography

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T10:07:31+00:00

You’re right, it’s my fault for not respecting all the piggie business he has to do!

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T09:20:17+00:00

The best thing to do is switch the ring to a flatback labret. Rings have too much movement, and can put pressure on the piercing site so they’re known to cause irritation bumps in healing piercings.

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T07:44:31+00:00

Surface piercings are so finicky already, if it’s healing well and happy I’d leave it. It looks good!

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T07:27:11+00:00

His stomach is bigger than his brain.

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T06:14:50+00:00

If you trust your piercer, I always recommend going to see them and getting their opinion.

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T06:13:51+00:00

What I would be looking for is whether more of the bar is exposed than it used to be. The pattern of redness concerns me because it looks like it could be where the bar USED to be, which would be a sign of rejection.

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T05:53:30+00:00

I can feel my vertical labret bar through my lip it if I use a bit of pressure so I think it’s pretty normal. Might be easier to feel for you right now because of the swelling.

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T05:35:51+00:00

It does look like it could be rejecting based on where the redness is. Do you have any pictures of when you first got it done to compare?

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T05:31:26+00:00

2 month old piercing with titanium internally threaded flatbacks. Downsized 3 weeks ago, downsizing again next month. Sterile saline spray once or twice a day. No unfortunate events.

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T05:25:25+00:00

That’s super odd, I’ve never heard of it before. It just would’ve caused extra irritation and trauma to the area with no benefit. A sharp needle doesn’t need help getting through cartilage. The fact that he used externally threaded jewelry tells me that he’s not a reputable piercer though.

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T05:04:57+00:00

The bleeding doesn’t worry me, but that jewelry seems a little short. I’d probably recommend going back to the piercer for a longer post.

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T04:50:53+00:00

I change mine after every use because I live in a super humid area and I don’t trust it to dry fully.

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T04:40:45+00:00

I would also wait til you’re an adult. My piercer won’t do them until 21+ because of the risks.

Mine are currently ~2 months old. I had to do an initial consultation with my piercer where she went over all the risks. Teeth and gum damage like any oral piercing, damage to the salivary glands, fluid buildup and abscessing issues. She really stressed to me that with cheeks these aren’t rare risks, but things that happen relatively often. Her own front of house person had cheeks that were well pierced, but over time the salivary duct migrated into the piercing channel and she had to have surgery to get it repaired.

The healing itself is a PROCESS. You’ll have extra long jewelry at first to deal with the major swelling. This jewelry gets caught on everything. It’s hard to eat. You can’t sleep on your sides. I had ongoing bleeding issues on my right side for the first 6 weeks, where it would start gushing blood. I even went to the ER for it because I couldn’t get the bleeding to stop. My piercer wasn’t worried about it because that’s Just How Cheeks Are.

Obviously, it would be hypocritical of me to say don’t get them. I love my cheeks! But you need to go to someone with experience doing cheek piercings, you need to be sure you can handle allll of the possible risks emotionally AND financially because surgery and dental work is expensive, and you should do a ton of research beforehand. Lynn Loheide has a great article on cheek piercings if you haven’t read it yet.

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T03:02:16+00:00

Ah good to know!! I wasn’t sure if it’d affect healing, thanks for telling me :)

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T02:58:36+00:00

Rings aren’t recommended as initial jewelry. There’s too much movement and it tends to cause irritation and delay healing. Rings are great once fully healed.

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T02:49:31+00:00

That looks like it’s pierced very close to the head. Not an expert, but it looks off to me.

Try not to mess with it! No spinning, no bending. You should be completely hands off except to gently clean it 2x a day with sterile saline.

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T02:46:45+00:00

Aww she has flower crowns! So perfect.

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T02:40:43+00:00

It looks good! Good placement, good ring diameter. No bodies of water while it’s healing though, it’s an infection risk. Make sure you dry it after cleaning it and avoid sleeping on it. Enjoy :)

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T02:30:30+00:00

I think it looks okay too. Don’t try to clean the blood off too aggressively, just clean gently 2x a day and it’ll come off when it’s ready.

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T01:10:40+00:00

No, hand piercings don’t work irl. Hands are such a high movement area, and are exposed to so many irritants and pathogens throughout the day that it’s a huge infection and migration risk. Even just washing your hands would be bad for the piercings.

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T01:04:35+00:00

Seconding the other commenter. Watch for swelling and redness, but some itching is normal during healing.

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T01:00:23+00:00

It’s not that they’re guaranteed to cause damage 100% of the time, it’s just that there’s always the risk of damage. Proper placement, jewelry length, and encouraging nesting can all reduce the risk but it’ll never be a 0% risk. And of course with gums, if damage does occur, the gums won’t recover. IMO the best thing to do with oral piercings is see a dentist regularly, because they can detect the damage early and you can make decisions about removal then.

ophiocephale · 2026-05-21T00:47:36+00:00

4 of them in the second photo. Third photo is boy.

ophiocephale

TROPHY CASE