Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Practical Pointers for Perfect Permanent Piercings

By Susie Maxwell

You want to wear your body jewelry. You've invested the money, undergone the piercing, and now you're ready to show it off. Follow the practical tips below to enjoy your chosen pieces Body jewelry can last as long as you want it to.

* You should always take into consideration the effect that your body piercing will have. s Consider whether you will be bothered by how others see you. It's your choice to wear body jewelry. But if it's visible and you think your employer may not approve, make sure your decoration can be easily removed when appropriate.

* Get any body piercings performed by an expert. Make sure that your health is not compromised. Unsterilized needles and instruments can spread HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and other infectious diseases. Make sure your Tetanus and Hepatitis immunizations are up to date, and do not hesitate to ask questions.

It is important to keep your piercing clean, treat it as though it were a puncture wound, which it essentially is. Pierced hole infections are very common in fresh piercings, and mean that you won't be able to wear and enjoy your new body jewelry for long. If you have facial piercings it is recommended that you do not wear makeup during the first several days to a week.

* When it comes to new body piercings, there are some types of metal that are not good and should not be used. The greater the amount of nickel body jewelry contains, the greater the allergen risk. Using nickel, which is not biocompatible, in pierced body jewelry may cause difficult healing and sensitivity issues. For your first piece of pierced body jewelry, do not buy jewelry made of the following metals.

- Bronze and Brass; varied alloys were employed in use and more often than not caused skin irritations which were painful, and also potentially serious infections.

- Chromium and Cadmium are each toxic in nature and even absorbable by your skin.

- Copper too may produce an adverse skin reaction.

- Gold Plated pierced body jewelry is a particularly bad choice because you pay a little extra for the gold plating, which will eventually rub off to expose the underlying metal.

- Pewter; many pewter alloys contain lead and could expose you to lead poisoning.

- Tin also contains traces of lead.

- Nickel causes allergic reactions and you should never use pierced body jewelry that contains this metal. In many European countries, it is illegal to sell pierced jewelry that contains more than 0.5% nickel.

- With a 0 rating for Sterling silverThis body jewelry is 925% real silver, so be cautioned that some contents may be other possible skin irritant metals. All silver oxidizes when it contacts body tissues, fluids and air. Silver is also a soft metal that can easily be nicked or scratched, and bacteria could grow in these nicks. Silver body jewelry is perfectly safe to wear in healed piercings.

- Gold: You maybe amazed to know that gold is not used for body jewelry in the initial piercing. While it is a fact that greater grades of gold , 24 and 18 karat, the hardness of the metal depends on gold's karat and nickel count. The softness of high karat gold means that it is prone to bumps and dents and bacteria can breed in these imperfections. Because 14-karat gold alloy is comprised of a variety of metals like silver, copper, brass and zinc and sometimes nickel the safer route would be to not buy gold jewelry for the first body piercing.

* It is recommended that your body jewelry is made out of a more expensive metal. The following metals are recommended:

- Surgical-quality Stainless Steel; this relates to surgically implant grades 316L or 316LVM and it is probably the most widely used metal for pierced body jewelry. Nevertheless, many people do have allergic reactions to SSS, and some Europeans countries have actually prohibited its use for new piercings.

- Niobium is quite a bit costlier than SSS as well as more durable. It is ideal for those who are greatly sensitive to metals and for your initial body piercing jewelry. It comes in gray or colorful anodized finishes.

- Titanium is considered a high-grade type of metal containing under05% of nickel content in it. It is strong and cannot be scratched or dented. Titanium is the most expensive metal used for body jewelry. Because it is anodized, it is available in a broad range of hues. If you are hypersensitive to SSS and Niobium and if your pocketbook permits it, then you should choose titanium for your first piece of body jewelry.

Keeping the above pointers in mind when you buy your first body jewelry will help you select the perfect piece. - 16650

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