Choosing Jewelry After a Piercing at a Jewelry Store
Getting pierced at a jewelry store usually means less suitable technique is used, which limits your options when it comes to piercing jewelry. In this article, we'll cover how to choose the right jewelry if you were pierced this way, with a focus on why the right size and material matter so much.
Understanding Piercing Methods
The piercing method matters, both for healing and for choosing your piercing jewelry. Jewelry stores and professional piercers work in completely different ways.
Piercing Guns at Jewelry Stores: Practice and Risks
Jewelry stores use piercing guns because they're fast and simple. However, gun piercing comes with a number of risks. For one, the gun creates the piercing through blunt-force impact, which causes trauma to the tissue. On top of that, guns can lead to complications like infection or prolonged healing, since they can't be fully sterilised between uses. One last downside of gun piercing is size: the holes it creates don't match the standard sizing of piercing jewelry.
Professional piercers' needles: precision and hygiene. Professional piercers use sterile needles, which allow for a gentler, more precise insertion. Needles might sound intimidating to some, but the pain is actually less intense, and using a needle is far less risky. Needles come with nothing but advantages:
- Less damage to surrounding tissue
- Lower risk of infection
- Sterile, single-use needles
- Compliant with hygiene standards
- Professional piercers are trained to match the needle and jewelry size to the client's anatomy (unlike jewelry stores)
- Supports faster, healthier healing
- Opens up a wider variety of piercing jewelry
Sizing and Materials for Suitable Jewelry
Piercing Size Differences: Jewelry Store vs. Professional Piercer
Gun piercing at a jewelry store typically uses 0.8 mm or 1 mm diameter jewelry. This is a fairly standard size, but it limits your options if you'd like to wear larger or thicker piercing jewelry down the line.
Professional piercers use hollow needles, which allow for much more precise control over the piercing size. Depending on the placement (nipples, industrial ear piercings...), piercings are typically done at 1.2 mm or 1.6 mm diameter. These larger sizes give you far more flexibility when choosing jewelry, and a properly sized piercing also supports better healing. Not sure how to choose your piercer? Check out our complete guide on the blog to help you find the right one.
Choosing Materials: ASTM F-136 Titanium and Gold
Jewelry stores will typically suggest surgical steel, stainless steel or silver jewelry. However, we don't recommend wearing these materials as your first piece of jewelry. Surgical steel, stainless steel and silver earrings often contain higher nickel content or other alloys that can cause irritation, inflammation or infection, which in turn slows down healing. If you'd like to wear surgical steel earrings, we only recommend 316L surgical steel for your lobes, and only once your piercing is fully healed.
ASTM F-136 titanium and 14k and 18k gold are the best materials for your first piece of piercing jewelry. They're hypoallergenic, resistant to everyday wear, biocompatible, resistant to corrosion, comfortable to wear, suited to sensitive skin, and perfect for a healing piercing. Piercers will recommend these materials for your first jewelry, for the healing period, and for your jewelry after healing too.
Choosing the Right Piercing Jewelry: Our Tips
Choosing the right piercing jewelry after being pierced at a jewelry store means paying particular attention to size. Here are our recommendations:
How to Assess Your Current Piercing Size
1) Consider your piercing's initial size: if it was done at a jewelry store, the hole is likely 0.8 mm or 1 mm. Using 1.2 mm jewelry could be too large for a recently pierced hole and may cause pain, bleeding, or even tearing. On our site, you'll find piercing jewelry in 0.8 mm and 1 mm.
2) Consult a professional: if you're unsure which size to choose, it's always best to consult a professional piercer. They can assess the health of your piercing and the size of the hole, and recommend the most suitable jewelry for your specific case.
Choosing the right piercing jewelry, in the right size and material, supports optimal healing and lasting comfort. At Obsidian Piercing, we offer an extensive range of the highest-quality titanium and gold jewelry, suited to anyone who was pierced at a jewelry store. Visit our site to explore our collection and find the perfect piece for your style and your healing needs.
