It’s that time of year – whether you’re in high school or heading off to college, you may want to put together an emergency kit for those unexpected piercing emergencies that can (and often do) happen to all of us. And those of you who aren’t still in school, read on. Piercing emergencies aren’t just a thing that happens to students and a little emergency preparedness is good for everyone.
Sterile Saline Spray
If you’re getting ready for the unexpected, one thing you absolutely want to keep on hand is sterile saline wound spray. This stuff will not only keep fresh piercings clean, but it can also help you clean up an irritated existing piercing and see what’s going on. You woke up in middle of the night to your piercing randomly bleeding? You’ll want this to do the fine work of getting the blood off your jewelry. It’s also good for cleaning off the occasional crusty bit or babying a piercing that is irritated and sore.
Extra Ball Ends
How many times have you dropped a ball end while changing your jewelry or had one come loose and disappear? Sometimes just closing the drain on the sink isn’t enough and routinely checking them for tightness doesn’t always catch the problem beforehand. The best thing you can do is either have extra ends or extra jewelry, even if it’s just a retainer. For some reason, ball end loss always seems to happen at the most inconvenient time when the piercer is closed, so having some extra hardware around may actually save your piercing. And if you have trouble hanging onto ball ends, Body Candy happens to offer this nifty ball end grabber tool to make your life a little bit easier.
Jewelry Tools
Speaking of ball ends, sometimes you wind up with the opposite problem - the dreaded stuck ball end. One way to deal with this nightmare is to have a pair of coated pliers, designed specifically for using on jewelry without damaging it, and a pair of latex or nitrile gloves for traction. Another option is a ball removal tool. These are aluminum tubes with silicone lining, designed to grip onto your ball end and give you enough leverage to remove it.
Plugs
If you have stretched lobes, something to consider would be spare plugs in multiple sizes. Glass, single flare plugs in both the size you currently wear and one size smaller (as well the O-rings to keep them in place) are definitely something you want on hand for emergencies. If you have issues with your current jewelry, you may need to change it out to something nonreactive. Or, if the problem is related to a fresh stretch and you need to remove the larger size, you’ll have fresh jewelry around to give your lobes a rest. You’ll also want to have some spare O-rings around. Better safe than sorry!
Stuck Jewelry
Another reason to have a pair of coated pliers around? Stuck segment ring syndrome. This is when you got the ring in and snapped it shut…. but cannot reverse the process for love nor money. These are great to hang onto that hoop while you try to open the clasp. Another useful tool for this is humble dental floss. This is strictly a last resort, but you can try holding the ring with the pliers and looping a goodly length of dental floss around the segment. Using the pliers to keep the ring from pulling your piercing, pull the dental floss to try and open the clasp. This, again, is strictly a last resort and ideally, it’s something you should leave to your piercer.
Piercing Kit Storage
Whether you keep your emergency piercing kit in your locker, backpack, dorm room or your car, you'll need a vessel to store all of those pieces. If you're a minimalist, a ziplock bag works perfectly! If you're looking for something with a bit more structure, our travel jewelry box is the perfect solution. Check them out here --> shop jewelry box. Alternatively, a glasses case could work or even a small tupperware container. Feel free to get creative!
Emergencies happen no matter what time of year it is. The best thing you can do to handle them is to be prepared for anything! A small kit to handle piercing emergencies doesn’t take up much space and can be a huge help in keeping a piercing problem from turning into a piercing disaster. And don’t forget – when in doubt, consult your piercer!
