To get the most out of your piercing, it's good to be able to change your piercing jewelry yourself. Technically, it's no more difficult to change a ring in your earlobe than in your navel. If the piercing has healed, it's more or less just a matter of cleaning it, possibly using some lubricant, and threading in the new jewelry. But...it can sometimes be really tricky and fiddly to do, depending on which piercing it is and which jewelry model you've chosen.
Tiny rings, balls, and crystals with threads that should fit into rods. Not only that, you also have to manage to get the piercing jewelry through the piercing, which may be in a place where you can't reach or even see the entrance hole...but with the right technique and tools, you can learn to change your piercing jewelry without it becoming an all-day project :)
In principle, changing jewelry in a healed piercing is no more difficult than changing earrings in the earlobes. When the piercing is healed, there is a small "passage" through the body, that is what the piercing itself is and as long as you have chosen the right size for your new jewelry, it should just slide in when you pierce the hole. Regardless of whether it is a ring or a bar that you are going to put in, changing piercing jewelry should never hurt, if you have to push or pry, you risk damaging the piercing, take it easy and carefully and be careful with hygiene. Another tip is of course to ask a friend for help :)
First and foremost, the piercing must be completely healed before you start tinkering with it. If your piercing is irritated or is still healing, you should not change the jewelry yourself without consulting a body piercer. If you are unsure, you should always contact your piercing studio first for a consultation. If you think you can change your jewelry, there are a few things you should prepare before you take out your jewelry.
Make sure you have everything ready. Lay out the jewelry, any tools, cleaning wipes, etc. so that you can easily reach them.Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. This prevents you from drawing dirt and bacteria into your piercing. If you have nitrile gloves or similar, use them, as they will give you a better grip.Wash the piercing jewelry. If your piercing has healed, washing the jewelry with soap and water, or some germicidal agent, is enough. Rinse thoroughly so that no residue remains in the threads etc.Close the drain in the sink and lay out a towel in front of the bathroom mirror if you change your piercing jewelry. This is to prevent the jewelry from disappearing down the drain if you happen to drop it!Don't stress. If you are not used to changing your piercing jewelry, you should do this when you have time. Not when you are going to a party in 10 minutes. Stress makes us clumsy and the risk is that you will irritate your piercing, lose your jewelry, or not close or tighten the threads properly.
Handling a small piercing can be really tricky. If you use Nitrile gloves, you will get a much better grip & control over the piercing. Better grip means smoother insertion of the piercing into the hole, less risk of irritating the piercing & less risk of dropping the jewelry down the drain if you are standing in front of the bathroom mirror. Using gloves when screwing a top or ball into your bar means that you can tighten it properly, when you screw on the ball/top with just your fingers it can often feel like you have tightened it rock hard, but in reality it is just your fingers sliding on the ball.
A piercing pliers or so-called piercing pliers are very useful when you are changing piercing jewelry on yourself. It makes the change easier as it is easier to access than your fingers do, regardless of whether you are changing a ring, bar or top, you will have a use for this! The pliers are the type of tool that piercers often use if you get professional help changing your piercing jewelry in a studio.
At Barbarella we sell pliers with both straight and curved jaws, choose the one that feels easiest to use for you.
A proper pair of tweezers can work as an alternative to a pair of pliers when you are changing piercing jewelry on yourself. It makes the change easier as it is easier to access than your fingers, regardless of whether you are changing a ring, bar or top, you will have a use for this!
Insertion pins of the right size facilitates the insertion of mainly bars into your piercing. There are insertion pins that are suitable for both internally and externally threaded bars, we of course also have insertion pins for Threadless jewelry. It is advantageous to use lubricant to make the insertion of the jewelry even smoother.
If you use traditional BCR rings or older models of segment rings, you often need a locking ring pliers. It is almost a must if you use piercing jewelry in thicker sizes that are often completely impossible to open with just your fingers because the material is so hard. The locking ring pliers are a tool that widens the ring slightly so that the ball or pin that has been clamped releases. When you put your ring back in, it needs to be closed. Since the locking ring pliers sometimes widen the ring so much that the ball or pin can no longer be fixed in the ring, a ring closer may be needed. With this, you clamp the ring together again. When this is done, you can either try to clamp the ball again with your fingers, or use the locking ring pliers to widen the ring just slightly so that you can pry the ball into place.
How to change piercing jewelry depends of course on the piercing, but if you are going to insert a bar in, for example; nipple, navel, cartilage piercings, lip etc., here are some tips: Finding the hole on the back of your piercing can be difficult and feel almost impossible if it is an ear piercing, for example, you have to be patient and with a guide stick you can easily guide it into place. If you want extra good control, use a Peang or Tweezers which are much finer than our clumsy fingers and can therefore make this work easier. Keep in mind that changing piercing jewelry should never hurt, if you have to press or pry, you risk damaging the piercing, take it easy and carefully and be careful with hygiene. Another tip is of course to ask a friend for help :)
When you change a top (the front of the bar), for example, it is always a breeze to screw it on. Once you have succeeded in this, you should also tighten it properly. This may sound like a no-brainer, but many times it can be difficult to get to with our clumsy fingers, plus the bar twists and we don't get a good grip. With a peang you can easily hold the bar, which makes it incredibly much easier to hit the threads in the top correctly. When you hold the bar with pliers, it is also much easier to then tighten the piercing jewelry properly so you don't risk losing the ball or crystal. It is best to use nitrile/latex gloves to get a really good grip so that it sticks properly.
Threadless piercing jewelry has no thread to screw on, Threadless piercing jewelry has no part of the jewelry has any threads (hence the name), you push the small pin on the top into the rod about 1/3, angle it a little so that there is a small bend on the pin and push it all the way into the rod and it stays in place. The bend in the pin ensures that the top is tight with the help of the tension that occurs. Threadless jewelry has become very popular in recent years, there is a plethora of different tops in different models as it is basically only your imagination that sets the limits for how they can look with this system.