Dear Alley is our weekly advice column for pierced, inked, and amazing individuals (and everyone else too!) who might need a nudge in the right direction. Relationships, mods, or whatever, Alley's got you covered :).

Do you have a question for Alley, submit it to DearAlley@bodycandy.com for your chance to get featured!

Disclaimer: Body Candy is only here to give you fun and helpful advice and information when it comes to getting pierced. Always consult a professional piercer to make sure a new piercing is right for you!

Dear Alley, 

I need your help... So for some background information. I have come to believe that I have a mild nickel allergy because when I wear earrings with nickel the piercing gets irritated and red, however this does not occur on my neck, arms, or hands when I wear other jewelry.

I got my nipples pierced early last year (2019). The piercer said it could take anywhere from 9-12 months for it to be completely healed. I am quickly approaching 12 months and they aren’t healed. They’re still scabbing and from time to time there’s a little pus. Nothing severe so I’m not sure if they are infected or if the bars have nickel in them and my body can’t heal properly. That being said, do I take them out and let them close or should I change the bars to nickel free and see if they heal.

Any information is greatly appreciated. I know your advice is limited due to no visual aid.

Thank you!

- G

Alley: Hi G!

Nipple piercings do take quite some time to heal up - a year is a good amount of time to shoot for... But it sometimes takes longer or shorter than that too! It all depends on each individual person's body, anatomy, and whether or not you've been taking good care of your piercings.

I think the first step for you is to define what "scabbing" is to you. Do your nipple piercings sometimes have yellowish "crusties" near the piercing site? Is the "pus" clear/yellowish? This is completely normal, even with healed piercings.

Conversely, Is your scabbing more of a red scab, like one that forms around a wound? Is your "pus" opaque and green/yellow/white? Do your piercings have a smell? Are they red, irritated, painful, dry, or chapped? If this is the case, I think you might want to have them check out - that might be a sign of an infection or severe irritation. 

Either way, I think it's time for you to pay a visit back to your professional piercer, just in case. While you are there, they can determine whether or not your nipple jewelry is ready to be changed out and can probably provide a better perspective on whether or not it's your nickel sensitivity causing your healing issues. If so, I recommend titanium body jewelry (it is relatively inert and biocompatible as far as metal goes) or a pair of bioplast nipple barbells (also biocompatible - it's a nice flexible plastic initially meant for use in medical settings).

Your piercer will be happy to help and will make sure that everything goes smoothly!

Love,

- Alley

Hi Alley,

My question is really fast, are led belly rings dangerous ?

-Gisselle

Alley: Hey Gisselle!

By "led" belly rings, do you mean LED (light emitting diode) belly rings? The kind that light up? These can be a really cool look for a party setting or in the dark and are certainly a creative way to show off your belly button piercing!

As long as you don't have any sensitivities to any materials (lots of people do) and your navel piercing has completely healed up before you swap your jewelry out, you should be just fine wearing an led belly ring. Make sure the belly button ring is clean before you put it in, and you should be good to go!

Without seeing the led belly ring in question, it's hard to know the exact advice to give... In this instance, I think it will just come down to what material the bar is made of and whether or not it agrees with you. But just in case, at the end of the night, swap out the led bellybutton ring with something a bit more basic for a comfy night's sleep.

P.S. If on the off-chance you meant a lead (as in the metal) belly ring... Definitely do not put that in your piercing!

Love,

- Alley 

Hi Alley!

I've been  considering getting my nipples pierced but as I'm the kind of person that likes to do tons of research on things, I can't seem to find any videos of nipple piercings being done. I know it's probably a taboo thing to post online but even male nipple piercing videos are hard to find. I assume there might be some over seas videos somewhere but I'm not sure where to look.

I've also heard it can take up to a year to heal! Which makes me wonder if I should do both at the same time or do one at a time so I can still 'enjoy' nipple play. Also, does it really take that long?

I know my nose piercing took some time to heal but I'm guessing it's because I'm not young anymore and I've had previous allergies to metals. Anyway, thanks for always providing great things to read!

- Jenny

Alley: Hey Jenny!

There are two different questions here, let's start with nipple piercing videos:

Unfortunately, there is a "taboo" aspect to showing nipples, which means that they often can't be shown on sites like YouTube. We did our best to create a few nipple piercing experience videos for people to check out... One male (with more anatomy being shown) and one female (with more of a face reaction shot). Hopefully these show a little bit of what you're looking for!

In terms of nipple piercing healing time, you're dead-on. Nipple piercings take approximately a year to completely heal... Sometimes a bit more, sometimes a bit less. Whether or not you get both pierced at the same time is a personal decision - do you want to heal them both simultaneously over the course of a year or do you want to endure two+ years of heal time between each piercing?

While they are healing up, absolutely refrain from any sort of nipple play whatsoever - including even gentle poking and prodding. Any bumps or snags can really set your healing time back, so be ready to be hands-off for quite some time.

If you think your metal sensitivity will give you a problem, ask your piercer to use titanium barbells in your nipple piercing - it is one of the most biocompatible metals!

Love,

- Alley