Ask Body Candy 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, Body Candy's got you covered :).

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 Body Candy,

I pierced my regular lobe and got a keloid on my left ear and recently pierced my left helix and got a keloid again. What can I do to fix it and to stop it from happening again?

Thanks,
Zara

Body Candy: Hi Zara!

Unfortunately, people who get keloids are prone to getting them repeatedly. There isn’t really any way to prevent them, just ways to treat them after they already occur. It’s a risk you’re going to run with any piercing you get. You may want to check out this post in our blog on the subject:

https://www.bodycandy.com/blogs/body-jewelry-blog/keloids-what-how-and-why

Unfortunately, this is probably not the answer you wanted to hear but we hope it brings some good insight to the matter.

Love,

Body Candy

Dear Body Candy,

I got my eyebrow pierced a month ago with a curved bar with pretty blue balls on each end. I would catch them on my shirts, so I wanted something smaller than the balls. It is crusty, dry looking & a little red. Is that normal? I really like the piercing & don't want my body to reject it. Should i have waited longer??

- Jayne

Body Candy: Dear Jayne,

I would start with a basic question about those pretty blue ball ends. Were they acrylic or some kind of gem? Also, did you change the ball ends or the entire piece of jewelry? Here’s why that’s important: If the ball ends were acrylic, that jewelry is not suitable for performing a piercing with. Also, if you changed the jewelry too early you may have disrupted the healing process. A piercing can look totally healed on the outside while the fistula is still in the healing process and lined with fragile new cells. Removing the jewelry too soon damages those cells. While a certain amount of redness and crustiness is totally normal with a new piercing, severe redness and green crusties are a bad sign. It sounds like you may have changed your jewelry too soon and it’s also possible that you put in jewelry that may not have been sterile or made of appropriate materials. You may want to check in with a piercer and get a visual check on it as surface piercings like eyebrow piercings can be prone to rejection. All the best for you and your eyebrow!