Your jewelry and/or body part where the piercing was placed becomes discolored? The piercing infects or you get an allergic reaction? It may have happened to you before. This can have many causes. One of the causes is the (bad) material of the piercing. Find out in this post what harmful types of piercing materials there are and what disadvantages they have!
Piercings with nickel
Nickel is a transition metal which is found in all kinds of objects. The most common objects are jewelry, clothing, eyeglass frames, euro coins and other items such as doorknobs. Inksane does not sell jewelry with nickel in it and we strongly advise against it. The reason we advise against it is because nickel is irritating to the skin. In addition, many are allergic to nickel.
Nickel allergy is one of the most common allergies. 10% of women suffer from this. You get an allergic reaction where your skin came in contact with nickel-containing objects. The symptoms for a nickel allergy are clear and easy to recognize. For example, in most cases you have a red itchy rash (eczema). After a while, the skin around the piercing may flake (dead cells released). Sometimes blisters can be seen and it may be moist. The symptoms pass after a while, and you can live perfectly symptom-free if you avoid nickel. If you are not sure if you have a nickel allergy, you can get a skin plaque test/allergy test (paste test examination, patch test) take place.
Brass (brass), copper and silver piercings
These materials are made to make (inexpensive) jewelry. It is like gold work well allowing for a wide range of designs. But, these fabrics are not noble and do respond to oxygen. As a result, there are possible harmful substances released.
Silver Is the most commonly used material in jewelry. Generally a good material for piercing jewelry but not for newly set piercings. It is similar to titanium but there is a big difference. Silver is not an approved material in fresh piercings and titanium is. Silver oxidizes on contact with moisture (wound fluids, blood, etc.) and can turn black as a result. With a fresh piercing, this can also turn the skin black. Often that discoloration is permanent. This is called an angoria or silver tattoo. Silver is also very flexible so it can deform easily. This makes silver almost impossible to get smooth and scratch-free. Bacteria crawl into scratches and that causes inflammation.
Plated/coated piercings
Also known as veiled called piercings. A good example is the "gold plated" piercing. The base of a plated piercing consists of a material with only a small layer (color or shine) on the outside. After a while, the outer layer wears off. The only question is when. If it comes off on the skin, it can look ugly. You don't always know what the material and/or outer layer is made of. They may be substances you can't handle well or harmful/not resistant to the body. We do not recommend coated piercings. If you do want to wear coated piercings, make sure you only do so with fully healed piercings. Otherwise, this may cause complications. Better prevention than cure!
Surgical steel piercings
Many think that surgical steel is a safe material despite the fact that it is basically just stainless steel. Surgical steel is easy to clean, is not expensive and is widely available. But many people are allergic to nickel, so jewelry with surgical steel is only used for piercings that have already healed. Jewelry for new piercings should only be hypoallergenic materials contain. Hypoallergenic is a term widely used in the cosmetics world. It is a material that contains fewer substances to which you can react allergically.
In our shop, we do not use the above materials. We use only safe and sterile quality jewelry. In our webshop you can take a look at our jewelry. Would you like to have a (new) piercing placed at Inksane? Make an appointment by using the button below!
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