Commonly Asked Questions

So your piercing has gotten a bump on it. Step one- Don’t Panic. Seriously. These bumps aren’t the end of the world. The first thing that needs to be done is figuring out the cause of the bump. This is best done by visiting a reputable piercer or working with one online to help determine what is causing this irritation. Trying to guess what is causing it yourself at home isn’t going to be enough, so definitely seek out a piercer if your piercing has become irritated or grumpy. Irritation bumps have a few different causes, including but not limited to:

• an incorrect angle on a piercing (causes pressure, creating bumps)
• low quality body jewelry such as “surgical steel”, silver, or mystery metals (causes a reaction with the skin, forming irritation)
• Hitting your piercing, snagging it, or bumping it (causes trauma/wounding creating bumps)
• makeup, hair products, hair dye, harsh tooth paste, and other skin products (can clog piercings and cause bumps)
• Over cleaning (causing irritation from movement)
• Under cleaning (crust builds up on and around the jewelry, and the tissue under it becomes irritated)
• Lacking the correct anatomy for the piercing (the piercing isn’t stable/pressure caused from anatomy and angles)
• Sleeping on a healing piercing (irritation from pressure)
• Moisture buildup, including not drying the area after cleaning, leaving hair wet after showering, large jewelry that is tricky to dry behind, etc (excess moisture can cause a specific “Wetness irritation” or wet, fleshy tissue around a piercing)
• Getting Sick (nose piercings in particular get grumpy when you are sick as well! A cold, the flu, strep- when you are sick, your piercings get sick too)
• Improper Aftercare (using harsh chemicals like peroxide, alcohol, or ointments like Neosporin can cause irritation)
• Swimming with a healing piercing (both chlorine from a pool and bacteria in oceans and rivers can cause irritation)
• Swapping to a hoop too soon (changing the shape of the jewelry in the piercing can often cause irritation if the piercing was not ready)
• "Hammerhead" bumps (unique irritation to male presenting nipples, often caused by piercing through the aerola)Credited by Lynn Loheide

Keloid is the most common “diagnosis” for an irriation bump. Keloids (or keloid scarring) are unique type of scar tissue formation. They are a result of overgrowth of granulation tissue and collagen at the site of a healed or healing wound and tend to be firm, rubbery in feeling, and sometimes shiny. They can vary in appearance from one skin tone to the next, anywhere from a dark brown to even a red in color. A keloid scar is benign, but often accompanied by itching, pain, and changes in texture of the skin on or around it. Currently science believes keloids to have a genetic component, meaning keloid scars tend to run in families, and are genetically disposed. If your mother or father doesn’t keloid, the chances of you forming one are slim.