Getting a piercing is an exciting practice, but it does come with some risks. One of those is your body rejecting your piercing. Although the rejection is not as common as infections or keloids, it is a painful and an unnerving experience, that may stop you from wanting more piercings in the future.

When you get a piercing, your body identifies it as a foreign object, as it is a piece of metal going through your skin. It is more common on flatter parts of the body like eyebrows, belly buttons, the hip, and piercings on the surface of your skin.

Why Does Your Body Reject a Piercing?

The body is a twenty-four-hour machine that works day and night to fight infections or hazards that everyday life may cause it. When you cut yourself, your body begins to heal, fight infection, and stop any harmful bacteria from entering the wound.

The body sees the piercing as an external threat and will do everything in its power to defend you against it as its main concern in protecting your skin from dangerous intruders.

How to Tell If Your Piercing is Being Rejected

There are many symptoms of your body beginning to reject your piercing. For example, the piercing holes get bigger and the piercing can start to droop and move out of its original position. Also, the skin between the entrance and exit holes can start to peel, become red, and hard and you may start to even see the piercing begin to rise through the skin.

A piercing can start to be rejected within a week of getting it done, but it can also happen months or years after you think the area has healed. If you hit the piercing hard enough the body may register it as a threat and start to push it out.

There is no one factor that causes piercing rejection, it could simply be down to genetics, the current state of the body’s physical and emotional wellbeing, or sudden weight changes that may cause the skin to change and stretch.

What to Do If Your Piercing Gets Rejected

If you are suffering some of the symptoms of piercing rejection, it’s best that you remove it from your skin immediately, especially if the piercing seems to be moving to the top of the skin. Talk to your piercing artist as they are there to help and may offer any advice or tips on your piercing that will help avoid piercing rejection. You could also try a piercing made of a different material or a bar that is slightly bigger in size. It’s important to remember that if your piercing does get rejected, that you wait at least a year before re-piercing in that area, as the same thing could happen again. You can also use oils to reduce the effects of scarring caused by the removal of the piercing.

To avoid piercing rejection, make sure your piercing artist is using clean and sterilised equipment and the right kind of metal.