Sometimes emergencies and accidents happen, and it's not always possible to immediately take a trip to your local piercing studio. You may be travelling on a holiday, in the office for the work day, or it's late at night.
So what do we do in events such as these?
We're going to cover some scenarios and give some advice and tips on what you can do (as a temporary measure) until you can visit your piercer for help.
The most important first tip: Remain calm, and do not panic.
Can you find the missing jewellery piece?
If you are know where you were when the jewellery piece came loose, it's often easy to locate after some searching. As most jewellery is shiny, shining a light as you search can be very helpful.
They can also travel quite far if they have been dropped on any hard surface and bounced. Ensure to check under furniture, and on top of.
If you lost it during the night, gently shake your blankets and bedding while listening for any sounds of the missing piece.
Can you re-fit the jewellery yourself?
If you think you may be able to fit the jewellery yourself, here some tips for you, and a helpful diagram on how different types of jewellery and threads work.
In a cup or bowl (sink not advised in case of dropping into drain) wash the jewellery in some gentle anti-bacterial soap and water. Rinse well, and dry.
Always wash your hands before touching your piercing.
In your bathroom, plug your sink and put something soft like a hand towel in case you drop the piece so it has somewhere soft to land.
If you have access to vinyl or latex gloves they are a very useful tool to help with grip. Alternatively, you can use some disposable kitchen towel sheets.
Gently try to fit your jewellery pieces back together. If you have threaded jewellery, they will need to be screwed together. Threadless or push-fit jewellery fits together by inserting the pin into the bar or post, and gently pushing them together until they are flush. Ball closure rings are probable the trickiest - insert the ring into one of the bead indentations and line up the other side, gently push until you hear it click into place.
What to do if you cannot find your jewellery/ have lost the entire piece/ cannot fit it yourself:
As previously mentioned: remain calm and don't panic. Reach out to your piercer as soon as you can and make them aware of the situation so they can assist you.
Sometimes we don't always know at what point or where jewellery has gone missing, or we are unable to fit the jewellery ourselves without risking causing damage if the piercing is still in the healing phase. There are some tips that we can give to tide you over until you can see your piercer.
It is important to remember that these tips should only be used in the case of an emergency as a temporary measure. These tips should not be used for more than a few hours or day at the most.
Tip: Labret Bars
Can be flipped and re-inserted into the piercing upside down. With nostril piercings, where gravity may play against you this is a very useful tip to have.
You can place a breathable plaster (adhesive bandage) over the inverted bar for extra security.
Tip: Ball Closure Rings
Funnily enough, even though this type of jewellery is the fiddliest to fit yourself, it's one of the easier ones to find a temporary solution to. By rotating the ring so that the opening is furthest from either side of the piercing and using a plaster (adhesive bandage) to hold it in place.
Using a spare earring
While this is not ideal, neither is losing jewellery and risking a piercing shrinking or closing all together. In situations where we have lost the entire jewellery piece, if you have any old earrings that you can fit, this will keep your piercing open. It is very important that you see your piercer ASAP and do not leave this jewellery in for any period of time longer than necessary. This is a temporary solution until you can have appropriate jewellery fitted.
To Summarise...
Don't panic.
If you can't find or fit your jewellery yourself, reach out to your piercer for help.
Regularly check your jewellery attachments for security.
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