Troubleshooting a Piercing that is UNHAPPY with a Hoop

We've all had a piercing that we got imagining how CUTE it would look when we put a nice hoop in it! We wait patiently until it is healed, put a hoop in, and WHAM it's terribly angry and to our unpleasant surprise grows a HUGE bump.

This is very commonly seen in nose piercings worn with a hoop,

And also in conch piercings worn with a hoop!

Both of these images were pulled from Reddit, where the users were concerned that their jewelry has given them an "infection". Others think the piercing wasn't healed! Today I want to troubleshoot this annoying issue with you all.

First we must understand how straight versus curved jewelry affects our piercings differently!

So, as you can see in the graphic curved jewelry puts pressure on both edges of the piercing hole, pulling it towards the inside of the hoop. That strain is usually what causes our piercings to become inflamed, painful, angry, and can cause the unsightly piercing bump that is known as a hypertrophic scarring bump. (No, they are NOT keloids! To learn the difference between the three piercing bump types see this blog!)

You can ALWAYS remedy the bump and the pain by using straight jewelry that sits snugly on the piercing without extra length as long as your piercing was healed before you switched to the hoop. However, if you are dead set on wanting to wear a hoop, you can try a larger inner diameter. 

As you can see a larger hoop has a less severe angle so it tugs less on the piercing hole and has spare room so the edge of the ear or nose isn't pulling the hoop into the already agitated edges of the piercing hole! Sometimes swapping to a larger diameter hoop will solve the pain and irritation completely.

I hope you have found this blog helpful, and are able to comfortably enjoy hoops in your piercing 💞

 Until next time, 

Kourtney @ Spirit Adornments 🥰