Anatomy: Why Can’t I Get Pierced?

Welcome to another Blue Banana piercing care guide, where we go over all of your piercing questions and piercing care FAQs. In today’s blog, we’re talking about anatomy. What is piercing anatomy, and how does it affect you? Is there anything you need to know before getting pierced? When you come to get pierced at a Blue Banana studio, our trained piercers will check that your body anatomy is okay for the piercing that you’d like. If they don’t think that your anatomy is compatible with the piercing, they may turn you away. It’s important to know what they’re expecting ahead of time, so that you don’t make an unnecessary journey.

What are anatomy checks?

Anatomy checks are performed by the piercer at your appointment to ensure that your anatomy is compatible with the type of piercing you want. Don’t worry- it’s nothing scary! Your piercer will simply take a look at the area you want to pierce, and they may ask you to stretch or sit to see how the piercing could move.

Why are anatomy checks important?

If a piercing is wrong for your anatomy, your body could reject it. We want to avoid this as much as possible, so we don’t pierce anyone whose anatomy is incompatible with the piercing.

What is piercing rejection?

Piercing rejection happens when your body cannot heal your piercing, and instead expels it. This can be painful and can lead to infection or even scarring.

Common Problems with Piercing Anatomy:

• Navel: Navel piercings are the ones that get turned away due to anatomy the most often. That’s because your piercer will need enough flesh to pierce through (Not skin; skin can be ripped through). If your belly button doesn’t have enough flesh surrounding it, we cannot pierce you. The anatomy is checked standing up and sitting down. If the belly button disappears completely when sitting down, we might say no, as the piercing will put too much pressure on your navel. Less space also means more moisture, which could lead to more infection. The piercer may also ask you to lie down- if the skin stretches out too much, the piercing could tear the skin or lead to rejection. Belly buttons that are wide/deep are also better, as they can hold jewellery better than shallow/narrow ones. The size of the belly button is considered by the piercer when picking out piercing jewellery.

• Tongue: When it comes to tongue piercings, your piercer will need enough area to pierce, so tongues with ties or webs may not be considered. We also check vein placement, as we can’t pierce through any major veins to avoid blood loss and infection. You can try to circumvent this by doing a bar on either side of the vein instead of a stud through the middle, but this is up to your piercer’s discretion.

• Mouth: Piercings like a smiley also rely on veins on the inside of the mouth; we only pierce if there’s enough skin and no risk of puncturing a vein. Your piercer may ask to look inside your mouth, and could request that you move your mouth around to show how the skin stretches.

• Cartilage: Ear anatomy is another big topic- cartilage piercings tend to be the ones turned away most frequently, as they require a nice, flat area of cartilage. Industrial and scaffold piercings, for example, need a long bar; the ear needs to be able to support the jewellery, so we check that there is enough cartilage. Otherwise, the piercing could put too much stress on your ear and not heal correctly. The same goes for conch and helix piercings: if there isn’t enough cartilage space, we can’t pierce. Pressure on the back of cartilage piercings will lead to migration or rejection.

• Bridge: Just as with the other body parts, we need enough flesh to pierce through. To check, your piercer will hold the bridge between their fingers and ask the customer to raise their eyebrows. If the bridge stretches too much, we can’t pierce, as the jewellery could migrate or be rejected.

• Surface: Again, we’ll check that there’s enough flesh. Surface piercings need to sit flat on the surface of the skin, without too much stretching or moving.

Got some questions about your anatomy? With handy online booking or spontaneous walk-in slots available, our piercing studios are always open for you! Come on in for a consultation with one of our talented piercers, who can talk to you about your dream piercings and go over any anatomy issues. Officially trained and licensed, our piercers are friendly and experienced and will answer absolutely any questions that you have, so that you can go into your piercing appointment without any anxiety! Book your consultation here.