10/07/2026
I talk a lot about jewelry quality. Material, grade, finish, whether it’s actually implant certified or just marketed that way.
But there’s another thing that matters just as much and gets talked about way less: jewelry style.
This week a girl came in just for aftercare spray. Pierced elsewhere, doing her research, already knew NeilMed was the right call. I asked if I could take a look.
‼️There was a nostril screw in her helix.
In eight years I have never seen a trained piercer voluntarily put a nostril screw in a cartilage piercing. A nostril screw has a wearable surface of around 6mm. For a fresh cartilage piercing that needs room to swell, that’s already a problem. She was six weeks in, no full reaction yet, but she could feel it was continuously disturbing her — and I could see her skin getting ready to make the dreaded bump
Her mom had the same piercing, same piercer, no symptoms. My instinct said: thinner cartilage — more room to swell around bad jewelry. Confirmed when she came in. She had bilateral irritation bumps on both sides and hadn’t noticed. Irritation bumps often don’t hurt.
I changed both. Flatbacks, correct length, correct gauge. The daughter texted me a photo the next day. The piercing already had more room. It was exhaling.
😡The mom was told a labret would be a problem for her and she wouldn’t be able to sleep on it.
You cannot sleep on a fresh piercing. Her ear was completely standard. Wrong jewelry, wrong information, real risk of permanent damage.
These two were lucky.
‼️99% of cartilage piercings need to be pierced with a flatback labret. Nostril, lobe, helix, flat, conch, forward helix… the list goes on. Some piercings or specific anatomy will require a ball back or a different style — but that’s the exception, not the rule.
If your piercing does not have a flatback, send me a picture or go see a reputable piercer.
Wed–Sat, 11–18h. You know where to book.
