Cosmetic Procedures, Nail Health, and Anti-Aging Treatments

Improving aesthetic appearance involves a range of treatments from topical retinoids and acids to injectable fillers and advanced laser technology.

Bare belly with sand

Scars From Belly Rings

Navel piercings, also known as belly rings, have become increasingly common in the last several decades. Those who choose to remove their navel jewelry may find that they have an unsightly scar, particularly if the piercing was traumatized in some way.

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sensual young woman

How Long After Piercing Can You Wear Dangling Earrings?

One question almost everyone asks when getting their ears pierced is how long they have to wait before wearing dangling earrings. After the initial piercing earrings are put in, your earlobes need time to heal before you can switch to the earrings of your choice.

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Bare belly with sand

How to Figure Out the Size of Your Belly Button Ring

Belly button rings are the jewelry inserted into a navel when it is pierced. Most initial navel piercings are done with a curved barbell, a piece of jewelry consisting of a stainless steel bar with beads that unscrew at both ends. Less commonly, captive bead rings may be used.

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Bearded Man

How to Use Weights to Gauge Ears

Stretching a piercing to wear larger jewelry is sometimes incorrectly called "gauging." The word "gauge" actually refers to the size of the jewelry, with smaller numbers being larger gauges.

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How Long After Piercing Can You Change Your Nipple Ring?

Nipple piercings, once the practice of a small subculture, have become quite commonplace. Professional piercers learn to pierce nipples early in their training. This frequently requested modification can be performed on almost all women and many men, depending on individual anatomy.

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Labret  piercing

How to Treat an Infected Labret Piercing

Improper aftercare or manipulation of a piercing with dirty hands can cause it to become infected. Swelling, redness and sensitivity are normal with a new piercing, and there is a difference between irritation and infection.

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the back of a young mans neck

How to Gauge the Ears Right After the First Piercing

The process of stretching a piercing to accommodate larger jewelry is sometimes incorrectly called "gauging," but the word gauge actually refers to the size of the jewelry. One of the most commonly stretched piercings is the earlobe.

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Tattooed Hispanic woman in car

How to Repair Ear Gauges

If your stretched earlobe has torn, your piercing may shrink. Repairing a tear in your earlobe is relatively straightforward if you still want to wear large-gauge earrings.

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My first earrings

What Size Gauge Is an Ear Piercing Gun?

Getting your ears pierced is a rite of passage for many girls, and even some boys too. The words "ear piercing" may well conjure memories of a trip to the mall, where you sat in a chair in the jewelry shop trying to look brave, watching anxiously while a teenage girl swabbed a piercing gun with alcohol.

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Why Do My Pierced Ears Smell?

As a piercing heals, scar tissue forms. In the process of forming scar tissue, your body sheds dead skin cells. Your piercings may also secrete blood and plasma. While a foul odor coming from a piercing can be a sign of infection, it may simply be a sign that your piercing is not clean enough.

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Modern-Day Hippie Girl With Flowers in Her Hair

How Long Before a Nose Ring Hole Closes?

When you get your nostril pierced, you are making a puncture wound in a thick piece of cartilage. Cartilage piercings take significantly longer to heal than those that go through a flap of skin, like an earlobe.

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How to Open Pierced Ears That Have Closed

If you haven't worn earrings in a long time, the holes in your earlobes may have closed. If you feel a small knot in the skin where the hole is, it is more than likely the fistula, or skin tunnel, created when your piercing healed.

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Close-up mid section of a woman standing at beach

How to Swim With Belly Button Ring

Body piercing uses a cannula, or hollow needle, to make a clean slice through skin. Because the needle enters the skin and comes out the other side, a piercing should be treated like any other puncture wound.

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Image of pierced ear, close-up

Ear Gauge Problems

Earlobes and other piercings can be gradually stretched to accommodate thicker jewelry. The word "gauge" refers to the thickness of the jewelry, measured by diameter. The smaller the number is, the larger the gauge is; for example, an 18 gauge is smaller than a 2 gauge.

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