Experience & Review - Hip Dermal Anchors
14:55It was about April 2011 when I finally plucked up the courage to go and have some dermal anchors put into my hips. I had wanted them for a while and had looked on various review sites and watched Youtube videos of the actual piercing technique to help me decide whether to go ahead with it or not and to prepare myself.
So on the day I went to my local piercing academy, which is of a high quality, you do not want to get them done by an amateur, no way josé. I decided I wanted two in each hip to balance them out a little better, so at £20 a pop that came to a whopping £80! The things we do for beauty... Anyway, so because I'm a wimp and opt out of pain at any given opportunity, I had two plasters of numbing cream placed on my hips, in roughly the area I wanted the piercings and was told to go and walk around the shops for an hour.
After the hour was up, I went back to get pierced. Firstly, they have to measure and mark you up, to make sure they pierce you symmetrically, nobody wants a wonky set of dermals... Mine took about 40 minutes because I'm too much of a damn perfectionist and made them re-do them about six times to make sure they were straight and ended up settling on the first marks they made, oops.
Source: www.weheartit.com
When I had decided on the jewellery I wanted putting in, which looked like the ones in the image above, the area on my hips was cleaned and I lay on the 'bed' ready to be pierced. How they pierced mine was, they used a special tool to pierce and remove some of the flesh (mmmmhmm, lovely!). This hurts a little, It wasn't too bad where it had been numbed, however they hadn't numbed a large enough area and so one was considerably more painful. It wasn't scream-worthy, merely a grind your teeth together and wince. But it is over in no time, so it really isn't too bad. Once they have made the hole for the jewellery, they place
it in by pushing the foot of the bar in and then pull it to a right angle, securing the bar underneath the skin. When they do this you can feel a pop inside your flesh, this means that they have secured properly and it is a truly bizarre thing to feel yourself popping. Again, this does hurt but it is over in no time, unless it doesn't secure properly, which then means they have to take the jewellery out and repeat putting it in, which is a pain in the bottom and you lay there thinking "Eugh, just secure already" and "Not again!".
Source: www.alibaba.com
My dermal anchors were the same kind as in the image above. With two larger holes in the longer end of the bar and then a smaller one in the shorter side. These holes are there to allow you flesh to grow through them, anchoring them into your body.
After they were pierced I took a look and I loved them, they look lovely :). So I was all bandaged up with plasters and off I went back home, which is where the problems started...
The piercer gave me some spare plasters and so I used these to cover them for a couple of days so that they had chance to start to heal and secure properly, without getting caught on my clothes or jabbed about. I really did love my dermal anchors and was really happy that I got them done. I took care of them and cleaned them regularly.
This is unfortunately the only picture I have of my dermal anchors :( boo.
So anyway, all was well with them until one week after, when I noticed that one of them had started sinking into my skin, I gently pulled it upwards and it sat on top of my skin as normal, so I though no more of it. But slowly, around the edges of my skin started to turn pink and they started to sink in, I had no idea what was wrong, they weren't infected because I made sure they were cleaned regularly and had carried on putting plasters on them so I know they hadn't gotten caught on anything. The next day it was getting hard to even pull them back to the top of the skin anymore and so I went back to the piercer's, where they told me it was because of the plaster's I had been putting on top of them, they weren't breathable plasters and so they had made the skin around the piercings go soft, allowing them to sink.
I was really relieved they weren't infected, however they told me that the only way to stop my skin from healing over the entire jewellery would be to change the gem that I had screwed into the tops to a larger one that wouldn't fit into the soft area of skin. Apparently, it should have been £15 per dermal, however they let me have it for £10 per dermal, the price of just the jewellery, no additional charge. This was becoming one very expensive set of piercings! It was either pay an extra £40 to have them changed and keep my piercings or pay £40 and have them removed. I'm sure you can guess my decision, I kept them.
The heads were changed to pink ones about four/five times the size of my cute little gems. I wasn't that easy though, as the person who had screwed on my previous heads has screwed them on too tight and now the piercer who was trying to unscrew them was finding it very difficult. The first two hurt, worse than getting pierced but I grit my teeth and told myself this is what I had done to myself, there was no point in complaining, it had been my choice. The third one unscrewed a lot easier and all I could think was thank god for that! No more pain. Ha! The fourth was the worst pain I have ever experienced in my whole life. I kid you not.
The fourth one was so tight that the piercer couldn't try to hold the bar by pinching it beneath my skin, like the rest. Oh, no... He had to use a clamp on the stem of the bar and then use another to try and unscrew the damn thing. Now, this isn't like a normal piercing where the other end is also out of your skin for them to grip while they twist it, to stop it from moving, the other end on these suckers has your flesh grown through the little holes in the bar to keep them in place. So, basically whilst he was trying to twist the head he was also twisting the bar, along with my flesh and it hurt like a *Insert explicit words here* and it took him ages to finally get the little bugger unscrewed. The pain got so bad at one point that, even though I was trying so hard not to cry or shout, a (what I thought was little but actually turned out to be loud enough for my boyfriend downstairs to hear) squeal escaped and tears ran down my cheeks. I wasn't crying as such I just couldn't help my eyes watering or should I say pouring it was that painful. I was made to sit up, take deep breaths and have some water, to prevent me from passing out. The piercer knew how painful it must have been as he kept apologising throughout, i'm sure the scrunched up faces I pulled must have been amusing though, hehe!
It was only two months after I had gone through all of that pain that the first dermal got pulled out. It didn't take much, all I did was pulled my leggings a little higher and it ripped clean out, it hurt a little and bled but I was more sad than anything. Not long after the 2nd ripped out and then the 3rd a few months after that, until I had only one remaining :( that one was ripped out two days ago and I can't express how glad I was to see the back of those stupid piercings.
Pro's to Dermal Anchors In Your Hips:
♥ Look pretty.
♥ Unique.
♥ Sparkle-ify your belly.
Con's to Dermal Anchors In Your Hips:
☠ Very expensive, £120 to be exact!
☠ You literally cannot wear anything but tights and leggings as anything that doesn't come higher than the piercings i.e. jeans etc. catch and cause too much pain.
☠ They rip out far too easily.
☠ They rip out far too easily.
☠ They are painful.
☠ They didn't even last a year.
I know people who have had dermal anchors in other places and have said that they didn't hurt them at all and haven't ripped out. Whereas, others who had them in their hips, also said they hurt. So, I'd recommend dermal anchors, just not in your hips, they were just a waste of money in my opinion and they caused me more pain and grief with clothing than they were worth. I now have two faded scars on one side and two more noticeable purple ones on the other, from more painful ripping outs of the dermals.
I just wanted to share my story and experience of them with anyone that is trying to decide whether to have them or not because if I'd have seen this post from someone else before I had mine done I would have spent my money on something more beneficial. :)
Lot's of Love,
Hayley xxx
I just wanted to share my story and experience of them with anyone that is trying to decide whether to have them or not because if I'd have seen this post from someone else before I had mine done I would have spent my money on something more beneficial. :)
Lot's of Love,
Hayley xxx
10 comments
I so appreciate your honesty.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I could help :)xx
ReplyDeleteI got 2 hip dermals 2 years ago and I still have them. When I got them pierced my piercer told me not to cover them up, and not to clean them with anything other than water (unless they get infected). He said for the first month, however, I needed to wear bandaids to bed to insure they didn't get snagged out during my sleep (and also-no swimming/hot tubbing for a month). I RARELY have any issue with them at all, I notice that if I go out tanning everyday, they might hurt like once a month in the summer and I found out it's because of the sweat, so just rinse water over them after tanning/exercising. (Also be careful with a shower louffa) Other than that I have had no issues with them at all, I love them and if I had the chance I would get them done all over again. I can wear anything I want, pants, lacy underwear... ANYTHING. Nothing ever bothers them, they rest flat against my skin (no sinking) and also, these are the ONLY piercings of mine that I haven't had problems with (I have 6 ear piercings, and those have all been infected and/or extremely swollen at one point or another-so it's not like my body just responds well to piercings).
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry your experience wasn't amazing, my guess is a lot of it probably had to do with the first month of care, especially if you couldn't even wear jeans (my jeans end RIGHT wear my dermals are- so you'd think if anything.. that that would irritate them by constantly rubbing over them every time I move, but it doesn't)
On the bright side, there is still plenty of hope for other people looking to get dermals- mine have lasted 2 years and they still look just as perfect as 2 years ago when I got them
That's good :) I've had friends whose dermals have been fine and I think for the most part they are ok, it was just bad luck the way mine turned out but thankyou for sharing your experience :) x
DeleteWould it hurt if someone layed on you and you have dermal piercings
DeleteWould it hurt if someone layed on you and you have dermal piercings
DeleteMine didn't hurt if anyone laid on them but mine were obviously in a soft area (on my stomach), I don't know if it would hurt in a different area, as I know some people have them along their collar bones etc. :)
Deletecan please any one tell me what is photofacial and does velashape work?
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to find a review that is this honest! Thank you! I still haven't decided if I want them though...
ReplyDeleteWhen I got mine I couldn't find any personal reviews and although I'm sure people have great results it's useful to know the negatives too :) let me know what you decided to do! :)
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