When Your New Body Jewelry Is "Stuck" in the Hole

It's not uncommon for a new piercing to be "stuck" in place while healing. This is usually caused by the fluids your body excretes and/or the swelling of the area due to the trauma of the new piercing. As long as you're cleaning the piercing correctly a couple of times per day, don't worry if it doesn't move much at first. It will become easier to move as it heals. Though I usually recommend taking the advice of your piercer, if he or she has recommended rotating the jewelry as part of the after care process USE CAUTION! Rotating your jewelry to prevent your skin from growing into the jewelry is an old practice which science has proven outdated and incorrect. With standard jewelry types used for a new piercing, there's usually no reason to rotate the jewelry because the jewelry being used is made of nonporous metal, meaning there are no holes in the metal for your skin to grow into. In fact, rotating the jewelry is likely to further irritate the piercing site and prolong healing.

The exception to this is if you have a type of jewelry or piercing which is more inclined to a skin overgrowth. While the skin won't grow into the jewelry, certain jewelry/piercing types (ie: l-shaped and u-shaped nose rings) are more inclined to have skin try to grow OVER and enclose a portion of them if not rotated periodically, particularly during healing.

If you absolutely must move or remove the jewelry piece, I'd highly recommend a visit to your piercer who can help you to remove the jewelry without damaging surrounding tissue and can also help you to decide where to go from there, whether you need assistance choosing a retainer for the piercing, advice on re-piercing the site if you choose to let it close, a more manageable jewelry piece to wear, etc. If you have to move or remove the jewelry yourself, the easiest time to do this is after a shower or cleaning as the majority of the dried fluids will have washed away from the area. Be careful! Go slowly to assure there are no scabs or dried fluid still attached (as you don't want that ripping away from and damaging tissue in the area) and consider using a mirror/mirrors if you can't easily see what you're doing without.