We've Got a Bleeder Here!

Generally, tattoos and piercings produce very little blood. A few drops at the most and it's over. But every now and then one can be stubborn and refuse to stop dripping. That's what happened to my husband yesterday when he got his lobes pierced.

Even though I wasn't worried, knowing this does happen from time to time, I was really at a loss as to how to stop the bleeding. Obviously, alcohol or some other kind of styptic product was out of the question. He tried just leaving it alone only to sop up the droplets of blood when necessary, to allow it to clot on its own. No luck. He tried ice for several minutes to slow the flow of blood - unsuccessful. Finally we called Kristin, our piercer, and she suggested the simplest and most obvious answer - pressure.

We hadn't thought of just applying pressure because I was afraid a "squeezing" action might actually make it worse. Don wasn't sure "how" to apply pressure to a double sided wound with a barbell in the middle of it. But, after pinching around both sides of the hole for 5-7 minutes, sure enough - the bleeding stopped.

This morning, he had a lot of dried blood surrounding the piercing again, but after a hot shower and gentle washing, it seems to be in good shape. So, if you get caught off guard with a bleeder, don't panic. But here are a couple of reasons we think may have caused his complications:

• This was the fourth time that particular ear had been pierced - 2 with stud guns ages ago, and then once with a needle several years ago (he had to remove his piercings for his job). The extra scar tissue that the needle had to go through could have caused more bleeding than usual.
• He went with a 12 gauge piercing this time, as opposed to the usual 16 or 14. The larger hole can certainly result in more bleeding.

And even though these weren't part of my husband's situation, the following can also cause excessive bleeding in a tattoo or piercing:

• Alcohol - don't drink alcohol for at least 6 hours before any tattoo or piercing.
• Pain killers - some pain killer - especially aspirin - can thin the blood and cause excess bleeding.
• Prescription blood thinners - if you are on any kind of constant blood thinner, check with your physician before getting any tattoo or piercing.