10A.3 Hand Web Piercing
Description
This article is from the Piercing FAQ, by Anne Greenblatt with numerous contributions by others.
10A.3 Hand Web Piercing
by "Surf" 1994
I'm on my second hand web pierce. The first one (Had it done first
week in July 1993) lasted about 3/4 months before it grew out. I'm
figuring that was because I had it in my right hand, and I am right
handed, so the had got a lot of use.
I missed that pierce so much that I had it redone on my left hand in
mid- December 1993. It's still with me, and it seems to be healing
great.
The first time, I had it done at Gauntlet San Francisco. The piercer
marked entrance and exit holes on my hand and positioned the
pennington foreceps over the marks. The marks were farther back that I
had first imagined they would be, but I'd never seen a hand web pierce
before, either. Once the foreceps were in place, the piercer stretched
the skin out a bit and he shone a light through the skin to make sure
that nothing of importance was in the bundle of skin as well. He got
the needle lubed with an antibiotic salve and butted the needle
against the top-side (back of hand side) of my hand web (oh yes - he
disinfected the area first with a betadine pad). He held a cork to
the bottom (palm side) of the web and quickly pushed the needle
through.
I don't remember much pain at all, but then again, I had just had my
nipple done (my first pierce ever!) minutes before. Anyway, the
piercer got my jewelry ready to insert and in a moment he was
fastening the ball-end. I have a 12 ga SSS barbell with a 1/2" shaft
as my jewelry for the pierce.
The second time around was similar, but there were differences in the
technique. I had it redone at Tie Me Down in Milwaukee. The piercer
there seemed less experienced, at least with hand-webs, but not so as
to scare one off. I forget what he cleaned the area of my hand with,
but he soaked the jewelry in Hibiclens to disinfect it. He marked the
depth of the pierce noticably deeper than the first time, but that was
fine by me. This piercer didn't use a cork on the exit side, and he
pushed the needle through from palm side first.
For the jewelry insertion, he mentioned that he wasn't used to
Gauntlet's barbells where the ball screws into the shaft, but rather
the ones where the shaft screwed into the ball. With thal kind he
could screw the shaft into the end of the needle for
insertion. Because of this, he had problems with insertion and had to
guide it in with an insertion taper. Since the taper was larger than
the hole, it was a painful little process, but when the jewelry was
in, I felt better about the pierce than I had the first time around -
I could flatten my hand right away. The first time, it took a few days
before I could do that.
The aftercare was pretty much the same both times. I would alternate
soaking my hand in a solution of hot water and betadine and a hot
salt-water solution. Use the betadine soak only if the jewelry isn't
gold, though. I would soak about 10 times a day - more if
feasable. When the water cooled down, I would reheat it in the
microwave and re-soak. I'd keep this up as long as I could. The
betadine soaks especially reduced swelling when my hand was acting
up. I would try to keep my hand unbandaged as much as possible, but I
was wearing them a lot during the first week, and for the first few
weeks while I slept.
After about 2 weeks, I had an initial healing that would allow me
almost normal use of my hand, as long as I watched it and was
careful. At first, I would wash the pierce with hibiclens, but am now
using an antibacterial soap (easier on the hands and still kills
germs). I would still recommend hibiclens on the fresh pierce,
though. During the initial healing, I would swab some betadine over
the freshly washed or soaked pierce to keep the germs away as long as
possible.
I had relatively little swelling of my hand web area after the first
week both times I had it done. Even less the second time. Now I would
even mistake the thing for being fully healed (even though I know it's
not inside)! There is no swelling at all anymore. I put lotion on the
area when it gets dry (and believe me, the area gets really dry at
times after piercing!). If the area dries out, it can get tender and
hurt if bumped, but some lotion takes care of that.
All in all, I love the pierce. It is my favorite of all mine (eyebrow,
hand, nipple, navel, PA) because it is so rare, and it looks
wicked. From my expierence, I feel that a lot of people's reservations
about this pierce getting in the way are unwarranted. Sure, there are
some instances where it would be in the way, but for normal (whatever
that is, right?) use, it's fine!
I am in Wisconsin and I'm wearing winter gloves all the time with no
problems. I was waterskiing last summer and I could hold the tow line
without a problem. Pretty much the only hindrance is the time spent
explaining to people that I am not totally insane and that it didn't
hurt (nonetheless I love to show it off - I'm proud of my metal!).
I would expect the true healing time to be 6 months, or a full year
just to be sure. The times I mentioned above were my experience
only. I've been told I'm a fast healer, so my experiences won't
necessarily apply to everyone, but I have had really good experiences
with the hand web despite the first one growing out.
One last recommendation - however you're handed, don't get that hand
pierced. Like I said, when I had my right hand pierced, it grew out
primarily because that had went through a lot more use than did my
left hand. I just never realized it until I paid that much attention
to my hands because of the piercing.
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