Piercings during summer, or when it is better not to pierce

Every year from May until the end of the second half of September we announce a ban on certain types of piercings. Well, ban is a strong word. But we strongly advise against getting piercings before or during the summer, as they take a long time to heal.

Of course, this includes navel and nipple piercings, which are best shown to the world in summer. But these piercings need to be injected well in advance so they have a chance to heal as much as possible before we expose them to sun, sweat and water over the holidays.

Healing a piercing in the summer is most complicated by this trio:

• Pot: Long-healing piercings are often in places where we sweat a lot. And in the summer, we sweat a lot. Sweat causes irritation, plus it's a great breeding ground for bacteria.
• Heat: Bacteria multiply significantly faster in the heat than in the cold.
• Bathroom: The worst thing you can do to a fresh piercing is jump in the water with it. It doesn't matter if it's a pond, lake, sea or swimming pool. The water, even the seemingly clean and chlorinated one, contains a lot of dirt and bacteria that can easily get into the piercing channel where it will take care of a sample festering infection. Plus, the water will soak the wound. Contrary to popular belief, even sea water (salty and good for many things, but still dirty and full of bacteria) will not do a fresh piercing any good.

So it can easily happen that instead of a jewel, your belly button will be decorated with a patch, because the puncture does not heal, hurts and festers. And we'll be busy cleaning and healing your piercing.

Of course, it's not that we don't want to give you a piercing. We're Hell, and that's what we're here for. And just because we're professionals, we feel it's our duty to warn you about the risk of some piercings becoming more complicated to heal over the summer.

Every year we confirm that our rule of not piercing belly buttons, nipples and other long healing piercings makes sense. A large portion of the summer cases are just belly buttons or nipples from foreign piercers who quietly pierce them in late May or during the hot summer.

Of course, the customers themselves also have their share in the healing problems. In the studio, they solemnly promise that they will definitely not bathe and will follow the care to the letter. But after a month, they find it "sort of healed", they relax with the care and maybe even try the bath. Nothing happens once, right...

Taking care of your piercings is similar to making resolutions to run, eat well and stop smoking or drinking so much coffee. It's good for a few days, then it starts to slack off and then you give up altogether. Some piercings will forgive you. But the long-healing ones don't.

So book an appointment for a belly button piercing, nipple piercing or any of the others on the long healing list between the beginning of September and the end of April. Don't worry, Hell has been around for twenty years, we won't let you get away with anything.