Lupus and piercings

I don't actually know the answer (I'm sorry!) but this might help you in other ways since you have Lupus.

I also have Lupus, and I loooove tattoos and piercings. I have several tattoos. But over the years, getting pierced became really hard because my body started rejecting everything. I tried a lot of piercings because I just wanted something unique and cute. I have several earrings but I got all those when I was around 13-16. I have a nose stud, but that's been there since I was 16 also.

Anything I got after age 16 didn't take. And that's when I started developing Lupus symptoms. I don't know if the two things are actually related or not, but it wouldn't be surprising. I tried sea salt, different salves...nothing worked. I tried a monroe, lip, septum, second nose stud. But I realized it just wasn't gonna happen.

But I have SLE, not dermal Lupus. I'm not sure what you should expect or if Lupus and the rejection had anything to do with each other, but there it is. I hope you find an answer! When you do, you should post it because I'm also curious.

Lynnwood said...
There is a contingent of people who believe their Lupus is associated with metal fillings in their teeth. No conclusive scientific evidence, but I would rather "be safe than sorry".

If you must try a piercing, you might want to make sure the jewelry you wear is either surgical stainless or 14K (or more) gold. These are much less likely to cause reactions than a lot of the less pure 'pot' metals with nickel, etc in the mix.

Glad you said this, Lynn! My successful piercings involved surgical steel. Even the piercings that were successful got infected with any kind of fake metal. Eventually, it had to be steel or I couldn't wear it. Now, my nose stud and every earring is surgical steel, and it makes life a thousand times easier. And they look pretty!

I found out by accident that acrylic or "bio-flex" jewelry is the best for us lupus people! I was going thru my 2nd foot surgery (the 1st made me remove all metal, piercings included which closed up after 2 days even tho they were 6mos. old) & decided to try acrylic, which I found at Wal-Mart so I wouldn't have to remove them. After 24hrs of wearing them, I found no more crusties & no more sensitivity! Love them! I had the daith pierced 4 migraines which didn't work, so I tried the tragus (suggested by piercer which has worked 100% so far) and can't believe the positive difference. My Dr. also told me titanium was supposed to be better than surgical steel too, but if it's no longer broken, why mess w/it! Best wishes!