On February 1st, 2008, Gabriele of Maxart Bodypiercing in Rome, Italy did a scalpelled nape procedure, and a year later it had healed nicely (as you can see in the left image below). A little redness and scarring around the edges (zoom in for a closer look), but almost none of the rejection or migration as is common with surface piercings done without surface-specific jewelry. By using a scalpel rather than a needle to create a large, non-destructive hole, big enough to form a “flap” that could sit comfortably over the jewelry without the jewelry putting pressure on the tissue above it, Gabriele avoided using something like a surface bar specifically designed to mitigate the pressures that lead to tissue dying off. Surface bars are great of course, but many people prefer the look of a ring to a pair of beads, especially in this age of microdermals. As you can see in the right two pictures, taken at five years after the piercing was done, it’s remained very solid long-term — and as the late Erl proved, piercings like this (his nape was almost identical) can last for decades.
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I’ve always been interested in this procedure…I remember seeing the very same one pictured here (i think) on bmezine galleries. However i couldn’t really figure it out. I guess it’s just a case of scalpalling a flat hole…No cauterizing, no stiching…!?
To add my two cents, surface piercings especially napes, have to be done in the correct fashion, a skilled nape piercing such as my own is now in it’s 15th year, although migration has occurred yes, however 5-7 years in the placement was almost the same as the day it was pierced.
I’d like to see this after 10 years and see how it’s doing! but yes it looks great and is amazing!
Vinni, I’d love to see yours and post about your experiences with it — if you have the time, send me a picture of it directly at [email protected] and a little writeup.
for 5 years old it looks pretty red at the opening imho …
Vincent – It’s not uncommon for tissue larger around piercings to have this tone semi-permanently (without necessarily being indicative of a problem).
I had my nape pierced for about 3-4 months. One of the least painful piercing procedures, but also the most annoying piercing I ever had.