Microdermals
Microdermal surface anchor piercings are a ‘new’ form of body piercing (they have been around for hte last few years in their current form although the general idea has been around much longer), that is similar in style to transdermal implants. These are a single point piercing this means that there is only one end of the jewellery showing. These are considered to be a permanent body modification, compared to traditional body piercing. Once placed the skin will grow through the holes in the microdermal base within a few weeks of the piercing and secure it in place, it is important in the first few weeks of healing to be careful with the microdermal as it is possible to pull it out. As these are relatively new it is unclear just how permanent they will be, as such are sometimes referred to as ’semi-permanent’.
The reason these are becoming so popular is because, unlike transdermals, the procedures to insert these are much less invasive and can be done with a needle or dermal punch, and, in hteory, can be placed almost anywhere on the body. Below you can see a picture of microdermal post that is inserted into the skin and a ball attachment, this picture is not to scale as the microdermal post base is only 1.8mm wide and 6mm long (so think much smaller).
Microdermals should only be perform by a highly skilled and trained piercer as the chance for complications is high. It is also very important to ensure that the jewellery that it is used is of a very high quality due to the permant nature of this piercing and the placement under the skin.
Jewellery
There are many designs of jewellery avaliable and are used for microdermals. It should not be taken lightly, when getting a microdermal done, the quality of the jewellery being used. Do not be afraid to ask the piercer the quality of the jewellery they use. The lowest quality jewellery that must be used for microdermals is Implant Grade quality Titanium (grade 23) technical specification: 6Al-4V-Eli ASTM: F-136. The jewellery should also have a very high quality smooth finish and polish to avoid complications during the healing process and after. It is also important to enquire to the guage of the post for microdermals as there are commonly two different sizes being used and this will affect the choice of attachments available to you.
The attachements for microdermal jewellery are externally threaded (the microdermal post is internally threaded), when buying attachments it is important to make sure that the guage for the thread of the attachment matches that of the guage of the post or the attachment may not fit and you could cause damage to the internal threading of the microdermal post. The most common guages being used in microdermal jewellery is 14G (1.6mm) and 16G (1.2mm) this refers to the guage of the post of the microdermal stud that the attachment screws into. Attachments should be labelled as fitting either 14G or 16G internally threaded jewellery and as such it is important to ensure that the correct gauge attachment is purchased to fit the guage of the microdermal that you have. The material quality of microdermal attachments isn’t as important as the posts that are implanted in to the skin as they can be removed and replaced at will, and there is a wide range of attachments available with a varying degree of quality.