Whats Normal: Numbness After Piercing

We’ve been talking about some of the different experiences you may have after piercing recently, from overswelling to bruising, fainting, even feeling your jewelry. But one of the less common but still ‘normal’ effects we haven’t discussed is numbness. Have you ever gotten a piercing and things felt a little numb afterward? Notice that rather than the expected discomfort or irritation around your first piercing instead you just felt….nothing? Numbness can occur after piercings, although it is not an overly common side effect. Let’s take a look today at what can cause this, and what to consider.

Localized numbness is always a possibility when doing anything that breaks the skin- from a dermatologist removing a cyst to an accidental cut, to, yes, a body piercing. Numbness is often caused by a piercing passing through or near a nerve, or due to swelling from the piercing putting pressure on nerves. While we understand where major nerves are in the body, and we are generally not piercing anywhere near them, we have very small nerves that run all over our body that vary in exact placement from person to person and can be impacted by piercing. Larger gauge piercings tend to have a greater instance of localized numbness after being done, due to the larger potential of interacting with a nerve.

For most clients, feeling returns in a few days to months. Nerves are hardy and able to reconnect somewhat easily, especially from the small damage due to a piercing. Often when folks get major surgeries nerves still reconnect and the feeling returns to previously numb areas. I myself had a large surgery that left nearly my entire torso numb and within about 5 months post-op all feeling had returned. I’ve had numbness from a skinned knee, a cut on my hand from cooking, and even just swelling from a twisted ankle. It’s a normal bodily response to any nerve damage, or even just swelling! If you have overswelling from piercing or even just a piercing that is prone to excessive swelling, that can also contribute to some numbness after piercing.

If you are very concerned you can remove the piercing, let it heal, and re-pierce it in a slightly different spot. However, there is no guarantee the same thing may not occur with another piercing. For this reason, most clients opt to wait it out, and in virtually every situation I have encountered feeling has returned in a few months.

Feeling numb after a piercing can be a bit overwhelming and scary, but it is a somewhat normal side effect of being pierced. If this occurs it’s always a good idea to get back in touch with your piercer to make sure things are ok! But in most cases, you are fine to wait it out, and within a few days to months feeling will return. Happy healing!