10/24/2026
⚠️ BLOOD / TRIGGER WARNING!! PLEASE READ — THIS IS WHY ANATOMY MATTERS ⚠️
Today I received a call from a young woman who had recently gotten a Monroe piercing at a mall piercing shop in Billings.
She told me the piercing would not stop bleeding and that blood had been running down her face and in her mouth. She had contacted the shop where she was pierced and was told to find a local piercer in Cody who could help her.
When she arrived at my studio, it appeared the jewelry was too short and needed to come out. I immediately realized this was far more serious than I had expected and frankly, more severe than anything I have encountered in my entire piercing career.
This was not normal post-piercing bleeding.
The amount and persistence of the bleeding accompanied by spurts of blood projecting out of her face when pressure was released raised a serious concern that a significant blood vessel / artery may have been injured. Because this was beyond the scope of what should ever be managed inside a piercing studio, I immediately sent her to the ER here in Cody for medical evaluation where it was indeed confirmed I was correct that a facial artery had been punctured.
This is why professional piercing requires an understanding of anatomy.
A piercer isn’t simply putting a needle through whatever piece of tissue happens to be in front of them. The face contains important blood vessels and nerves, and placement, angle, depth, jewelry selection, technique, and anatomical assessment ALL matter. Injury to a significant facial blood vessel can cause severe bleeding, significant blood loss, hematoma formation, and other potentially serious complications. This is not something to take lightly.
Please stop choosing a piercing studio simply because it’s convenient, cheap, or located in the mall!!! Ask about your piercer’s training. Ask about anatomy. Look at healed work not just fresh piercings. Make sure the person permanently altering your body understands what structures lie underneath the skin they’re about to put a needle through. Piercing is a skilled procedure. Anatomy matters. Training matters. Experience matters. Your safety matters.
This young woman did the right thing by asking for help when she realized something wasn’t right, and I am incredibly glad she came in to me rather than continuing to wait. If a new piercing is bleeding heavily, continuously, or uncontrollably especially if blood is spurting or rapidly soaking through tissue do not rely on social media or wait for a piercing shop to fix it. Seek emergency medical care.
Please take your piercings and the person you trust to perform them seriously!! THIS CAN KILL YOU!
( I am gloved up and she was holding tissue to her mouth because of the severity of blood loss & this video was taken to document for doctors and the responsible piercing studio. )
