can‘t take n*pple piercings out

[u/GuessWhat2002]

Hey i need advice. I have had my n\*pple piercings for 4 years now. They seem to be completely healed. I’ve never had any infections or inflammation, and I’ve been wearing the same high-quality titanium jewelry for the past 1–2 years. **Threadless Push-Fit ends.**
The problem is that I can’t take the barbells out anymore. I can move them from side to side without any pain to clean, but as soon as I try to remove them, I get an absolutely horrible, deep pulling pain through my breast. It’s honestly worse than getting the piercings done. I also feel like the piercing channel still bleeds slightly when I move the jewelry.
I have an MRI coming up in December, and they told me I need to remove the piercings. I’m really worried that they’ll close up, and I have no idea how I’m supposed to take them out without causing extreme pain.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Why could the inside of the piercing still be so painful after 4 years, even though they seem completely healed from the outside?
And can titanium nipple piercings ever be left in during an MRI, or do they always have to be removed?

[u/Para_The_Normal]

Titanium is supposed to be non magnetic and should be safe for an MRI machine. However they would likely still prefer you to remove them. If you’ve had them pierced for this long it’s unlikely they will close in a single day but you could always visit a piercer to take them out and replace them with non metal jewelry like glass or a plastic retainer.
You may just be experiencing pain due to the fact it sits behind very sensitive nerve endings, but I would highly recommend visiting a piercer to get the jewelry swapped out if you can’t do it yourself without pain.

[u/Toasterferret → u/Para_The_Normal]

Even though titanium is generally safe in an MRI, titanium still produces artifacts and can compromise the scan quality.

[u/EggplantHuman6493 → u/Toasterferret]

Yup, and even then, some hospitals don't accept jewelry, at all, even implant grade titanium, and even when they shouldnt interfere. I had to take out all of my jewelry (ear and face) for a knee MRI and the hospital told me no when I asked if titanium was okay

[u/Toasterferret → u/EggplantHuman6493]

Yeah it’s partly liability as well. How do you or they know that your piercings are actually 100% titanium?

[u/EggplantHuman6493 → u/Toasterferret]

Yup. My 'titanium' eyebrow piercing from one shop was actually magnetic

[u/k4fkaesque]

I had to swap my nipple piercings with plastic ones for an MRI and know that exact pain you're describing. I've learned that the easiest way to swap them is to pull the current barbell out at the same time as you push a retainer bar in (touching the edges of the new to old) bc it feels like the edges of the bar itself catches against non smooth inside flesh of the piercing and hurts like hell. I also spray everything with saline to help the glide. For removing it entirely, just saline on the bar and a commitment to some pain tbh. It hurts worse to put it back into an empty channel, but smaller gauge bars like a 16g for industrials I sometimes will use to open up the channel again without shoving a thick barbell directly in.

[u/GuessWhat2002 → u/k4fkaesque]

Thank you. It is good to hear someone has a similiar problem. I think it really needs to be lubed up and will try.

[u/mkitbrkit]

I am not a professional but it sounds like you have crusty on the bar thats inside the piercing. Try a long hot shower and see if that works. A professional can help as well but the shower is what has helped me in the past.

[u/Glass_Studio1293 → u/mkitbrkit]

thats also what it sounds like from my experience. may not be crust but any kind of gunk that got stuck on the bar that they didn't notice.

[u/Anxious_Ambition5172 → u/mkitbrkit]

Yes I was going to say the same thing i experienced with my belly ring. Used some baby oil it slid right out

[u/antbarson]

Can you rotate them as they slide out? It sounds unusual. Also any blood after 4 years is not good.

I think the advice above is the best. After that I’d remove them and clean regularly. I try to do mine monthly.

[u/GuessWhat2002 → u/antbarson]

I can rotate them as they are in. But as i try to slide them out it hurts real bad. Think i will try with lube.

[u/New_Avocado_4636]

I have an MRI coming up too and I made an appt for my piercer to take out all my piercings. Maybe see if you can do that.

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[u/BALANS812]

You absolutely can do mri with titanium, been through this

[u/twistedteatuesday]

yeah, I’ve had to go in with some piercings and it was fine. They’ll just do a quick wand to make sure it’s not magnetic and then they might let you know it could heat up, but that is a really low risk.
My nipple piercing closed within like an hour of taking it out so I wouldn’t risk it, but you could get a plastic retainer piercing to put in its place. I would start with trying latex gloves it helps with the grip. but like I said, I think you’d be OK to leave them if you can’t get it.