How do they heal?
Most normally healing piercings can become discolored in the immediate vicinity of the piercing. This can be a reddish, brownish, pinkish or purplish discoloration. In certain piercings this can remain for many months and be perfectly normal. Since a piercing involves the body healing around a foreign object, rather than the usual process of restoring the body back to a pre-trauma state, discoloration may remain for a period of time. Some localized swelling or induration is not uncommon during healing stages and is not necessarily indicative of complications. Oral piercings such as tongue and lip often swell significantly for several days following the piercing. Healing piercings normally excrete a small amount of plasma, lymph, and/or dead cells. It should not be excessive in quantity, malodorous or green. It dries on the ring at the openings of the piercing forming a small amount of crystalline-appearing crust.
