Feeling faint?

One of the biggest worries for people coming in for piercings is that they might faint. In this blog post, I will help you understand why you feel faint during a piercing procedure, and how to avoid it and recover faster.

Have a picture of a fainting goat before we get into the nitty gritty.

What causes faintness?

During a piercing, the main cause of faintness is caused by a drop in blood sugar and blood pressure. Getting a piercing can be a stressful situation, especially if you are new to the piercing world. Usually, people feel faint after a piercing, as they relax and their blood pressure drops, and not enough blood gets to their brain. You may experience symptoms such as -

• dizziness and other changes to your vision

• cold skin and sweating

• nausea

• slurred speech

How to prepare for a piercing

The best thing to do is to make sure that you eat properly before your appointment. By properly I mean a meal or snack with high protein and fats, for slow blood sugar increase. A lot of people give the advice that you need to eat a lot of sugar before your appointment, but by the time you have had the piercing, you will be experiencing a blood sugar crash as well as a blood pressure drop. Try to avoid energy drinks as they can increase the risk of fainting.

After you have eaten, always let the piercer know if you feel that you might experience faintness. There should be a section on the consent form for this.

During the piercing

Try to relax! Big deep slow breaths, chat to your piercer, and enjoy the procedure as much as possible.

If you experience any symptoms of fainting, let your piercer know. Don’t be afraid, they will not judge you, they will just want to help you feel better! In all honesty, they should be looking out for changes that suggest that you are having issues.

What will happen if you feel faint

Your piercer will lie you back, tell you to keep your knees up and bent, and give you some time. They will likely offer a glass of water, and probably a sugary snack. This is the time to have some sugar, which will help you bounce right back.

Take your time here, sitting up when you feel comfortable. You might start feeling bad again, so don’t feel that you can’t lie back down again. Eventually you will feel good, and be ready to leave the shop. If you leave the shop and start to feel bad again, head back in and take your time.

At the end of the day, your piercer wants to help you, as well as making sure that you leave the shop with a lovely new piercing. They have dealt with it all before, and should know what they are doing!