Finger Dermals, and other Bad Ideas

Microdermals are awesome! Here at Icon we are big fans of microdermal and surface piercings, which can give clients choices on piercing placements they never had before. They work by inserting a small ‘foot’ or anchor that heals into a pocket under the skin, with a small post that protrudes for your jewelry to rest on. They open us up to piercing chests and hips and backs and foreheads and many places on the body we couldn’t before. They are generally good healers, although they do eventually need to be removed and reset, the scars they leave are usually minimal. That said, microdermals are not magical. We can’t just put them anywhere on the body. Well, we could, but most of them would come back in a few weeks looking pretty unhappy, or gone completely. Why is this? Because of how they sit under the skin, microdermals do best in fatty areas, which are flat, and have low movement. This limits us greatly as to where on the body meets all criteria for a safe, and realistic microdermal piercing.

This popular image of a ‘finger piercing’ is photoshop, and not real or possible

However, thanks to the internet there are many photos (and photoshops) of microdermals in fingers, toes, on legs, all sorts of areas that are not actually practical to wear them. And, sure, we could take your money and put a microdermal in your finger, but you wouldn’t be too happy with us in a few months, and we wouldn’t want to do that to you either! So we’ve written this blog to discuss acceptable and unacceptable placement of microdermals.

Finger Microdermals We get calls and questions about these not stop. There are a slew of photos online of women with a cute, glittering gem adorning a single finger and we get it- they look super cute! But they are highly impractical and unsafe. Lets review those criteria for a good microdermal placement again. First, a Fatty Area- the fingers have almost no fat under the skin. Microdermals sit in the fatty layer of tissue, so it’s essential that enough be present to support them. Second, a flat area. Well, the tops of the fingers may seem flat, but between the wrinkling and shifting of skin, and the bones of the fingers below, they are far from it. And third, low movement. I struggle to think of a body part with MORE movement then the fingers! The finger meets zero of the criteria for successful microdermal placement. Beyond that, the very nature of a piercing which is an extended open wound on a surface like your hand is very dangerous. Ear and body piercings heal well because they are often protected from exposure to most bacteria we come in contact with on the daily, and are also not as likely to be bumped or snagged. On your finger every time you reach into a pocket or purse, slide your hand through a sweatshirt, cut raw meat for dinner, wash dirty dishes, clean up after the dog or cat, shake someones hand, or do any other normal, daily tasks you are at a serious risk! For these reasons, we choose not to perform these here and we never suggest a client getting these done- the risk of infection is serious, as is the risk of a bad scar on your hands.