I'm on my second hand web pierce. The first one (Had it done first week in July 99) lasted about 3/4 months before it grew out. I'm figuring that was because I had it in my right hand, and I am right handed, so the had got a lot of use.
At A Glance Author Charcass Artist Mark Studio Tie Me Down Location Milwaukee I missed that pierce so much that I had it redone on my left hand in mid-December 1999. It's still with me, and it seems to be healing great.
The first time, I had it done at Gauntlet San Francisco. The piercer marked entrance and exit holes on my hand and positioned the pennington foreceps over the marks. The marks were farther back that I had first imagined they would be, but I'd never seen a hand web pierce before, either. Once the foreceps were in place, the piercer stretched the skin out a bit and he shone a light through the skin to make sure that nothing of importance was in the bundle of skin as well. He got the needle lubed with an antibiotic salve and butted the needle against the top-side (back of hand side) of my hand web (oh yes - he disinfected the area first with a betadine pad). He held a cork to the bottom (palm side) of the web and quickly pushed the needle through.
I don't remember much pain at all, but then again, I had just had my nipple done (my first pierce ever!) minutes before. Anyway, the piercer got my jewelry ready to insert and in a moment he was fastening the ball-end. I have a 12 ga SSS barbell with a 1/2" shaft as my jewelry for the pierce.
The second time around was similar, but there were differences in the technique. I had it redone at Tie Me Down in Milwaukee. The piercer there seemed less experienced, at least with hand-webs, but not so as to scare one off. I forget what he cleaned the area of my hand with, but he soaked the jewelry in Hibiclens to disinfect it. He marked the depth of the pierce noticably deeper than the first time, but that was fine by me. This piercer didn't use a cork on the exit side, and he pushed the needle through from palm side first.
For the jewelry insertion, he mentioned that he wasn't used to Gauntlet's barbells where the ball screws into the shaft, but rather the ones where the shaft screwed into the ball. With thal kind he could screw the shaft into the end of the needle for insertion. Because of this, he had problems with insertion and had to guide it in with an insertion taper. Since the taper was larger than the hole, it was a painful little process, but when the jewelry was in, I felt better about the pierce than I had the first time around - I could flatten my hand right away. The first time, it took a few days before I could do that.
The aftercare was pretty much the same both times. I would alternate soaking my hand in a solution of hot water and betadine and a hot salt-water solution. Use the betadine soak only if the jewelry isn't gold, though. I would soak about 10 times a day - more if feasable. When the water cooled down, I would reheat it in the microwave and re-soak. I'd keep this up as long as I could. The betadine soaks especially reduced swelling when my hand was acting up. I would try to keep my hand unbandaged as much as possible, but I was wearing them a lot during the first week, and for the first few weeks while I slept.
After about 2 weeks, I had an initial healing that would allow me almost normal use of my hand, as long as I watched it and was careful. At first, I would wash the pierce with hibiclens, but am now using an antibacterial soap (easier on the hands and still kills germs). I would still recommend hibiclens on the fresh pierce, though. During the initial healing, I would swab some betadine over the freshly washed or soaked pierce to keep the germs away as long as possible.
I had relatively little swelling of my hand web area after the first week both times I had it done. Even less the second time. Now I would even mistake the thing for being fully healed (even though I know it's not inside)! There is no swelling at all anymore. I put lotion on the area when it gets dry (and believe me, the area gets really dry at times after piercing!). If the area dries out, it can get tender and hurt if bumped, but some lotion takes care of that.
All in all, I love the pierce. It is my favorite of all mine (eyebrow, hand, nipple, navel, PA) because it is so rare, and it looks wicked. From my expierence, I feel that a lot of people's reservations about this pierce getting in the way are unwarranted. Sure, there are some instances where it would be in the way, but for normal (whatever that is, right?) use, it's fine!
I am in Wisconsin and I'm wearing winter gloves all the time with no problems. I was waterskiing last summer and I could hold the tow line without a problem. Pretty much the only hindrance is the time spent explaining to people that I am not totally insane and that it didn't hurt (nonetheless I love to show it off - I'm proud of my metal!).
I would expect the true healing time to be 6 months, or a full year just to be sure. The times I mentioned above were my experience only. I've been told I'm a fast healer, so my experiences won't necessarily apply to everyone, but I have had really good experiences with the hand web despite the first one growing out.
One last recommendation - however you're handed, don't get that hand pierced. Like I said, when I had my right hand pierced, it grew out primarily because that had went through a lot more use than did my left hand. I just never realized it until I paid that much attention to my hands because of the piercing.