Just out of curiousity why do you find aftercare to be easier with a ring than a barbell? A barbell would have to be slightly longer just to accomodate any swelling so being able to push it one way, clean it off with Q-tip, and push it the other, and clean it with Q-tip is pretty much the same.
(I've heard arguments where people say the ring is easier to turn and rotate around, which is something you don't really want to do while it's healing. Turning and rotating the jewellery is what people tell you when you get your ears pierced with a piercing gun. Their jewellery tend to be lower in quality and thus, porous. Harbours bacteria and skin may adhere to the jewellery and that is why they tell you to rotate the jewellery. If you get pierced properly with an implant grade material that is polished to a mirror shine you would not have this problem and there is no need to irritate your piercing further by rotating the jewellery.)
With the ring it makes sense that it get's knocked around a bit more and all but I also find that if you're not careful, dragging in dried lymph and pus that are on the ring into your healing piercing sucks a whole lot.
Ok I ramble too much, your turn!!!
Hey! Someone that knows what they're talking about...
I think that the big thing is actually being willing to deal with an up sized barbell as well as the whole "push to one side, clean, push to the other, clean again" thing. Lots of people say they'll take care of a piercing, but compliance to aftercare instructions is probably far worse than one would like to believe.
I think that barbells are marginally more work/trouble than having a ring in place that you can just soak/clean and not really worry so much. It cuts out the longer barbell stage, and any issues that could arise from someone swelling more than was expected and not having much room for movement. Also, if they manage to get it infected, things can get pretty out of hand pretty quickly, and I personally think that a ring would keep management of that a little more controlled.
The people I know that are involved in tattooing/piercing people tend to assume that unless its someone they know will take care of it, the simplest aftercare is the best. I'd say that the (admitedly small) chance of complications makes a ring the easier choice. And, I've not really seen many serious situations from a ring catching on things. Minor or funny stuff yeah, but the only bad story I've seen with a piercing catching is definately not repeatable on this site.
I guess like anything else in the whole tattooing and piercing industry there's lots of personal opinion and arguments about which way is "right". In the end, I figure as long as you can give a decent reason for what you're doing and are going to keep things clean it all works out in the end.
So, if you thought you could ramble, I probably just topped ya there!
And, my personal opinion (feel free to stop reading here, we're well on our way into my thoughts on things... and since none of you really know me, there's not much reason to think I know what I'm talking about) on the ring/turning thing is that if its clean and a decent grade of metal then it shouldn't be a big deal... totally speculation, but I'd imagine that some movement of a clean piece of jewelry would stimulate a minor immune response and help keep things healthy. Also, I can't see how there'd be harm in exposing whatever was building up in there to air and sliding one's cleaning solution through a piercing, so I say that if its clean, a turn or two won't hurt anything. (and if you're moving a barbell through, how is that different?)
