Aftercare

 

CARING FOR YOUR NEW PIERCING

Irrigation is the cornerstone of your aftercare routine. This step involves rinsing the front and back of your new piercing with saline solution, helping to prevent a build-up of the crusty, scab-like residue that forms on a healing piercing.

I recommend using a sterile, pre-made saline spray such as NeilMed Wound Wash (sold in studio) or other medical saline solutions (ingredients should be 0.9% sodium chloride and water). Simply rinse the piercing for a few moments - spraying directly on the area is easiest - then gently wipe away any crust or debris from the piercing area and jewellery with gauze or paper towel. Pat dry gently. Be careful not to remove scabbing, which will be stuck to the wound and painful to remove.

Showering is an important part of the care as well. At the end of your shower, after washing your hair and body, make sure your piercing is rinsed well to remove any soapy residue. Ensure the piercing area is dried well but be gentle to avoid towel snags! (A hair dryer on ‘cool’ setting can help.)

 

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM YOUR PIERCING

  • For the first few days after a new piercing, it’s very common to experience mild bleeding, tenderness, or bruising. Swelling is also to be expected and can last for up to 12 weeks depending on the type of piercing. I (or your other piercer) will discuss healing times with you during your appointment.

  • Itching, dryness, and redness surrounding the piercing site are also to be expected. During the initial healing stages, you may see some clear or milky-white fluid around your piercing, which will dry to form a scab-like crust on the jewellery. Though often mistaken for signs of infection, these symptoms are due to normal secretion of lymph and plasma during the healing process. Please contact me or call the studio if you have questions or concerns.

  • Once healing is complete, the jewellery may be changed with care and with suitable body jewellery. Cleaning your piercings should continue to be part of your daily hygiene routine, otherwise normal but smelly body secretions may accumulate. This is not harmful but can build up on jewellery.

  • Fully healed piercings can shrink or close in minutes, even after many years. To keep your piercing open and healthy, always wear appropriate body jewellery or retainers. Jewellery should only be removed if you plan on permanently retiring your piercing.

 

WHAT TO AVOID

  • Removing or changing jewellery before the healing is complete. You may feel like it has healed, but it is usually still healing on the inside. Changing jewellery too soon can damage the fistula (piercing tunnel), causing swelling, pain, and complications. I (or your other piercer) will advise you of the time required for your particular piercing.

  • Moving, turning, or rotating the jewellery. In fact, doing so is akin to picking at a scab and can irritate or damage your piercing. When cleaning, wash your hands first and avoid moving the jewellery as much as possible.

  • Sleeping on your piercing. Try your best to sleep on your other side or on your back, and avoid pressure from clothing or headphones. I don’t recommend getting cartilage-based piercings on both ears on the same day. Pressure, especially during early stages of healing, can lead to migration (moving the piercing from its original location) or cause it to heal at an angle. A travel pillow can help protect your piercing while sleeping.

  • Swimming or submerging your piercing in pools, lakes, or other bodies of water. The bacteria and debris in this water (as well as chlorine in pools!) make it unsafe for an open wound such as a piercing. You increase your risk of infection dramatically if you swim before your piercing has had time to heal.

  • Using non-recommended aftercare or home remedies. You may see them suggested online, but tea tree oil, aspirin paste, Bactine, rubbing alcohol, peroxide, and cleansers with benzalkonium chloride or triclosan can all cause irritation and damage your healing cells.

  • Oral contact with your piercing. Saliva contains many bacteria that can be introduced into your wound, leading to infection and irritation. Any oral contact needs to wait until the piercing has fully healed.

  • Getting makeup, perfume, lotion, or other chemicals on your piercing. These contain many ingredients not suitable for a healing wound. Keep makeup, lotions, etc away from the piercing site until it has healed. If you accidentally get some on the piercing, you can use a drop of unscented antimicrobial soap (e.g. Pursan) to gently wash the area.

 Frequently Asked Questions

 

  • Fortunately, infections are fairly rare when it comes to piercings, but they do happen. Some redness, swelling, and discomfort are totally normal for a piercing, especially when it’s very new, but more serious symptoms can indicate infection and need to be treated by a doctor. These include:

    • Severe redness, swelling, and/or pain

    • Discharge that is yellowish, greenish, or greyish, and foul-smelling. Small amounts of clear or milky-white fluid are to be expected (this is what dries to become the scab-like “crusties” on a healing piercing.)

    • Streaks of red spreading outward from the piercing site

    To treat an infection, you will need to visit a doctor. They will most likely prescribe oral antibiotics, sometimes along with an antibiotic cream. It is not recommended to remove the jewellery from the piercing - this can trap the infection under the skin, causing an abscess. Most piercing issues can be treated without having to give up the piercing.

  • There are multiple reasons why guns are not a safe choice for piercings -

    • Piercing guns cannot be sterilized. This means that blood or other body fluids from previous clients will contaminate the machine and may be transferred into the next person’s body. A number of serious bloodborne illnesses - hepatitis and staph infections for example - can live on surfaces outside the human body for days or even weeks. A single contaminated piercing gun could infect dozens of people. On the other hand, piercing needles are sterilized (either by the manufacturer, or in studio along with your jewellery) and only used for one piercing before being discarded. In fact, almost everything involved in your piercing process (with the exception of some specialized tools which can be scrubbed and re-sterilized just like a hospital) is sterile and used once - even the markers!

    • Piercing guns cause more trauma to the ear. The earrings used in guns are not very sharp, so in order to create a hole, they need to use a lot more force than a needle would need. This means that the wound created is more like a tear than a clean cut, which is more painful, more work for your body to heal, and more likely to cause swelling, bruising, or even scarring. There is also the possibility of the gun malfunctioning and the earring not going all the way through the ear, causing further damage and risking the safety of both the client and the gun operator when attempting to unjam the machine from a bleeding cut.

    • Earrings used in piercing guns are not appropriate for a healing piercing. The studs used are too short to fit safely on an ear. Even if the earring is long enough to allow the butterfly backing to be attached without squeezing the ear, there is still no space to allow room for swelling. This can result in the ear swelling over the jewellery, trapping it under the skin and requiring it to be cut out surgically. Additionally, the materials used are not safe to be in the body long-term. These studs are often plated with gold, which is safe for the body, but this extremely thin layer (only 0.005-0.0025 mm!) is easily scratched off or worn away. When this happens, the metal underneath is exposed, and it can rust, corrode, or cause allergic reactions.

    For more detailed information on piercing guns, and piercing safety in general, read more at the Association of Professional Piercers.

  • Some safe materials include:

    Implant-grade titanium (ASTM F-136, ASTM F1295, or ASTM F-67 compliant)

    Niobium

    14-18k solid gold that is nickel- and cadmium-free

    Borosilicate or soda-lime glass

    While there is a wide variety of jewellery available for piercings, it’s best to be cautious about the materials used. Many pieces of inexpensive or costume jewellery, though beautiful, are made of materials (such as plastic, acrylic, and “mystery” metal alloys) that are not suitable for wear inside the body, and may be painted, coated, or have gems secured with glue. These components often break down in our bodies, leaching toxins and damaging healing cells. Steel is another common metal used for piercing jewellery, and while implant-grade steel does exist, it’s not easy to find. Most steel you see will be “surgical” steel (316L stainless) which is safe for some people but the nickel content (~10-12%) means that many people are allergic to it.

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