Body Piercing Aftercare
We have outlined a few things that should help heal your piercing.
Remember - These are only suggestions and if you have any adverse reactions or questions please don’t hesitate to call us.
Navel, Nipples & Genitals
These piercings can be amongst the hardest to heal due to irritation from clothing and lack of air to the piercing. Any crust formations on the jewellery should first be soaked off with clean warm water. A small amount of mild antibacterial soap should then be lathered over the piercing and left on for a few minutes. Rinse off throughly with fresh clean water - preferably in the shower. For best results this should be repeated once daily. The most common irritation with navel piercings is clothing. Waistbands of trousers, skirts, underwear etc. should be kept of your piercing at ALL times. Also try to avoid aggressive exercise and sleeping on your stomach. You may find that chlorinated swimming pools, Jacuzzis or saunas may cause irritation or infection. To prevent this try using a ‘Tegaderm’ or ‘Mepore’ or similar dressing, which is specially designed to keep the area dry and clean.
Ear and facial piercings.
Facial and ear piercings are harder to soak, cleaning after a bath or shower will make the whole process a lot easier. Wet a clean cotton bud with Antiseptic Piercing Aftercare and soak around the piercing and jewellery, making sure to remove any crust formation. When totally clean, dry the area with a fresh cotton bud. Repeat this process morning and evening.
Tongue, inside Lip and Cheek.
An oral piercing is when all or part of the jewellery is inside the mouth. The following instructions are to be used to care for the inside of the mouth. To care for the outside, follow the instructions for facial piercings. To clean the inside of an oral piercing (morning and evening with Mouthwash designed for piercings.) If an alcohol based mouthwash is used it should be diluted 1/3 mouthwash to 2/3 water. After everything you eat, drink or smoke, you also need to rinse your mouth out with salt water or diluted mouthwash (Made with one cap of mouthwash in a 500ml bottle of water) until the piercing is fully healed. With all oral piercings there will be some swelling, this is perfectly normal and the jewellery you have been pierced with is large enough to allow for this. Sucking on ice can help reduce the swelling. If you are at all worried about the amount of swelling, or the jewellery starts imbedding, please call in to have it looked at by your piercer. For the first few days of your new piercing, eating may be difficult (you may notice this especially with tongues). Take it easy, start on soft foods like soup or yoghurt and work your way up to tougher foods. We suggest you avoid hot drinks and hot spicy food at this stage. With tongue piercings it is advisable to sleep with your head elevated on extra pillows as this will help to keep the swelling down. It is also advisable to change you toothbrush as your old one may harbour bacteria. The tongue is covered in a very thin, natural healing agent called “peptide”; this will help to aid the healing process .
Micro-Dermals.
These need to be kept clean and dry and generally heal very easily. Clean once or twice a day. The easiest way to do this is to wet the piercing, then lather a small amount of mild antibacterial soap onto a wet baby sponge and hold onto the piercing for 1 minute. Rinse off throughly with fresh clean water. If the piercing becomes weepy or crusty then after 7 days follow the instructions for hot compress.
HOT COMPRESS - SALT SOAKS.
(¼ teaspoon of sea salt to ½ pint hot water)
This method works best with hot but not boiling water
Soak a cotton pad with the saline solution and place on the piercing for 5 minutes (until it starts to cool down).
This helps to open the pores of the skin. Pour the remainder into a clean container that's just big enough to cover the area (e.g. Navel/mug, Eyebrow/long contact lens case or an eggcup).
Soak the piercing for 10 minutes, making sure the water is warm at all times. This draws any of the impurities or trapped fluid out of the piercing. Your antibacterial solution should then be used to clean the area as per the above instructions.
Start this with a fresh piercing after the first week, once daily until healed. When treating a problematic piercing, twice a day is preferable
For all Piercings (excluding the tongue).
PLEASE NOTE:
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE EXACT STRENGTH OF SALT TO WATER AS STATED ABOVE.
Problematic piercings can often be caused by:
*Aggravation. (Due to clothing on the area)
*Not using the suggested aftercare products.
*ANY contact with unwashed hands or bodily fluids
By using the appropriate aftercare solution and keeping irritation to a minimum you will ensure the best possible environment for your piercing.
