PIERCING AFTERCARE
Download Aftercare Instructions Here:
Quality piercing aftercare is a must for happy, healthy piercings. Every good piercing is the combined result of a skilled piercer and smart piercing aftercare practices. If you want a new piercing to heal well, taking good care of it is a must.
If you’re new to body piercing and aren’t sure what piercing aftercare is (or exactly what it entails) don’t worry. It isn’t a state secret. The steps to caring for your new piercing(s) are simple. Just listen to your piercer and abide by the Golden Rules of Piercing Aftercare, and you’ll be… well, golden.
THE GOLDEN RULE:
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Keep your new piercing clean.
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Don’t play with your piercing.
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Don’t change your jewelry prematurely.
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Deal with problems immediately.
If you want your new piercing to heal perfectly, you have to keep it clean. There are a couple ways to go about this. By best practices, neither method involves soap of any kind. If your piercer suggests you clean an external piercing with soap, make sure you use a gentle cleanser–something like baby shampoo. Before you go there, though, try one or both of these two more natural options.
CLEAN YOUR PIERCING WITH A SEA SALT-BASED PIERCING AFTERCARE SPRAY
The best piercing aftercare sprays are saline sprays like Recovery Saline Solution. Consider buying an aftercare spray in 2 sizes: a larger bottle to keep at home for thorough daily cleansing, and a smaller bottle to carry with you.
WHAT IS IN PIERCING AFTERCARE SPRAY?
Piercing aftercare sprays typically contain a saline solution as their primary active ingredient. Saline solution is a mixture of water and salt (sodium chloride) that closely matches the body’s natural fluids. It is commonly used for wound cleansing and irrigation because it’s gentle, non-irritating, and helps promote healing.
WHEN TO USE PIERCING AFTERCARE SPRAY
Ideally, you should spray your new piercing with an aftercare spray 3–6 times per day. If your piercing has an entry and exit point (e.g. an ear piercing or belly button piercing), be sure to spray both holes thoroughly. For something like a lip or cheek piercing, where one side of the fistula (i.e. the piercing hole) is external and the other side is internal, make sure to swish a saline oral rinse around your mouth for at least 30 seconds 3–6 times per day in addition to spraying the external side of your piercing with an aftercare spray.
Any time the skin around your piercing gets hot and irritated, it’s time to spray it again. You can never apply too much saline aftercare spray, but you could over-wash your piercing if you’re using soap. (Soap dries out the skin, so it can really irritate a healing wound of any kind when overused.)
At least twice a day, you should do more thorough sea salt solution soaks for new external piercings. You can use a store-bought piercing aftercare spray for your soaks if desired.
