How To Care For
Your Piercing
First, what type of piercing did you get?
Let us tell you what you need to use.
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What to use:
NeilMed NeilClense Wound Wash -or-
A prepackaged Sterile Saline Wound Wash product containing only USP Grade Water & USP Sodium Chloride @ 9 mg/ml (0.9%), with NO additives.
There are a lot of saline wound wash products on the market! Please ensure that your saline contains only the above ingredients. Wound Wash products that contain additional ingredients are too harsh for the delicate healing of a piercing, and can cause irritation. Homemade saline is difficult to mix appropriately, and impossible to keep sanitary as it is stored. If you are unable to find appropriate saline, we would prefer you use warm water.
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What to use:
A new toothbrush and
An alcohol-free mouthwash (such as Crest Pro Health)
Now On to Maintenance;
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Wash your hands prior to cleaning or touching your piercing for any reason.
Only clean once per day. (Over cleaning can cause irritation and mechanical damage to your piercing.)Always add heat and moisture to your piercing before trying to clean it. That means doing a warm water rinse, using a clean, warm, wet compress, or cleaning your piercing after a warm shower. A warm water rinse or shower is preferred, as nothing but water touches your piercing.
Pro Tip; Turn on the tap to warm, and allow that water to run over your piercing for 2-4 minutes. This will do a lot of work to loosen up and remove crusties and increases blood flow to the area, which helps healing. To use a warm compress, wet down a clean white paper towel or cotton cosmetic pad and gently hold it over and around the piercing site until it has cooled, 2-4 minutes. Be careful when you do this to not distort your piercing or apply pressure!Your piercing will develop “crusties” as it heals, which is a buildup of drainage that dries into an accumulation around the piercing site. This is totally expected. Crusties can start as early as 1 week into healing, and can continue on and off for months. Varying shades and colors of drainage are acceptable and expected in moderate amounts. Should drainage seem excessive or unusual in any way, it could be worth a trip to see a professional piercer.
On days when your piercing has few or no crusties, after using heat and moisture, use saline to gently flush your piercing site. Dab up the surrounding moisture with a clean paper towel, q-tip, or cotton cosmetic pad, and you’re good to go!
On days that you do have a crusty build up that remains after heat and moisture and a gentle saline flush, saturate 2-4 pointy/cosmetic Q-tips with sterile saline solution. Using extremely gentle circular motions with a light touch, wipe away built up drainage from the front and back of the jewelry and the piercing channel. Cleaning between your skin and your piercing jewelry is the goal, but too much disruption or knocking of the piercing can cause damage (even if it doesn’t hurt!). So please be nice to your new healing piercing. It is trying it’s best.
Cleaning off drainage allows the piercing to breathe and heal, and prevents the sandpaper effect that crusties can have. Expect to clean crusties from your piercing off and on for approximately 3/4 of your total healing time, reducing in frequency as you progress through healing.
DO NOT twist or turn your jewelry through the healing time. The idea that you have to twist your jewelry to prevent it from being “stuck” is an outdated understanding. If your jewelry feels stuck it generally means that it needs a thorough cleaning. Take a warm shower and/or gently flush the piercing under the warm water. When you get out if it’s still feeling stuck use saline to flush the area and as a last resort, very gently use the saline soaked q-tips to clean any debris or material from around the piercing. After a gentle but intentional cleaning, your piercing should no longer feel stuck.
DO NOT clean with incorrectly mixed saline solution, or first aid products like alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, witch hazel, soap (including gold dial-an outdated method), tea tree oil, bactine, or antibiotic ointment. This can damage healing tissues, increase healing time, leave residual buildup, prevent air circulation, and/or increase overall complications. If sterile saline is unavailable, use warm water flushes or warm water on Q-tips.
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Maintain good oral hygiene, brush 2-3x per day, and always at least once before bed
Rinse with alcohol free mouthwash for 30 seconds 2 times per day. Using mouthwash more than 2 times per day will irritate your piercing and could lead to negative oral health implications, so don’t over do it!
Rinse with cool bottled water regularly throughout the day to prevent particulates and residue from building up around your piercing! Anytime you eat, drink, smoke, or put something in your mouth that isn’t water, rinse out with cool water after to keep everything fluid and moving.
Suck on ice and eat cold foods and drinks to reduce swelling in oral piercings. This feels great and helps reduce inflammation. Do this as regularly as is comfortable, it’s doing important work!
There are no restrictions on what you can eat after an oral piercing, but it is good practice to be cautious eating anything spicy, crunchy, sticky, or that requires large bites to be taken. Keep cool water nearby to rinse with if things don’t go as planned.
Expect to keep up on your oral piercing aftercare routine for the entirety of your healing process.
DO NOT twist or turn your jewelry through the healing time. The idea that you have to twist your jewelry to prevent it from being “stuck” is an old wives tale. If your jewelry feels stuck it generally means that it needs a good cleaning. If it’s a piercing that is both oral and external (like a labret) for the external portion, take a warm shower and gently flush the piercing under the warm water. When you get out if it’s still feeling stuck use saline to flush the area. For the oral portion, rinse and swish thoroughly with water of your preferred temperature.
You’ll need a jewelry downsize at some point within the first month of having your piercing. Downsizing is an important step, both for the health of your piercing and for your personal comfort. Expect somewhere between 2-4 weeks for your first downsize, and sometimes another at around 6 months.
Good Things To Know
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2-4 months
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2-4 weeks, and again at 6 months
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4 weeks, and again at 6-9 months
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4-8 weeks, and again at 9-12 months
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3 months, and again at 9-12 months
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2-4 weeks, and again at 6 months
Jewelry & Downsizing
Jewelry quality is incredibly important during the healing of your piercing! Keep the provided high-quality jewelry in place for the recommended healing time. If you desire a change of jewelry, consult with your piercer for the available options to facilitate healing. (see Jewelry for information).
Most piercings will have an expected jewelry downsize appointment to ensure that the jewelry fits appropriately to facilitate healing.
For these piercings, the downsize is very important as it reduces the likelihood of migration of the piercing, and reduces the chances of snagging your jewelry.
Expected downsize appointments are:
Keep your body jewelry in at all times, including during cleaning.
The Do Nots;
DO NOT pick, pull, tear, or “pop” any tissue from around your piercing.
Do NOT rotate or spin your jewelry in the piercing channel. This will intensely aggravate your piercing, increasing both your healing time, and the likelihood of extra scar tissue build up.
Scar tissue bumps, commonly misidentified as keloids, are incredibly common during healing. They come up quickly, typically in response to damage, and can take months to go away. If one comes up, the best remedy is keeping up with a GENTLE daily aftercare and a follow up with your piercer. DO NOT pick at it, or try to pop it. The less the irritated piercing is touched, the better it will be.
Do NOT play with or move your jewelry in the piercing channel any more than necessary for cleaning.
Note; Piercings experience irritation far more than infection. If you are unsure what you are experiencing, leave your jewelry in and see your piercer for evaluation. If you are concerned more than unsure, always go to a doctor first.
Do NOT hang charms, chains, or wear heavy/large jewelry in your piercing until it is fully healed. It can cause excess scar tissue build up, migration, and rejection in your piercing. If you would like to wear heavy or large jewelry after your piercing is fully healed, ensure the gauge is thick enough to support the weight in a healthy way.
Do NOT submerge your healing piercing in bodies of water like lakes, oceans, pools, rivers, hot tubs, baths, ect for the first 3 months. Showers are just fine though!
Avoid;
Avoid cosmetics, lotions, and sprays within 3/4 of an inch of your piercing for the entirety of the estimated healing time to prevent these products from causing complications with your healing.
Avoid putting pressure on your piercing site for the first half of your healing period, at least. If you can avoid it for the full healing period, even better! This includes sleeping on it and wearing constrictive clothing/headbands.
What Is Normal?
Bleeding, Scabbing, Localized Bruising, Crusting;
Expect some bleeding, scabbing, and localized bruising for the first few days.
After a few weeks, drainage in small amounts, such as a whitish-yellow fluid (not pus) that will form crust on the jewelry when it dries.
Red, tender, achy, itchy, crusty, drainage, swelling, soreness, and occasional piercing bumps are all possible side effects while you are healing, and are not unusual in moderation. If you are experiencing any of these side effects for a duration exceeding a week at a time, or any of them seem extreme for any amount of time, please come by for an evaluation.
Your piercing will feel healed far before it is truly finished. A healed piercing has fully matured scar tissue throughout the entire piercing channel. Keep up on daily cleanings for the full recommended healing time to prevent backsliding in your healing.
Even after fully healing, body oils and skin cells can accumulate into a normal but smelly white secretion that should be cleaned regularly. Tissues may tighten around jewelry, limiting movement.
Swelling Management
& Piercing Bumps
Swelling Management
Ice is a wonderful way to help your piercing heal its best! An ice compress used for 10 minutes on and 50 minutes off can help with initial swelling for the first 1-2 weeks. Please always use clean hands when making and using ice.
Soak Q-tips, cotton balls, and cotton cosmetic pads in water, shake em out a little bit, and store them in a plastic bag in the freezer. Snap a few off to ice your piercing, then dispose of them.
Be gentle! Don’t distort your jewelry or put too much pressure on the fresh piercing.
To get the benefits of icing your piercing without ever touching it, ice the area around your jewelry. This can be helpful if your piercing is grumpy or tender.
Ice as often as you’d like, always keeping at least 50 min between each icing sessions.
If you are medically able, an over the counter NSAID medicine (Advil/ibuprofin) taken according to package directions helps alleviate swelling and discomfort.
Avoid putting pressure on your piercing site for the first half of your healing period, at least. If you can avoid it for the full healing period, even better! This includes sleeping on it and wearing constrictive clothing/headbands.
Stay hydrated, get good rest, and eat a nutritious diet to keep your body at it’s maximum healing potential.
Piercing Bumps, Those Nasty Rascals!
Piercing bumps, commonly misidentified as keloids, are the most common troubleshooting issue we help people with. They typically come up in response to damage, pressure, cleaning too aggressively or with a harsh product, or being pierced at the wrong angle. They can vary in appearance, but typically present as a raised area looking almost like a pimple that is off white or pinkish in color. They can be to the side of a piercing, or around the whole site itself.
If you have a memory of something snagging or hitting your piercing site, you know you sleep with pressure on it, or you know something that could cause your piercing site aggravation, that is quite possibly what set off the bump. Sometimes there is no memory of what could have caused the aggravation. When a piercing site is damaged, the body floods the area with fluid and soft tissues to try and protect the delicate healing tissues. You may want to scrub at them, use harsh cleaners, or try to pop them to get them to go away more quickly, but you’ll find that just makes the problem worse. The more a piercing bump is touched and aggravated, the longer it takes to heal.
The best route of aftercare for a piercing bump is generally to touch your piercing site as little as possible. Concentrate on using warm water flushes daily to clean your piercing, and avoid touching your piercing with anything, including Q-tips. Avoid any further injuries to the area. Do not scrub at it, or use anything more harsh than sterile saline to clean it. Give it time, patience, and some loving care.
Bumps can be frustrating because it seems like they come up overnight, and can take weeks or months to go away entirely. Like most things in life, the earlier a problem gets dealt with, the easier it is to solve. Bumps can grow and shrink as they heal, but the general trajectory should always be that they are tending to get smaller over time. If that is not the case, please come by for an evaluation.
If the bump persists longer than a week, it continues to get bigger, or you are concerned at all, please come by for an evaluation. We will be happy to give you more personalized aftercare.
Reinsertions
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A reinsertion is when jewelry is put back into a previously healed piercing that has not worn jewelry for a while. Most people are familiar with this with lobe piercings, but it’s possible with almost all ear and body piercings! When properly healed it is possible for a piercing channel to be with you for life, even if you haven’t worn jewelry in it for years. It is most likely that your piercing channel is still there if:
You had healed the piercing for at least a period of a year and a half to two years (or about one year for lobes).
The piercing was happy, healthy, and fully healed when the jewelry was removed.
The jewelry was removed purposefully and gently, not traumatically.
You were wearing quality jewelry in your piercing through the healing process and after.
You have not made multiple or aggressive attempts to reinsert the jewelry yourself, causing damage to the piercing channel.
Nothing external has damaged the piercing site, such as a surgery or piercing the same area again.
It is extremely common for a piercing site that has not had jewelry in it for a while to shrink up or shift over time. If you are trying at home, it can seem impossible, or like the piercing has closed entirely. While it is true that piercings can close, we’ve got the tools and experience to help give you the best chances with as little hassle and harm as possible.
If we are able to get jewelry back in, it is good practice to leave it in 24/7 for somewhere between one and three months, depending on the piercing reinserted and how difficult it was to get back in. This gives the piercing channel time to settle, both reestablishing the channel as open and lined up, and allowing time for any damage or irritation to heal completely. It is possible in some cases that if it was a difficult reinsertion, removing jewelry too soon can cause the piercing to actually close, as it was irritated when jewelry came out.
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It is normal after a reinsertion to have some sensation in the area of the piercing channel. We did just stretch it back open, after all! Your body needs some time to get used to having jewelry back in. For the first week or two, it is perfectly normal to experience tenderness, itching, redness, gentle swelling, a couple of crusties. The most common sensation is itchiness.
The good news about reinsertion is that no skin is broken. This means that aftercare is generally very simple, and finishes up much more quickly. Rinsing your piercing channel under warm running water daily for the first week or two is usually sufficient. A warm water rinse is also what we would recommend if any crusties develop. Gently dab up any moisture with a clean paper towel or Q-tip after rinsing, and you’re good to go!
If you are experiencing swelling or tenderness, using ice can be helpful. Wet some Q-tips or cotton cosmetic rounds, gently shake them out so they are not sopping wet, and store them in the freezer in a single layer. Snap off a few frozen Q-tips to ice the area and throw them away after they have melted. If you are medically able to take Ibuprofen (Advil), feel free to do so according to package directions.
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If you cannot come in to a professional for your reinsertion, this is something that you can generally (gently!) try at home at least once, if you believe your piercing site should be open. Be careful though, trying to reinsert at home multiple times or even just once too aggressively can cause an otherwise open piercing channel to actually close. Please be gentle! At home attempts at reinsertion is one of the most common causes for a piercing site that should be open to close entirely. If you’re unsure if your piercing site is open, or if you don’t think you’ll be able to get it reinserted quite easily, it’s best to wait until you can get some professional help.
Best practice for an at-home reinsertion includes:
Use clean, high quality jewelry that is preferably new. If you only have previously worn jewelry, clean it up as best you can using cotton swabs, disposable paper products, and 70% isopropyl alcohol. Ensure all visible debris is removed.
Take a warm shower beforehand to soften skin.
Use a drop of water based lubricant on both the jewelry and the piercing site.
Put a finger behind the piercing site to apply back pressure.
Use small circular or swirling motions to attempt to get jewelry to slide through the piercing channel. Only use gentle pressure!
If you are able to get jewelry in, congratulations! Please leave your jewelry in place for at least a month to allow your piercing site to settle. If you are unable to get your jewelry in, bring it in to a professional for further assistance.
