Piercing Care: The Official Guide

Your piercing doesn't end when you get up from the artist's chair. After your body is pierced, the grooming process begins. Careful post-piercing care ensures proper, fast and comfortable healing.

This guide covers the basic steps, tips, and products you need to know for a healthy and effective treatment. First, we'll look at why piercing aftercare is so important. 

What happens if I don't follow the post piercing care instructions?

Piercing is cool, but it's a responsibility. If you don't follow the rules of piercing care, you put your piercing and your health at risk.

When you are pierced you create a wound in your body, aftercare is how you ensure the wound heals the way you want it to. The most important factor in this is the prevention of infection. If a fresh piercing becomes infected, the skin can heal over the infection, which can be a serious problem.

In addition, post-operative care procedures ensure that your piercing comes out the way you want it to. This reduces the risk of your body rejecting the piercing and ensures it doesn't heal crookedly.

Postoperative care also helps to make the healing process more comfortable. This speeds up the process so you can change your jewelry or get the next part of your curated ear piercing project done sooner. In addition, it helps you deal with swelling and pain during the process itself.

Luckily, piercing care is easy. It just takes consistency.

Piercing Care Steps: Basic Post-Op Care Procedure

Step 1: Daily cleaning

You should clean your piercing once a day. Do not remove jewelry while cleaning. Jewelry should be left inside the piercing until it heals completely. Removing and reinserting jewelry will irritate the piercing. In addition, there is a risk that the piercing will close if the jewelry is not worn for too long.

Start by washing your hands, then gently apply antimicrobial soap to the inlet and outlet of the piercing. Also clean all visible parts of the decoration without pushing or pulling it. Spend about 30 seconds brushing, applying soap to the area. 

After thorough cleaning, rinse off any soap residue and pat dry with paper towels or allow to air dry. Cloth towels can carry bacteria and should be avoided.

Avoid excessive cleaning. If your piercer recommends brushing once a day, don't exceed. Additional cleansing can dry out or irritate the piercing.

Step 2: Sea Salt Soak

Wet the puncture with sterile saline at least once a day. Soak a gauze or paper towel in the solution and gently press it against both sides of the piercing. Leave on for 5-10 minutes, then rinse with warm water.

Unlike brushing, baths can be done several times a day. 

Step 3: Protect the piercing

During aftercare, you should make sure that you minimize any irritation to the piercing. The biggest aspect stop touching your piercing.

We understand the new piercing is exciting and the area feels different. It may even itch at first. But the more you touch it, the slower it heals.

 Also, you want to prevent anything that will push or pull it. For example, when getting your ears pierced, you can avoid wearing hats and try not to sleep on that side of your head.

You also want it to stay dry except when cleaning. It's best to avoid activities such as swimming, and avoid getting other people's saliva on the piercing (like kissing).

Step 4: Healthy lifestyle

How you treat your body affects how it heals. Activities such as smoking and drinking slow down the healing process and should be avoided, especially in the first few days after a piercing. Also, getting enough rest will help your body recover much faster.  

The better you take care of yourself while you heal, the better your body will handle the piercing. Although you want to increase the amount of rest in the first few days, during most of the process, regular exercise will promote healing. In addition, a healthy diet will prepare your body to fight off harmful bacteria. 

Piercing Care Tips

• Always consult with your piercer to determine the best post-op care program for you. They can help determine a more accurate time frame for your healing, as well as give specific piercing advice.
• You don't have to twist, turn or rotate the piercing while cleaning. Minimize the movement of your jewelry.
• For threaded jewelry, check the beads daily and retighten if necessary.
• Always wash your hands before touching a piercing.
• Never use rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide. They are too strong and will irritate your piercing.
• Choose initial piercing jewelry that won't move or snag. You can change decorations after healing.
• Mild discomfort, swelling, redness and itching are normal. Bleeding, scabs, and even clear/white pus are common during the first week.
• Do not apply makeup or perfume directly to the piercing.

Piercing care products

At Pierced, we have certain products and brands that we recommend for aftercare due to their success and reliability. While we recommend their use, we also advise you on what to look out for if you choose an alternative. 

Cleaning

We recommend using PurSan for cleaning. PurSan is a medical grade antimicrobial soap made specifically for piercings. It is paraben and fragrance free and can be found in most piercing stores.

As an alternative to PurSan, you can buy soap from a pharmacy. Look for transparent bars of unscented glycerin soap. Do not use soap containing triclosan. Triclosan is a common ingredient in laundry soap. 

Sea salt soak

We recommend using NeilMed for salt baths. NeilMed is a prepackaged sterile saline solution that is mixed with water.

For alternative brands, check out Saline Wound Wash products, which contain only sea salt (sodium chloride) and water, at the pharmacy.

You can also make your own solution by mixing ¼ teaspoon of non-iodized sea salt with 1 cup of warm, pre-boiled water. Stir until completely dissolved and do not reuse the solution as it is easily contaminated if left standing. Also, don't add more salt as this will irritate the piercing. 

Consult with a piercer

If you have any questions or concerns while caring for your piercing, please contact your piercer. They are happy to help and have experience in solving the most common problems.

Also, when you get pierced, your piercer will sit down with you to explain piercing care. While this guide offers general advice, your piercer provides instructions specific to your body and piercing. 

Looking for a new piercing in Newmarket? Book your piercing or visit us at the Upper Canada Mall in Newmarket.