The beginners guide to piercing aftercare.

When you leave the studio is when the hard work begins. To guarantee your new piercing looks its best at all times, it is vital you follow a proper aftercare process to prevent infection and promote healing. Whether you are new to piercings or a seasoned "piercee" looking to brush up their aftercare knowledge- you are in the right place.

Why is piercing aftercare so important?

Whilst new piercings are exciting, taking proper care of them is essential. Aftercare routines are often very simple and not time consuming in the slightest, but ensuring you follow them will almost guarantee proper healing, reduce any pain or discomfort you may feel and limit the chance your new piercing will be rejected by the body.

Your new piercing aftercare protocol:

No Touching your fresh piercing.

no twisting, twiddling, picking or touching your fresh piercing. You can accidentally transfer bacteria to your fresh piercing and increase the chance of rejection or infection.
Take extra care when washing and brushing your hair to avoid knocking your fresh ear piercings.
Avoid sleeping on the side of your fresh piercing to reduce the amount of pressure on your piercing.

- if it is a navel piercing you want to make sure your waistbands aren’t touching your piercing either, so keep those waist bands much higher or much lower than your piercing.

Keep it clean.

Keeping your piercing clean is vital to promote healing.
Clean your piercings with a saline solution twice a day for 1-2 weeks, once a day for 1-2 weeks and then every other day for 1-2 weeks. Because saline is a salt based solution it is important not to over do this step as you can create a salt build up.
We don’t recommend making your own salt solution- as it is easy to get the quantities wrong and cause a salt build up which can lead to dryness, irritation and potential piercing rejection.
Pale odourless fluid may discharge from the piercing and form a crust, if it does wet a piece of kitchen towel with the saline solution and apply to the piercing as a compress for a minute or so. this should soften the crust and allow you to clean the entry and exit points of the piercing.
If you have an oral

piercing we recommend using an alcohol free mouthwash and avoid excessive intake of dairy to promote healing and avoid infection.

Avoid submersion

swimming, baths and hot tubs are a big no no at the beginning of your healing journey if you want to avoid infection.
The excess salt, chlorine or fragrance can irritate the the fresh piercing and lead to infection and piercing rejection.

Downsizing

when you are pierced, you are done so with jewellery that is a couple sizes too big to allow for swelling.
After a few weeks (6-8 weeks) into your piercing healing journey it is important to downsize to a more snug fitting piece of jewellery to promote proper healing. If you don’t downsize you are risking the piercing migrating in your body, and this may lead to them being slightly crooked.

It is important not to rush your piercing aftercare in order to promote proper healing, and keep your new piercings at their best; so as long as you follow these piercing aftercare steps you should be left with a healthy, properly healed piercing.