Basics!

Here, you’ll find the universal rules of aftercare that apply to ANY body piercing, with more detail on a few differences depending on location in the following sections.

The cardinal rule of all healing wounds is quite simple - remember that hands are gross. Even if you, yourself, are incredibly hygienic; bear in mind we share the world with a whole lot of people and things that are not. Never touch a fresh piercing unless necessary for cleaning, and never do so without first thoroughly washing your hands, please!

Along with not touching unless necessary for routine care - do you remember when we used to be told one must twist and turn jewelry 3 to 4 or more times daily to form the channel? TOTAL NONSENSE. This is an old habit that stems from using thread and twine to start ear piercings - in which case, the movement was necessary to prevent the makeshift “jewelry” from healing directly to the tissue. We have come a LONG way since then, and now with appropriate materials that are biocompatible and safe, there is absolutely no reason to do this. In fact, that extra movement is a form of mechanical stress that can cause a fair bit of damage, irritation, and healing set backs.

While discussing outdated information; it used to be common to clean fresh piercings with rubbing alcohol or even peroxide. Both of these agents are incredibly harsh, killing the white blood cells your body needs to heal! As a general rule, your routine personal hygiene will take care of the vast majority of your task in healing a piercing. We’ve spent a very long time under the impression that our task becomes to heal a piercing - when in actuality, that job falls on the body itself. Our job is not to heal piercings, but to simply protect them while the body heals itself.

Along with your routine hygiene (during healing, please avoid cleansers that are antibacterial or marketed expressly for acne - which often contain benzoyl peroxide and similar irritants), take special care to rinse very thoroughly with water once you’re done washing. It is practically impossible to over rinse a fresh piercing, but very easy to under rinse them, resulting in a variety of complications.

Oral Piercings

In this section, you will find information directly pertaining to the care of piercings in the mouth, such as tongue, lip and cheek piercings.

One of the primary enemies of oral piercings, surprisingly, is over cleaning! Consider that your mouth is practically an entirely self contained and independent ecosystem. So many of our modern oral care products are focused on killing everything in there, whitening, rebuilding enamel, etc. While these have been wonderful advancements for dental care; it hasn’t taken into account healing wounds in there.

So, ditch that brown antiseptic mouthwash our mothers used 18,456 times a day to clean their fresh oral piercings! We recommend a gentle mouthwash that does not contain alcohol or whitening agents, such as Biotene. This product was originally made for sufferers of chronic dry mouth, and as such is formulated to be cleansing, but quite gentle, so there is no need to dilute it prior to use. Additionally - stick as close to your routine as possible. If you already use mouthwash 3 times daily, keep that up. If you are the kind who passes the bottle every few days and throws back a solid swish every few days - keep doing so. Throughout the day, when you are eating or drinking things other than water, go ahead and just rinse with water as you would with mouthwash. This prevents over cleaning and subsequent irritation.

As for eating; the world is your oyster, baby! Anything particularly spicy or acidic (hot wings, tomato based sauces and the like) can certainly increase swelling and discomfort, but will not generally cause long term damage. So, if it’s worth it to you, go ahead and eat those wings - just know you’ll probably feel it in the morning, but ensure you’re also rinsing your mouth out well after any meal.

Ears

Arguably the bulk of the work a lot of piercers do happens to be around the ears - here are a few helpful little tips and tricks to make your life a bit easier and your fresh piercings a little happier along the way.

Without question, one of the biggest issues we see specific to ear piercings is pressure damage from side sleeping. Particularly in cartilage, this can cause plenty of issues, including excess swelling, migration, pesky irritation bumps and outright rejection. The simple answer, of course, is to not sleep on the side with a piercing that is trying to heal. However, that isn’t such a simple answer for some of us devout side sleepers. Travel pillows can come in handy, permitting a client to sleep on their side, but alleviating pressure from the ear.

Another common thing with ear piercings is water logging. Excess moisture permitted to stay on or immediately around the area can cause a great deal of discomfort, extra swelling, and when combined with body heat creates a glorious breeding ground for bacteria - meaning no one wins. Ensuring you are not going to bed with wet hair that will rest on the area is important - as is maintaining dryness between cleanings in general. Some areas, like the rook and daith, can be tricky to get dry without adding mechanical irritation in the form of cotton swabs or gauze - so grab your blow dryer, low speed and heat and gently run the air over the pierced areas to eliminate excess moisture comfortably and safely.

Facial

Here, you can find some info on best care specifically for facial piercings such as nostrils and eyebrows.

Piercings around the face are prone to their own unique set of potential stress and damage. The number one issue we see pretty consistently is makeup being applied to the area around or right at the piercing site. Yeah, yeah, we get it. That trademark redness, mild swelling and lymph crusties aren’t the most fashionable. However, neither are the following trying to slap some concealer on those will cause: more redness, intense swelling, lymph crusties that probably are no longer just healthy lymph, irritation bumps, rejection or infection.

Of course, makeup aside - many of us have skincare routines we follow expressly for the skin that’s covering the front of our skulls. Be aware of what is in your facial products. Anything labeled as acne reducing, anti-aging or brightening is likely going to be damaging. Even the most gentle of moisturizers can spell disaster for a fresh piercing when applied directly to the area.

Facial waxing is part of a general maintenance routine for some - and practically every area of the face we commonly see being waxed has the potential to be pierced as well! Our strong recommendation is to avoid waxing a freshly pierced area for the duration of your initial healing period. Additionally, hair removal creams such as Nair should absolutely be dodged during healing as these are incredibly harsh to forming tissue. If need be, you can work right around any specific area with tweezers or eyebrow/bikini razors. Or - just remember, we are all mammals (except the elite reptilians, who fortunately do not have to concern themselves with this sort of thing) and deal with some fuzz for a bit!

Body.

Here are some neat tricks we’ve learned along the way for happy, healthy piercings below the neck, such as nipples and navels.

Seatbelts are legally required; but that doesn’t mean they won’t make you scream in the event of snagging a fresh body piercing on them. Buckle up cautiously, please.

Belt buckles are kind of the devil with a fresh navel piercing.

What’s worse than belt buckles for navel piercings? I’m glad you asked. High waisted jeans, or ‘mom jeans’ as these surprisingly constricting and fashionably questionable pants are also known. In the vast majority of cases, these will apply pressure essentially all day directly over a navel piercing. So, pull out those low rises and hip huggers until those navels have had a chance to establish comfortably!

Body poufs, sponges, scrubbies, rags, towels - are you sensing a pattern here? The pattern is, when washing the face, we tend to be very aware of the pressure and textures we are using. Everywhere else - less so. Most of these cleansing implements are not only usually used WAY past their prime (did you know you’re supposed to replace those suckers every month??) so they are usually pretty contaminated - but also can grab your fresh shiny goodness. It will catch, it will snag, you will pee. No shame, but it’s easily prevented. Wash the immediate area only with your hands, and then avoid the urge to bury yourself in that cushy towel and go ham - pat dry gently.

While on the topic of snagging - if you’re the type to sleep in the buff, we fully support your right to do that sort of thing. However, unless you’re one of those weirdos who sleeps peacefully in the same position all night - a snug tank top, t-shirt or sports bra can save you the horror of waking up feeling like you were just stabbed with a machete and staining your sheets with blood, tears, and wishing you’d worn something to protect the area from rolling around trying to find a comfortable position for the 97th time that night.

Do:

Practice appropriate hygiene, including thoroughly rinsing cleansers off of and out of the piercing site.

Be gentle when interacting with your fresh piercing - think of it as a napping friend that you know will punch you right in the face if you wake them too suddenly.

Remember that you are healing an open wound, and your overall health can depend on the least eventful healing period possible.

Follow the full aftercare instructions your piercer provides you with - in our case, we discuss your full regimen at the time of your services and even send you a handy e-mail version of your care plan.

Check your balls. Everyone likes tight balls.

Contact your piercer if you have questions or think something unusual may be afoot.

Don’t:

Touch your piercings with your dirty little mitts.

Let your friends touch your piercings with their dirty little mitts.

Let your beloved pets touch your piercings with their… anything, really.

Use any kind of oils, creams or salves on a fresh piercing.

Turn to Google for your piercing questions.

Turn to your friends for piercing questions.

Turn to your aunt who is a nurse for piercing questions.

Turn to your tattoo artist for piercing questions.