Remember the rules…
- Don’t touch the piercing with dirty hands. Always wash your hands with hot water and antibacterial soap beforehand. Keep handling of your piercing to a minimum… only touch it when you are cleaning it.
- Don’t force the jewelry to move if there are dry crusties on the piercing, always soak them away first with sterile saline solution.
- Rinse out foreign chemicals: dirt, sweat, oil, shampoo, soap, conditioner, etc. Any chemical that is unnatural to the interior or your body can cause irritation, or potentially trigger the rejection reaction.
- Don’t sleep on your piercing!
The steps:
1.) Wash your hands with hot water and antibacterial soap.
2.) Spray a saline solution directly on, or saturate non-fibrous gauze or paper towel and soak your piercing. Do not apply pressure to your piercing, simply soak it until all crusties have been dissolved.
3.) After a 30-60 second soak in saline, gently pat the piercing dry with a non-fibrous pad or paper towel. If you have screw on parts to your jewelry, check them by gripping the jewelry and rotating the part until you feel it stop.
4.) Repeat steps 1-3 three times daily for 6 weeks. This is the time during which your piercing is in a wound state. Continue cleaning once daily after showering until you reach the time indicated.
For oral piercings:
- Rinse your mouth with saline or an alcohol free mouth wash every time anything goes in your mouth: food, fingers, pencils, pens, drinks, cigarettes, alcohol, etc.
- Avoid spicy foods, complicated foods (anything you need to chew excessively to eat – burgers, spaghetti, nachos etc), candy and drinking straws for two weeks.
- Buy a new toothbrush. Don’t use an old worn out brush on your brand new piercing!
- If a lip piercing, also soak and rinse the exterior of the piercing with sterile saline 3 times daily for 6-8 weeks.
Cleaning Solution:
Mix 3 tablespoons of natural non-iodized sea salt into 1 gallon of sterile distilled water. Replace cap and shake jug until the salt has dissolved. When not in use, keep in a clean dry place at room temperature with the cap on. Do not use saline anyone else has used!
Clean your piercing 2-3 times daily for six weeks, then clean once a day after showering for the duration of your healing time.
Click the download links below and save these instructions for easy reference.
Why you should listen to us.
We source all of our aftercare guidelines from the piercing bible. What is that you may ask...
The Piercing Bible is The Definitive Guide to Safe Body Piercing, published by Random House/Crossing Press. The author, Elayne Angel, is the former APP (Association of Professional Piercers) President, former Medical Liaison and a recipient of the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Our reputation is always on the line. When you leave with your new piercing, we want it to heal quickly and cleanly. The better your piercing looks the better we look... Therefore it is in our best interest to give you the best, most up-to-date, aftercare instructions so that you can better advertise our skillful work and our quality jewelry :)
What we've got to say.
STOP TOUCHING IT. The leading cause for irritation is over handling your piercing with unclean hands.
STAY AWAY FROM HARSH CHEMICALS. Keeping your piercing clean is important but conventional antiseptics can actually slow your recovery.
LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. We give you the information and the head start you need for a healthy recovery but everybody heals differently. Still, taking care of your piercing shouldn't be excessively painful. It's going to be sore for sure, but if there are any sharp pains or excessive bleeding, you might need to assess its needs. When in doubt seek a professional piercer for advice.
NEVER LISTEN TO YOUR FRIENDS. Just because your friend was able to neglect their piercing and it healed "fine" doesn't mean you should heed their advice. Always listen to a professional.
WATCH OUT FOR MISINFORMATION. There are plenty of sources out there that still suggest antiquated ways of maintaining your new piercing. Always look for valid, proven and trusted sources for the information you seek.
APP oral aftercare guidelines. APP outer aftercare guidelines. APP initial jewelry
We provide to our customers a truncated version of these same guidelines upon completion of a piercing. We ARE NOT officially affiliated with the APP, however, we fully respect what they are doing for the body piercing industry. With that said, they are the AUTHORITY when it comes to accepted practices and acceptable care for your new piercings. For more information check out safepiercing.org.