Piercing Aftercare

A new piercing is a small wound, and like any wound it heals best when you keep things calm, clean and consistent. Most of aftercare is simply being patient and leaving it alone.

Be patient

Healing times vary a lot with the type and position of the piercing, and from person to person depending on your health, lifestyle and movement. Some piercings, like cartilage or surface piercings, can take a year or more, so please do not expect too much too soon. Our healing times guide gives a realistic idea.

Do not remove or change the initial jewellery until the piercing is fully healed, apart from coming back for your essential downsize when your piercer advises. Once healed, try to keep jewellery in for at least a year, and wear a retainer if you ever need to take it out so the piercing does not close.

What to expect

• Soon after, it may bleed a little if knocked. That is normal. Apply clean sterile gauze and gentle pressure for a couple of minutes.
• For the first few weeks expect it to be red, swollen, tender and sometimes a little bruised.
• Expect a sticky clear, white or pale yellow fluid that can crust as it dries. This is lymph and a healthy part of healing, not infection. Green, smelly discharge is the sign of infection.

Cleaning your piercing

Clean it twice a day, morning and night, with a 0.9% sterile saline solution. We recommend Neilmed, available in the studio. Single use sterile saline pods work too but cost more over time.

• Wash your hands well before you touch the piercing.
• Spray saline onto clean, lint free kitchen roll and soak the piercing for a couple of minutes, then use a saline dampened cotton bud to gently lift away the softened crust.
• Pat dry with clean kitchen roll, not a towel, which can snag and harbour bacteria.
• Check any balls or attachments are gently finger tight, as they can loosen with everyday movement.

Downsizing

Almost every piercing is fitted with a slightly longer bar to allow for the natural swell, which is a normal immune response. Once the swelling settles and there is wiggle room, a downsize is essential to avoid irritation and complications from excess movement. Book your downsize on the website.

What to clean with, and what to avoid

Use a sterilised, pre mixed 0.9% saline with a sterile delivery method such as a can spray, so bacteria cannot get back into the bottle. Please do not use:

• Antiseptics such as Savlon, TCP, hydrogen peroxide, Dettol or surgical spirit, or tea tree or lavender oil. These are harsh and delay healing.
• Contact lens solution, which contains preservatives that are not meant for skin.
• Re-sealable bottled piercing solutions, like those sold by high street accessory shops. Once opened they carry a real infection risk.

We no longer recommend mixing your own saline, as it is hard to get the strength and hygiene right at home. If you absolutely must, use exactly a quarter teaspoon of rock or sea salt, never table salt, to half a pint (285ml) of just boiled water, in a very clean container, mixed fresh each time and cooled before use.

Everyday dos and donts

• Rinse off any soap, shampoo or product residue with clean water after a shower or bath.
• Do not play with or twist the piercing with dirty fingers, and never turn it while dry, as that tears the healing tissue.
• Try not to knock it, and avoid sleeping on it, which can delay healing or make it settle at an angle.
• Stay out of swimming pools for the first few weeks.

Soothing with a hot compress

Healing or healed, piercings benefit from a warm compress. The heat opens tiny blood vessels and helps fluid drain, easing irritation, fluid bumps, or a piercing that is taking its time.

A chamomile compress is cheap and effective. Steep a pure chamomile teabag with no real tea or caffeine in just boiled water, lift it out and let it cool to as hot as you can comfortably bear, then hold it gently on the piercing until it goes cold. Do this in place of one of your daily cleans. Chamomile has natural anti inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, and allergies to it are rarer than allergies to titanium.

If you have a fluid bump, be disciplined with daily compresses and it should settle over a few weeks. It can look worse before it looks better as it drains, so do not pick it. The quality and fit of your jewellery matter too, so if a bar is too long that may be the cause.

If you have any concerns at all, wherever you were pierced, pop in or message us. We will always help as much as we can.