Fresh Piercing Aftercare
Getting the piercing is the easy part. The difficulty comes with healing a new piercing in a world full of germs and bacteria. It is up to you to keep your new piercing clean and dry during the healing process in order to make sure it heals quickly and correctly. One of the key aspects to healing and something that we always like to remind our clients of is that your immune system is what’s taking care of healing your piercings. By eating extra fruits and vegetables, staying hydrated, and getting extra rest are all effective ways to give your immune system and extra boost.
If you’re unsure of how to clean your fresh piercing, follow the steps outlined here. Over the years, we have found that this method is not only gentle but also effective in assisting a piercing heal happy and healthy.
During the shower, do what you do normally, just be careful of your new adornment. At the very end of your shower, right before you get out, put the piercing under the running water. Doing this last in the shower removes any dirty soap or shampoo from the piercing that may be left there. It also helps to break up/loosen any crusty buildup that may have formed on your jewelry. When you get out of the shower, use a clean paper towel to dab the piercing dry instead of your bath towel. Bath towels contain a lot of bacteria as well as small pieces of lint, plus have loopy bits of thread that can get tangled around your jewelry.
FAQ: I’ve heard that q-tips are never to be used on piercings. Why do you suggest q-tips in the aftercare for fresh piercings?
There are concerns among piercers regarding the use of q-tips for piercing aftercare but we think that when used properly, they are a huge asset to the healing process. The concern with using them is that a cotton fiber will get wrapped around the jewelry and get inside the piercing channel, causing irritation. However, by spraying the q-tip with saline, the fibers get more tightly bound together and are less likely to leave a straggler behind. The abrasion of the q-tip helps to remove germs, bacteria, and crust buildup from the piercing area, all of which can cause serious issues. Makeup q-tips tend to be more tightly bound together which is another reason why we so heavily suggest those specific ones.
The old wives’ tales about spinning or twisting the jewelry so that it “doesn’t get stuck” is not correct. We sometimes make the comparison that doctors do not tell you to go home and wiggle your stiches after surgery to help the wound heal. This is the same idea. If the jewelry does seem to get tight or stuck, it is your body forming a scab around the jewelry to block out germs and bacteria from getting inside. By twisting the jewelry, the scab is broken which promotes bleeding, scarring, extra long healing times, and other issues. As healing progresses, the jewelry will most likely begin to move a bit more freely.
FAQ: Can I go swimming with a fresh piercing?
We highly suggest against submerging your fresh piercing. Any body of water large enough to have fun in (including the bath) contains large amounts of bacteria that can cause irritation when introduced to an open wound. Typically, we tell clients to stay out of the water for the full healing time of their piercing but the minimum time you should avoid submerging the new piercing is 3 months after you get it to drastically decrease chances of irritation or infection. Fresh water and hot tubs have the highest bacteria content and should absolutely be avoided for the whole healing time.
The last main key component of healing is something called downsizing. With many piercings, the initial length of the jewelry is slightly longer to account for any swelling that may occur. Swelling after a piercing is totally normal so this must be taken into consideration in order to give the body room to breathe. Usually around 2-8 weeks, the initial swelling has gone down enough to where the jewelry can be shortened. At this point, we suggest making a “Jewelry Downsize” appointment on the website to come in. We can take a look at the piercing, make sure healing is going well so far, and then get you fitted for a shorter post. This reduces snag potential as well. There are quite a few piercings such as the helix/cartilage/flat, conch, tragus, and others that must be downsized to ensure they continue to heal correctly. We can also assist with downsizing during our walk-in hours (every day from 4pm until 7pm) if that works better for your schedule.
Remember, if you ever have any questions regarding your piercing and the aftercare involved, reach out. We are always available and ready to help with problems that may occur during the healing process. It is not recommended that you try internet “remedies” or fall down a Reddit rabbit hole regarding the status of your piercing. Always let us know if something unknown is happening. The staff of Arcadia are always here to help you, whether you got the piercing with us or somewhere else. Never hesitate to contact us!
Over the course of your day, we suggest that you clean your piercing two times using the sterile saline solution. To properly clean your piercings, take a makeup Q-tip (one of the cotton swabs that has a slight point, not the rounded blunt ones) and saturate it with sterile saline. Then, gently clean around your piercings. The abrasion of the Q-tip is very important, as the water treatment here in the northeast makes our skin exfoliate at an accelerated rate. This produces heavy buildup on jewelry, forming large pieces of crust, which can cause massive problems if not addressed.
Sleeping with new piercings can surely present a challenge because you are unconscious. You can try your hardest to not move during the night but you don’t know what you’re doing after you close your eyes. Sleeping on your piercing is basically inevitable, unfortunately. To combat this, we suggest changing your pillowcases. Oil from your hair and face can gather on the fabric, creating a lot of germs and bacteria. If you do roll over onto your piercing during the night and press all of those germs against the fresh piercing, that’s a long window of contact time that irritants can begin to cause problems. We suggest taking a clean t-shirt and putting it over your pillow. This works great as a pillowcase. You can use one side for one night, the other side for night two, turn the shirt inside out, and you get two more nights out of the same piece of clothing. This at least gives you a clean surface to sleep on if you do happen to roll around while sleeping. Additionally, you can get a travel pillow like the ones they have on airplanes and use that while sleeping. By putting your freshly pierced ear in the center of the pillow, it will assist with keeping you elevated and relieve pressure on the piercing.