Caring for Piercings

The correct piercing care is vital to make sure you suffer no health problems or complications from your body jewellery. After you receive your piercing, and for a sustained period in the future, it is important to undertake the correct procedure to prevent infection and scarring of the area. The following are a series of tips that will help to keep a piercing clean:

Dirt should never come in contact with the pierced area. Hands, bedding and clothing should always be clean. It is essential to always wash hands before any piercing care, including cleaning or touching the area.
No bodily fluids should come into contact with the area.
The most convenient place to undertake piercing care is while showering in the morning. Clean water should be allowed to run over the area and thoroughly saturate the pierced area before washing begins. This will soften any discharge that may have built up around the piercing. After any discharge has been removed, the pierced area should be carefully cleaned. Ideally it should also be washed at night.
To wash the piercing, only saline solution should be used. Different solutions can be used after washing to soothe the area or keep it clean. The solution should be applied to the jewellery as well as the pierced area, although try not to move the jewellery as much as possible during piercing care, so that the saline gets into all of the crevices. The solution should remain on the area for only roughly 30 seconds.
The area should then be rinsed by allowing water to flow continuously until all the saline is removed. This is vital to keep the pierced area as fresh as possible.
To dry the area a clean, dry towel (preferably disposable paper towels) should be used for ultimate piercing care. The piercing can be patted but not rubbed. A washcloth should not be used as the moisture can cause bacteria to build up.

It is recommended that piercing care occurs twice a day, until the area is thoroughly healed. Tea tree oil can be applied as part of piercing care after washing to soothe the area and aid the healing process.

Some people wish to adopt a different method of piercing care, using the salt wash or soak technique. The process generally goes as follows:

Hands should be washed thoroughly with an antibacterial solution.
A small amount of sea salt is then placed in a small disposable cup and hot water is added.
The next step of this piecing care method is open to change, but general steps can be followed. The cup can be inverted onto the piercing, if possible, or the piercing can be dipped in the solution and then soaked for 5 minutes. This is best for navel and nipple piercings. If the piercing is located in an area where the cup process will not work, a cotton ball can be dipped in the solution and applied to the pierced area.
As the final step of piercing care, warm water should be used to rinse the area and then it should be thoroughly dried by patting it with a dry towel.

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