Piercing Aftercare: How To Look After Your New Piercing

If you’re a fan of piercings, you’ll know all about piercing aftercare. For piercing lovers, piercing care is bound to be the most annoying part of the process, but it’s an absolute must. Not cleaning your piercing properly can lead to piercing migration, infection, and even rejection! So, for the first-time pierced- how can you look after your new piercing? In today’s piercing aftercare guide, we’ll go over all of the essentials of piercing aftercare- the DOs, the DON’Ts, the top tips for different body parts, and the care products that you can buy to make your piercing healing process a little easier. Want a piercing that heals in no time? Follow our piercing aftercare steps!

What do I need to know about piercing aftercare?

There are a few key tips that everyone should know about piercing care:

• ALWAYS handle your piercing with clean, washed hands

• ALWAYS wait for the advised healing period before trying to change your jewellery

• ALWAYS clean your piercing twice a day for the entire healing period

• NEVER rotate or pull on your jewellery

• NEVER use soap or alcohol-based products on your piercing

• NEVER ignore infection

 

There’s plenty more to know, but those are the essentials. We’ll go over individual body parts below, and a step-by-step tutorial on cleaning your piercing at home. Want more piercing care FAQs? You can find all of our aftercare information here.

Piercing Aftercare- What You Need

To clean your piercing, you’ll need some dedicated aftercare products. Piercing solution is a must, but there are also a few extras in our aftercare collection that can go a long way towards helping your piercing heal quickly and effectively. Here they are…

• Pro-Pierce Ultimate Aftercare Solution- This piercing solution is the best thing to clean your piercing with. Cleansing, antibacterial, skin-neutral, and dermatologically tested- this piercing care solution was created specifically for targeting the harmful bacteria around your piercing, without irritating your healing skin. Use this twice a day to clean your new piercing (instructions below).

• Pro Pierce Tea Tree & Almond Oil- For sensitive skin, we recommend our pro-pierce tea tree & almond oil, perfect for healing small infections and bumps. This natural oil is a gentler approach to keeping your piercing clean. Use twice a day for the duration of your healing period.

• Blue Banana Piercing Pillow- Finally, we have the perfect product to help you avoid pulling and twisting on your sensitive piercing. This piercing pillow features a hole around the ear, so that you can sleep lying sideways without worrying about your piercing becoming irritated. Piercing lovers are obsessed with our piercing pillow!

How To Clean Your Piercing- Piercing Care Tutorial

This tutorial applies to ear piercings, nose piercings, and any surface face and body piercings.

1. Wash your hands carefully, and ensure that they’re clean and dry.

2. Use a cotton pad or bud to apply some Pro Pierce Ultimate Solution to the area around your piercing. You want to get as much on as possible- you could even use a cup or bowl to fully submerge the piercing in care solution.

3. Remove any fluid or crust with your cotton bud/pad, being careful not to pull on the piercing itself. Repeat the cleansing process until you’ve removed all build-up.

4. Pat the piercing dry (gently) with a non-fibrous paper towel. 

5. Check that your jewellery is secure.

6. Wash your hands again.

You’ll need to do this 2 times a day for the entire duration of your piercing healing time. 

How do I clean oral piercings?

For oral and mouth piercings, the process is a little different. Instead of using a cotton pad/bud to clean the area around your piercing, we recommend swishing some fresh Pro-Pierce Solution around your mouth and then spitting it back out. This should be enough to keep the area clean and healthy. Do this 2 times a day for the entire duration of your piercing healing time.

How long will it take for my piercing to heal?

This depends on the type of piercing you have: 

• Ear lobe piercings: 6-8 weeks

• Oral piercings: 4-6 weeks

• Ear cartilage piercings: 3-9 months

• Nose piercings: 3-9 months

• Navel piercings: 3-9 months

• Nipple piercings: 6-12 months

(The above healing times are guidelines only. Healing will vary from person to person due to individual anatomy- if in doubt, ask your piercer for expert advice).

What if my piercing gets infected?

Piercing infection isn’t uncommon, so it’s important to know how to handle it. If you’re noticing a little swelling, bleeding, or weeping, everything is fine. This is a normal part of the healing process. However, if you notice excessive, incessant weeping or bleeding, or any other abnormal reaction, you should immediately consult a specialist. Our piercers are always available for walk-in appointments, or you can book a consultation online. If you were pierced with Blue Banana, any following piercing consultation will be completely free, so make the most of it! Our talented, trained piercers will be happy to answer any questions you may have about your piercing.

 

Some swelling can be classed as a 'keloid', however, it should be noted that not all lumps are keloids, some can simply be side effects of the healing process. If keloids or any other form of lumps develop during healing then return to the store for advice.

 

Your piercing may also migrate- this is caused by your body trying to push the foreign object out. A little migration may be ok, but as migration can lead to piercing rejection and possible infection and scarring, we recommend returning to the store and getting some expert piercer advice.

Extra Resources:

• Ear Aftercare Leaflet

• Nose Aftercare Leaflet

• Oral Aftercare Leaflet

• Surface Aftercare Leaflet

• Microdermal Aftercare Leaflet

• Genital Aftercare Leaflet

 

Contact our customer services team with any other questions!