Caring for your new piercing
For non-oral piercing
To take care of your new piercing you will need to buy the following:
- A can of pressurized, sterile saline solution. Saline for sale for contact lenses is fine, but must be simply saline. Please do not use multipurpose solution or enzyme solution. The best saline to buy is Wound Wash by Simply Saline. You can buy this at any pharmacy or you can usually buy it at Icon.
- Cotton swabs such as Q-Tip brand. It is best to avoid the antibacterial swabs as they may irritate the piercing.
How to clean your new piercing
During the healing process it is natural for your piercing to drain some white/yellow discharge. The discharge may be wet or dry (the dry version is sometimes referred to as the "crusties"). If there is discharge or the piercing is dirty, you will need to clean it, otherwise it is best left alone.
- Wet the piercing with saline using a cotton swab saturated with sterile saline solution. Wet the piercing and allow it to soak into any dried discharge.
- Wipe the piercing free of discharge using a clean cotton swab soaked in saline. Wipe both piercing and jewelry free of any discharge present. You may want to hold the jewelry still so that it doesn't move and pull any of the crusted discharge back inside the piercing, but make sure to wash your hands first.
- Dry the piercing with another clean cotton swab or paper towel.
It is good to remember that your hands are one of the dirtiest parts of your body and should always be washed thoroughly before touching your piercing.
Avoid cleaning your piercing with any of the following products:
Antibacterial/antimicrobial soaps, Bactine, Bacitracin, Camphophenique, ear care solution, Hibiclense, hydrogen peroxide, iodine, preparation H, Neosporin, rubbing alcohol, triple antibiotic ointment, Visene, or any products with the words for external use only. These products do more harm than good and can lead to a longer ore problematic healing time as well as irritation and soreness.
Avoid rotating or moving the jewelry as much as possible. Contrary to popular belief, moving the jewelry in a fresh piercing will cause irritation and can slow the healing process.
Give your piercing a stress free environment while it is healing. Try to keep from sleeping on it, banging it around, and playing with it. It is also important to avoid swimming pools, hot tubs, lakes, oceans, and streams while your piercing is healing.
For oral piercing
Care for oral piercing is very simple. All you need to do is rinse your mouth with some sort of mouthwash diluted 50% with water 3 to 4 times a day. Some swelling will occur over the first few days. To minimize the swelling, keep ice and cold fluids on it, if you have taken ibuprofen before and know you don't have any reactions to it it will reduce swelling, and the best thing you can do is to sleep the first night with your head elevated on an extra pillow or sitting up. While most of the swelling will go away after the first 2 to 4 days, it may take up to 2 weeks for the swelling to completely go away.
It is important to note that a new piercing is an open wound. While eating, drinking, and even smoking will likely cause no harm, some sexual practices as well as kissing could lead to a transfer of disease or infection.
If the piercing is in a place such as a lip or cheek where part of the piercing is on the inside and part is on the outside, treat the inside as an oral piercing and the outside as a non-oral piercing.
Extra information
With genital piercing, some bleeding may occur over the first 3 to 6 days. If you are worried about the bleeding, you can take a clean cloth and hold pressure on the area until the bleeding stops. Some bruising in the area is sometimes common as well. Bruising should go away in 3 to 7 days. Sexual contact is not recommended until the piercing is completely healed, however some people just can't wait. In the event you just can't wait, make sure a condom is used and clean the piercing immediately after, and be gentle with the piercing during the healing process.