AFTERCARE ADVICE

EXTERNAL BODY PIERCINGS

On the day of your piercing do not touch your piercing for the rest of the day.   In general, the most important thing to remember is to touch, move, rotate or manipulate your new piercing as LITTLE as possible and to keep your hands clean at all times. The only product you should be using to care for your new piercing is saline.  In an ideal world, you'll purchase individual sterile saline pouches from a chemist, or buying an aftercare spray from our piercers in the studio.  Please be aware that it is absolutely vital that the solution, its storage, and any equipment use to make it should be kept as sterile as possible throughout.   At least twice daily, apply a small amount of soap to your hands and lather, wash your hands for a minimum of 30 seconds and then rinse off all soap.  Do not dry your hands at this time.   Spray the saline directly onto the area of your piercing and leave for a few moments before rinsing with warm water either in the shower or over a sink.  Only if absolutely necessary to remove blood should you gently massage the area with your fingers.   Let the area air dry, or pat with a paper towel. Remember - over cleaning your piercing can cause more harm than good.   Minimal care is best. Treat your new piercing like you would a cut or graze.  Your piercing will scab a little around the edges and accumulate some discharge (typically a yellow / white colour which may crust) this is a sign you are healing healthily.  Scabbing is the bodies way of protecting an otherwise open wound from picking up an infection - picking this away will cause irritation, making healing longer and leave a more pronounced scar. It is not necessary to rotate or move the jewellery back and forth. If the jewellery does move freely while cleaning, that is fine. Make sure not to force it to move.  For the first 7-10 days after receiving your piercing, avoid swimming, long baths or hot tubs. For Dermal Piercings, this aftercare also applies, but it is necessary to maintain this aftercare for the duration of the time your dermal is in place.  

In the rare occasions when you are unable to find or purchase sterile saline:  Mix 200ml of boiled water with 1/4 of a teaspoon of sea salt, allow the solution to cool to a tolerable level before using it.  If possible, use cold water and sea salt and bring to the boil over a hob, this is more hygienic than using a kettle.  Please note - the guidelines above are to make 0.9% saline solution (the recommended amount of salt) do not be fooled into thinking that more salt is better for cleaning, it can dry the skin more than is healthy!

ORAL PIERCINGS

For Lip piercings, where the labret is on the outside of the face, use the above method for the exposed piercing, and then the following advice applies to inside the mouth: For Lip, tongue and cheek piercings the only cleaning product that should be used on this area is an alcohol free mouth wash. Dilute mouth rinse in a bottle of clean drinking water (2 parts water to 1 part mouth rinse).   For the first 7 days after receiving your piercing, swish some of the diluted mouth rinse around the piercing every time after you eat or drink (other than water).  Cigarettes and alcohol contain chemicals and irritants which will increase the amount of swelling in your piercing. Avoid consuming alcohol and cigarettes for at least 7-10 days to minimise swelling and decrease healing time. It is very important to maintain the appropriate size of your oral piercing. Since these areas have increased amounts of swelling, the initial piercing jewellery is long enough to accommodate for the inflammation. Two weeks after receiving your piercing, we highly recommend a follow-up visit so we may downsize the length or diameter of the jewellery. A helpful tip for soothing and reducing oral swelling is to swish the piercing area with ice cold water for the first few days, or suck on ice cubes.