Body piercings can look cool, and it’s quite common to see people with multiple body piercings these days. While the actual process of piercing may look quite simple, don’t be fooled-you still need to take care of your piercing right after getting it. Here’s the proper way:

What You’ll Need

Depending on whether your piercing is external (lips, ears) or internal (tongue), you may need some of these items:

• Antibacterial ointment
• Cotton swab
• Cotton balls
• Mouthwash
• Tea tree oil
• Antimicrobial soap
• Paper towels or clean washcloth
• Sea salt
• Small cup

Caring For Your External Piercing

After getting a piercing, you will most likely get a set of instructions from your piercer on the proper care of your piercing. Following the prescribed care instructions will help you heal faster and make the pain go away quickly.

1. Before getting pierced, request a sterilized pair of jewelry or earrings. Even if you don’t like their design, their main purpose is for your body to get used to the piercing. Once you’ve fully healed, you can switch to the jewelry that you like.
2. Wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap thoroughly before touching your piercing.
3. Dampen a cotton ball or a cotton swab with warm water, and use this to gently remove the dark crusty matter forming around the pierced area.
4. Put anti-bacterial liquid soap on your fingertip and with a little bit of warm water, apply it around your piercing. Don’t try to rotate your jewelry piercing if you don’t want to-what’s important that you gave it a good wash. Rinse with more warm water.
5. Pat the pierced area dry with a clean washcloth or paper towels.
6. Do this routine daily or when you notice the crusts forming around the piercing site. You don’t want to do this too often because you want the wound to dry out properly.
7. Try to keep your piercing site free from other things that may cause irritation. For example, keep your hair tied away from your ears if they’re newly pierced. For a bellybutton piercing, wear loose shirts until the wound is fully healed.
8. If you feel irritation on your piercing, do not attempt to scratch or pick at it. Instead, you can use tea tree oil and saline to help get rid of the irritation. Do not use alcohol, hydrogen peroxide or solutions that contain them directly on your piercing as they’re too harsh and may cause more damage than repair.
9. A “Sea Salt Soak” is also very effective for nipple and navel piercings. What you’ll do is wash your hands first. Put a pinch of sea salt in a five-ounce cup. Fill it with 3 ounces of water, in a temperature as hot as your skin can stand. Turn over the cup over the piercing, making sure it “seals” over your skin. Keep it there for five minutes. You can also soak cotton balls in the salt water instead and apply to the piercing. Afterwards, rinse with warm water and dry with a clean washcloth or paper towel. Do the sea salt soak once day, twice a day if the piercing is irritated.

Once your piercing has healed, you can change the jewelry, and even consider stretching it.

Caring for Your Internal Piercing

Getting a tongue piercing may require more special attention than an external piercing. Here’s how:

1. Rinse your mouth for 30 to 60 seconds with a medical-grade oral rinse after every meal. You must do this faithfully for three to six weeks. Oral antiseptic is also available, but you must avoid products that use alcohol or hydrogen peroxide.
2. Using the same salt water solution mentioned earlier (only using a water temperature that your tongue can stand), rinse your mouth for 15 seconds. Sea salt rinses should be done immediately after smoking or drinking anything other than distilled water.
3. Brush your teeth three times a day with a new soft bristle toothbrush. You should also take out your piercing.
4. Switching to shorter-stemmed piercings should be done ten days after the date you got pierced.
5. Avoid activities that will cause disturbance to your piercing, such as kissing or dancing, to name a few. You should also stop smoking, drinking alcohol and coffee.
6. As a safety measure, stick to “bland” soft food such as the food you feed your toddlers, like mashed potatoes, porridge and applesauce. Some recommend the soup diet.
7. Don’t remove your piercing until it has been fully healed.

Ask a question

Question:
Powered by

[x] Post answer

* Answer:

* Email:

Register

Complete the form below to register with monsterguide.net. Registering an account will allow you to ask questions on any site powered by UnAsked.com

Name Email Password Confirm Password
Powered by

Login

You must be a registered user to ask questions. If you are not registered, Register Now. Otherwise, please login.

Email Password
Powered by

Not Registered