Piercing Aftercare

General care for all piercings:
- Rinse the fresh piercing daily in the shower before bed under some warm water for 20 seconds.
- Spray with saline once daily for the first 4-6 weeks. You can reduce the spraying to whenever feels necessary after this time. It is important you do not overspray your piercing as this can delay your healing process. Over spraying can keep the piercing area moist, which slows down healing, once you spray your piercing, you can use a clean tissue, ear bud, cotton pad or gauze to gently dry the surrounding area without moving the piercing.
- Do not touch, twist, bump or play with your piercing while healing as this can slow down healing and cause potential irritation/infection.

Healing Expectations:
- Week 1-2 - Tenderness, Swelling, redness and bleeding is totally normal.
- Week 3-4 – Starting to settle in, Yellow 'crust' can form, don't pick them. Have a shower to rinse this off/soften them. After the shower if they haven't completely washed off, use an ear bud with your spray to gently wipe away straight after the shower while everything is still soft!
- Week 5-6 - Matured. Redness should be nearly gone. Spray and clean when necessary.
- Week 8-12 - Check-up time and potential downsize if swelling as settled.

Healing times for different piercings can vary; here is a rough guide to healing time frames:
- Earlobes 8-12 weeks (Seconds and Thirds may take a little longer to heal, up to 6 months)
- Ear Cartilage 6-12 months
- Nose 3-6 months
- Eyebrow/Bridge 2-3 months
- Dermal 6-8 weeks
- Tongue 5-6 weeks
- Lips 6-8 weeks
- Septum 6-8 weeks
- Navel 3-6 months
- Nipple 3-6 months (for woman, can stay sensitive or crusty for the first 12 months)

Lots of aspects can play a part to healing a piercing; things like aftercare, the person’s immune system, playing sport, wearing helmets etc. can all affect the healing.

A piercing may seem healed before the healing process is actually complete. This is because this type of wound will heal from the outside to the inside. Although it may feel fine on the outside, the interior could still be fragile. Be patient, and keep the piercing clean throughout the entire healing period.

Note:
- Sleeping on/bumping your piercing will slow down the healing and cause irritation bumps to form (Hypertrophic scar)
- Low quality jewellery or sterling silver are not recommended for piercings, especially in the first 12 months!

Specific Areas

Oral:
- Use alcohol-free mouth rinse twice daily for the first 2 weeks.
- Cold/Icy drinks are great during healing. Especially for a tongue piercing, ice can help with swelling and pain.
- Swelling is normal for the first 2-6 weeks.
- No oral contact till the piercing is healed to avoid infection.
- Eat soft/blended food while healing.
- Avoid spicy and temperate hot for the first 2 weeks to minimise irritation during healing.
- Do NOT play with the jewellery at all.
- Downsize jewellery in 3-6 weeks to avoid chipping the teeth or tearing the piercing site.
- Drink lots of water to keep the piercing area clean and flushed.
- Oral piercings that are constantly played with will rip and cause white, bumpy scar tissue. Saline rinses and Aspro Clear can help to get rid of the bumps.

Dermal:
- Best way to clean your dermal is a daily rinse in the shower.
- Cover loosely with a Band-Aid for the first 3 weeks during sleep.
- If the dermal has been snagged, cover with a Band-Aid for 24 hours to help resettle it.

Female Nipples:
Recommend to wear a full cup sports bra (preferably padded if comfortable) to sleep for the first 6 weeks to avoid knocking/pulling in your sleep.
- Don't allow physical touch on the piercing till healed.
- Rinse daily in the shower before bed to help reduce crusties.
- Crust on the nipple piercing is normal for the first 6-12months, even when healed. Picking the crust off makes it worse, cleaning with warm water & antibacterial soap before bed helps slow down the build up!

Cartilage Piercings:
Cartilage piercings can be quite difficult to heal at times, they are quite prone to getting hypertrophic scarring and can take a while to heal, downsizing the bar when the swelling as settled can help speed up the healing due to the bar moving less and less likely to snag the bar when its shorter.