Aftercare

GENERAL EXTERNAL AFTERCARE

DO NOT TOUCH YOUR PIERCING WITH UNWASHED HANDS!!!

Clean your piercing 2-3 times a day with a piece of tissue (kitchen towel or toilet roll, but strictly NO COTTON or COTTON BUDS!!!), soaked in MILD SALINE SOLUTION.

MILD SALINE SOLUTION:

Dissolve a maximum 1/4 of a teaspoon (3-4 crystals) of rock of sea salt for 1 pint of boiled water. Wait until it cools down and only then apply on piercing.

DO NOT use hot saline for cleaning!!! Table salt and fine salt CAN NOT BE USED!!!

HOW TO CLEAN PIERCINGS:

First apply a wet tissue to the piercing as a compress [ideally cover both holes at the same time]; wait for ~2 minutes, then using another tissue soaked in saline, gently wipe any plasma that may have dried on skin. If the jewellery moves freely, attempt to get a little bit of saline into the wound to help clean it out, but DO NOT force the jewellery if it is not moving freely.

DO NOT apply any form of cream, antiseptic or cosmetics (soaps, shampoos, make-up) for the full time of healing– these are intended for external use only and can cause irritation if they get under the skin.

AVOID ANY IRRITATION:

• Something rubbing up against the piercing
• Playing with/abuse of an unhealed piercing
• Handle the piercing as little as possible until is fully healed

Piercing may look healed from the outside, but it still might be healing from inside of your skin. Changing jewellery too soon may cause an infection and even rejection, so ideally keep the jewellery that you been pierced with in for the FULL time of healing!

ORAL AFTERCARE

When we do oral piercings, we use slightly oversized jewellery as oral piercings DO swell up; usually it can be changed after 3 weeks. During this time, the swelling will settle down, but depending on a person it may take even longer.

We CAN NOT change it sooner than 3 weeks as changing jewellery may cause more swelling and postpone healing time.

The oral piercing must be rinsed with ALCOHOL FREE MOUTHWASH after ANY meal, drink and, if you smoke, after each cigarette. Meanwhile, try to rinse your mouth as often as possible, the more you rinse, the sooner the swelling will go down.

Avoid harsh mouthwashes – if mouthwash that you are using causes discomfort to the piercing, please dilute it with water. Harsh mouthwash may be an irritant that could cause problems with the smooth healing of the wound.

Mild Saline Solution also can be used for rinsing.

For at least 3 weeks AVOID:

• Spicy food
• Fizzy drinks and juices
• Alcohol

These products may cause even bigger swelling and postpone healing time. Also choose something mild and soft to eat: mashed potatoes, overcooked pasta or rice, yoghurts, soups – anything that will be easy for you to chew and swallow. Drink a lot of cold water, suck on an ice cube; milkshakes and ice cream are also good for you, but you have to rinse your mouth after you consume them.

If the piercing is both inside and outside your mouth (labret, Madonna, cheek etc.) the outside of the piercing must be also cleaned following the same procedure that is used for general piercings.

Piercing often reacts differently from person to person and oral piercings do swell up. If that swelling causes you a lot of pain or discomfort – you can take painkillers, which also can reduce the swelling e.g Ibuprofen, Nurofen, if you are NOT allergic to them.

With all oral piercings there is always a possibility of plaque building up on the jewellery. The jewellery should be lightly brushed at the same time as you brush your teeth.

Do not indulge in any activity that may cause the transfer of bodily fluids with another person (kissing, oral-sex, etc.) for at least 3 weeks.

GENITAL AFTERCARE

DO NOT TOUCH YOUR PIERCING WITH UNWASHED HANDS!!!

The easiest way to treat male genital piercings, such a the Prince Albert/Reversed Prince Albert, amapallang, apadravya, transurethral, dadoe etc, – is to soak them in a clean jug of Mild Saline Solution 2-3 times a day, also after bathing/showering.

Female genital piercings should be cleaned as any other general piercing, but please use large quantities of the Mild Saline Solution to ensure that any trace of body fluids is removed from the piercing and surrounding skin.

Ideally sex should be AVOIDED for 2-3 weeks, after that use ONLY condoms as protection for the FULL time of healing!!!

DO NOT apply any form of cream, antiseptic or cosmetics (soaps, shower gels, even intimate gels are not good) for the full time of healing – these are intended for external use only and can cause irritation if they get under the skin.

Don’t wear tight underwear or anything that can rub or press against piercing.

DERMAL IMPLANTS AFTERCARE

Unlike a regular body or surface piercing, microdermal anchors are single-point piercings. They became popular for semi-permanence and versatility of them.

The anchor is a very small metal piece with tiny round holes in it. This piece is inserted in the skin and is held intact when the skin adheres to itself through the holes. The second part of the microdermal is the bead, or gem. This end is the only one visible to the eye.

Like any other surface piercing, microdermal anchors do have a chance of rejection and migration. If rejection or migration is suspected, the microdermal should be removed as soon as possible.

Aftercare for dermal implants is really simple: few times a day clean it using piece of tissue or kitchentowel soaked in warm pre-boiled tap water. Always pat dry your piercing after cleaning with clean tissue and leave exposed.

Avoid any irritation on piercing site as well as any cosmetics on the area, exactly the same way as with any general piercing.