• WASH your hands thoroughly prior to cleaning or touching your piercing for any reason.

• SALINE rinse as needed while healing. For certain piercings it may be easier to apply using clean gauze or paper towels saturated with saline solution.

• DRY gently with clean, disposable paper products. Cloth towels could snag on jewelry, and they might have bacteria on them.

Do not remove, turn or twist jewelry when cleaning!

• At first: some bleeding, bruising, swelling, redness, and soreness or mild pain.

• During healing: some discoloration, itching, oozing of a whitish-yellow fluid (not pus) that will form some crust on the jewelry. Your skin may tighten around the jewelry as you heal.

• After healing: the jewelry may not move easily in the piercing; do not force it. If you don’t clean your piercing as a part of your daily bathing, normal but smelly secretions may build up.

• A piercing may seem just fine before the whole healing process is done. This is because they heal from the outside in. Even if it feels fine, the new skin is weak on the inside. Be patient, and keep cleaning all the way to the end of entire healing period.

• If you have had a piercing for years, it can still shrink or close in minutes if you take out your jewelry! This is different from person to person; if you like your piercing, keep jewelry in—do not leave the hole empty.

• Wash your hands before you touch the piercing; leave it alone except when cleaning. During healing, you do not have to to rotate, turn, or move your jewelry.

• Stay healthy; the healthier your lifestyle, the easier it will be for your piercing to heal. Get enough sleep and eat a nutritious diet. Exercise during healing is fine; listen to your body.

• Make sure your sheets and towels are washed and changed weekly.

• Showers are safer than baths because bathtubs can harbor germs. Before you get into a bath tub, clean it first, and rinse off your piercing when you get out.

• Avoid cleaning with alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, antibacterial soaps, iodine, or any harsh products, as these can damage cells. Also avoid ointments as they prevent necessary air circulation.

• Avoid Bactine®, pierced ear care solutions, and other products containing Benzalkonium Chloride (BZK). These can be irritating and are not intended for long-term wound care.

• Avoid over-cleaning. This can delay your healing and irritate your piercing.

• Avoid undue trauma such as friction from clothing, excessive motion of the area, playing with the jewelry, and vigorous cleaning. These activities can cause the formation of unsightly and uncomfortable scar tissue, migration, prolonged healing, and other complications.

• Avoid all oral contact, rough play, and contact with others’ bodily fluids on or near your piercing during healing.

• Avoid stress and recreational drug use, including excessive caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol.

• Avoid submerging the piercing in unhygienic bodies of water such as lakes, pools, hot tubs, etc. Or, protect your piercing using a waterproof wound sealant bandage. These are available at most drugstores and work best for nipple, navel, and surface piercing placements.

• Avoid all beauty and personal care products on or around the piercing including cosmetics, lotions, and sprays, etc.

• Don’t hang charms or any object from your jewelry until the piercing is fully healed.

• Sleeping directly on a healing cartilage piercing can cause irritation, even causing shifts in the piercing’s angle. Placing a travel pillow, on top of your pillow, and then placing your ear in the opening can be helpful to avoid this

• Unless there is a problem with the size, style, or material of your initial jewelry, leave it in for the whole healing period. If you have an emergency and need to change your jewelry during healing, make a jewelry change appointment or contact us. 

• If your metal jewelry must be removed (for example, if your doctor or dentist makes you take it out for a procedure) we can place a glass retainer. Book a jewelry change appointment or order online.

• Leave jewelry in at all times. Your piercing can shrink or close super fast—even if you’ve had it for years. If you take it out, getting it back in later can be difficult or impossible.

• With clean hands be sure to check threaded ends on your jewelry for tightness daily. (“Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey.”)

• If you decide you don’t want your piercing any more, simply remove the jewelry (or have a professional piercer remove it). Keep cleaning the piercing daily until the hole closes. Most of the time, only a small mark will be visible.

• If you think you have an infection, leave in quality jewelry so the infection can drain. If you take the jewelry out, the surface can close up. That can trap the infection inside the piercing and cause an abscess. Do not remove jewelry unless instructed to do so by a medical professional.

• Use the t-shirt trick: Dress your pillow in a large, clean t-shirt and turn it nightly; one clean t-shirt provides four clean surfaces for sleeping.

• Keep everything super clean that comes near or touches the pierced area: telephones, headphones, eyeglasses, helmets, and hats.

• Be careful when styling your hair, and let your stylist know if you are healing a piercing.

• A hard, vented eye patch (sold at pharmacies) can be applied under tight clothing (such as nylon stockings) or secured using a length of elastic bandage around the body (to avoid irritation from adhesive). This can protect the area from restrictive clothing, excess irritation, and impact during physical activities such as contact sports.

• The support of a tight cotton shirt or sports bra may provide protection and feel comfortable, especially for sleeping.

• Avoid all oral contact, rough play, and contact with others’ bodily fluids on or near your piercing during healing.

These guidelines are based on a combination of vast professional experience, common sense, research, and extensive clinical practice. This is not to be considered a substitute for medical advice from a doctor. If you suspect an infection, seek medical attention. Be aware that many doctors have not received specific training regarding piercing. Your local piercer may be able to refer you to a piercing-friendly medical professional. For more information, visit www.safepiercing.org.