PIERCING: Frequently Asked Questions.
The Piercing FAQ: (Written by Marley!)
Piercing gun or needle?
You should ALWAYS be pierced with a single-use, pre-sterilized hollow needle for ANY piercing. Read why guns should NOT be used here.
Do piercings hurt?
That completely depends on the person, a piercing may not be painful to one person and it may feel like child birth to another. Pain is solely dependent on the person, we all have our own unique pain tolerances. If you’re more worried about the pain of a piercing, I suggest you wait on getting it becausepain is only temporary so it’s really nothing to worry about.
Is my piercing infected?
Signs of infection:
The piercing is significantly swollen, the piercing has excessive redness, the piercing is radiating heat, the piercing is painful (not sore, like what you may experience with a new piercing), and the piercing is discharging pus (not lymph).
If your piercing is experiencing the above, go back to your piercer ASAP and the doctor for antibiotics to kill the infection— do NOT remove jewelry from an infected piercing.
How long will it take for my piercing to heal?
This depends on the piercing; some piercings can take as little as four weeks to heal and others can take up to a year (or longer) to heal. Areas with low blood circulation will take longer to heal (i.e. cartilage, navel), if you want a full list of body piercing healing time, go here.
I’ve had a piercing for x amount of weeks/months/years, will it still close up if I remove the jewelry for x amount of time?
A piercing, regardless of how long you’ve had it, can close up within minutes and that’s why it’s suggested by the APP to never remove jewelry unless you plan to retire the piercing or change the jewelry.
What should I use to clean my piercing?
Saline is by far the best product to use on a fresh and irritated piercing. Saline soaks allow you to clean inside the piercing without harming the fistula, saline soaks act as a vacuum and draw out bacteria, they promote healthy healing and encourage the piercing to heal faster—saline soaks fucking rock.
Other things you can use to clean your piercing are soaps, HOWEVER, it’s not just any soap. If you use a soap, it must be anti-microbial or germicidal— no anti-bacterial soaps. Suggested soaps are Satin and Provon.
If you live in a dry climate, saline soaks are just suggested as the soaps maybe too harsh and dry out your skin.
What products do I avoid using on a piercing?
Peroxide, alcohol, Bactine, Betadine, Hibiciens, Dial (and other harsh soaps), ointments (like neosporin), ear piercing “cleaner” solutions and any other products containing benzalkonium chloride.
Should I twist/move the jewelry?
NO. You never ever twist/move jewelry in a healing piercing. Twisting/playing with jewelry welcomes unwanted bacteria/crusties, it tears/destroys the fistula, it prolongs healing time, it can cause excess scar tissue, and it increases your chances of infection. Do NOT mess with jewelry.
What’s normal with a healing piercing and what should I expect?
Initial bruising, bleeding, tenderness, localized swelling and redness are all normal for tissue freshly pierced. Once the piercing starts to heal, itching, discoloration, secretion of lymph (not pus) and crusties (dried lymph) are also completely normal and are signs of a healing piercing.
Piercings heal outside-in so even though a piercing may look fully healed, it may not be so make sure you always wait the minimal healing time before you stop babying the piercing.
What happens if my piercing (that’s fully healed) starts to act up?
Always keep some sort of saline (either homemade saline or saline solution products like H2Ocean) product with you so if your piercing is to act up, you’re ready to do a soak to help soothe the piercing. Once you’re doing the soak, or before you do the soak, think of possible factors as to why your piercing could be irritated— are your clothes clean? your bed sheets? do you have any pets that may have affected the piercing? has anyone else’s bodily fluids been on the piercing? do you sleep on the piercing? etc.
I lost the ball/jewel to my jewelry, what can I do to make sure I don’t lose the rest of it?
ALWAYS have spare jewelry on you just incase you are to lose a part (or the entire thing) of your jewelry. It is a genius idea to carry sterile or very clean jewelry around with you in a small baggy so you’re always ready.
Oral piercings: What type of mouthwash should I use and how often?
I strongly suggest using saline (as you would a mouthwash) and saline soaks for oral piercings. Though saline can taste nasty, it’s the best to use on a piercing. If you are to use a mouthwash itmust be alcohol-free and it should be a product like Biotene. If you use a mouthwash, make sure it can be used more than once a day (Biotene and Crest Pro-Health are the only mouthwashes i know that can be used twice a day) because using certain mouthwashes more than once a day could weaken your tooth enamel.
You are meant to clean an oral piercing 4-5x a day; if you just use saline, i suggest two saline soaks a day for 5-10 minutes and saline rinses for 30-60 seconds after you eat/drink anything besides water. If you decide to use a mouthwash, use it 1-2x a day and saline (soaks) 2-3x a day. Please try to do at least ONE saline soak a day to make sure you clean the piercing very well.
Oral piercings: How do I reduce swelling and lessen pain?
Some great ways to reduce swelling is with ice, cold foods/drinks, ibuprofen (and JUST ibuprofen) and elevating your head while you sleep. There’s generally no way to reduce pain through pills as the pills will thin your blood (thus making the piercing bleed), however taking cough drops (cherry flavored in the Equate brand, to be specific) can not only help lessen pain, but it can also reduce swelling.
My piercing has a bump, what is it?
Piercing bumps can range from hypertrophic scarring, hypergranulation tissue to something as serious as keloids. However, hypertrophic scarring is commonly confused as a keloid. The actual occurrence of keloids (for piercings) is incredibly rare— if you are keloid-prone/have a direct family history of getting keloids, please do not get pierced as you run a much higher risk of getting a keloid.
To treat hypertrophic scars, I suggest:
Micropore, breathable tape (that comes in “flesh tone”). Cut some tape up with sanitary scissors and make sure the tape just covers the bump— the piercing itself still needs to breathe. If you notice this compression method doesn’t work after 2-3 months, you can discontinue use.
Applying tea tree oil (diluted in water first so it’s 50/50) to the bump (again, NOT the piercing) can also help the bump go away. If the bump doesn’t go away in 2 weeks, go to your piercer immediately.
For hypergranulation tissue:
Do chamomile teabag compresses, saline soaks 2-3x a day for 5-10 minutes and apply pressure to the piercing with a sanitary, single-use q-tip. If the bump doesn’t go away in 2 weeks, go to your piecer immediately.
If you do have a keloid, retire the piercing immediately and visit your local dermatologist for options on how to treat the keloid.
What’s the ‘chamomile teabag compress’?
The chamomile teabag compress is to help soothe irritated piercings and has helped show that it can get rid of bumps. To do a chamomile teabag compress simply boil water (or saline), put the teabag in the boiling water, take it out, let it cool a bit (you don’t want to burn the piercing) and let the teabag cool on the bump/piercing. Repeat this process once the teabag gets cold.
