Congratulations!

You now have a brand new body piercing! We cleaned and disinfected the area pierced, used sterile single use instruments and sterile jewelry. Now it’s up to you to take appropriate care of your new piercing.

Our Healing Philosophy

We believe body piercing aftercare should be simple; less is more. Let your body naturally do most of the work to heal itself around your piercing, you are just going to maintain it. A piercing that is neglected or not correctly cared for will likely not heal, so it is very important to follow these instructions.

Chemicals will not make your body heal faster. Chemicals of any kind can irritate your healing piercing, and some can even damage your jewelry. We do not suggest the use of harsh chemicals, soaps, essential oils, or ointments. From years of medical studies & research the Association of Professional Piercers (APP safepiercings.org) has found chemicals can actually delay healing. The only product you should be using on a healing piercing is Sterile Saline Wound Wash solution.

How To Clean Your Piercings

WASH your hands thoroughly before to cleaning or touching your piercings for any reason.
SALINE spray/rinse as needed while healing. Use clean gauze saturated in saline solution if easier for certain piercings.
RINSE piercing site as needed to wash away excess cleaning solution residue. It is not necessary to twist or move your jewelry during cleaning.
DRY with clean disposable paper, gently patting wet area. Avoid towels, the can snag on jewelry and can harbor bacteria.

What Is Normal?

Initially: some bleeding, localized swelling, tenderness, and/or bruising.
During Healing: some discolouration, itching, secretion of a whitish-yellow fluid (not puss) that will form some crust on the jewelry. The tissue may tighten around the jewelry as it heals.
Once Healed: the jewelry may not move freely in the piercing; do not force it. If you fail to include cleaning your piercing as part of your daily hygiene routine, normal but smelly bodily secretions may accumulate.
A piercing might seem healed before the healing process is complete. This is because tissue heals from the outside in, and although it feels fine, the interior remains fragile. Be patient, and keep cleaning throughout the entire initial healing period.
Even healed piercings that you have had for years can shrink or close in minutes! This varies from person to person; if you like your piercing, keep jewelry in – do not leave the hole empty.

What To Avoid

Avoid undue trauma such as friction from clothing, excessive motion of the area, playing with the jewelry and vigorous cleaning.
Avoid over cleaning. This can delay healing and irritate your piercing.
Avoid all oral cleaning, rough play, and contact with other bodily fluids on or near piercings during healing.
Avoid stress and recreational drugs use including excessive caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol.
Avoid ALL beauty products and cosmetic products on or around the piercing including makeup, lotions, sprays, and soaps.
Don’t hang any charms or objects from the piercing until it is fully healed.
Avoid submerging the piercing in unhygienic bodies of water such as lakes, pools, hot tubs, etc.
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.

Hints & Tips

Unless there is a problem with the size, style, or material of the initial jewelry, leave it in the place for the entire healing period. See a qualified piercer to perform any jewelry change that becomes necessary during healing.
In the event an infection is suspected, quality jewelry or an inert alternative may be left in place to allow for drainage of the infection, if approved by your physician. On rare occasion, when the jewelry is removed, the surface cells close up, which can seal the infection inside the piercing channel and result in an abscess. Until an infection is cleared up, discuss with your physician if you should leave in quality jewelry or an appropriate substitute.
Irritation bumps are common for piercings. Adjusting the care, changing to higher grade jewelry, or downsizing your bar, are options that can fix the issue. If you suspect that you have an infection, contact your Doctor.
With clean hands or paper products, be sure to regularly check threaded and threadless ends on your jewelry for tightness.
Carry a spare clean ball in case of loss or breakage
Should you decide you no longer want the piercing, seek professional help in the removal of jewelry and continue cleaning the piercing until the hole closes. In most cases only a small indentation will remain.

For Particular Areas

Navel: 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 bandages 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 sport.

Ear/ Ear Cartilage and Facial: 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.
Nipple: The support of a tight cotton shirt or sports bra may provide protection and feel comfortable, especially for sleeping.

Microdermal (Surface Anchors): These piercings require maintenance during their entire lifetime because matter can build up underneath the threaded top causing the piercing to become irritated. Saline and/or shower rinses may be helpful with removing matter from underneath the threaded top.

Avoid putting makeup on these piercings even after healing. Even with proper care, surface anchors may be less permanent than other body piercings.

Oral Piercings: Maintain good oral hygiene. Brush, floss, and rinse regularly. We suggest picking up a new toothbrush or new toothbrush head after piercing so you don’t have any old bacteria from your old toothbrush. Avoid any products that contain whitening while the piercing is healing. As soon as its comfortable to do so, you can gently clean the jewelry with your toothbrush while brushing your teeth to prevent plaque buildup.

Downsizing Jewelry

Downsizing is essential for almost all healing piercings. We pierce with room to accommodate for any swelling and healing your piercing will go through. After the initial swelling and healing is over, that length can often be excessive and cause issues. It’s important you come back in and have the jewelry shortened, so it’s a good fit. Leaving the jewelry long can cause irritation, migration, and other issues. Your piercer will tell you an exact timeframe to downsize in, but in general coming back at around 1 month for a checkup is a great idea.

Advice

Do not play with new piercings, as physical irritation is the cause of many problems. Leave them alone. When clothing must cover the piercing, wear clean, loose, breathable clothes.

Stay healthy! Eat a nutritious diet. The healthier your lifestyle, the easier it will be for your piercing to heal. Exercise during healing is fine, just listen to your body.
Make sure your bedding is kept clean and changed regularly. Wear clean, comfortable breathable clothing that protects your piercing while sleeping.

Showering is safer than taking a bath, because bathtubs tend to harbor bacteria. Bath Bombs, bubble bath, and other bath chemicals can be irritating to a piercing while it heals

Chlorine is tremendously drying and irritating to new piercings and should be avoided at all costs. If you can not stay out of the water then do your best to soak the piercing and rinse with saline whenever you swim. Avoid hot tubs until the piercing is healed. Lakes and oceans are a topic of debate, but a few things are certain: sewage is frequently dumped into these water systems, and presents an additional risk. Lakes, slow-moving rivers, marinas, and the like are the most risky areas as water is not frequently cleaned out. And Staphylococcus is found in many bodies of water. Use discretion, and pay attention to the condition of your piercing.

“Keloids” and Scar Tissue: A large majority of people mistake irritation for scarring. If you suspect you are developing scar tissue- contact your piercer. There are several approaches to dealing with these problems, and your piercer can point you in the right direction.

Congratulations!

You now have a brand new body piercing! We cleaned and disinfected the area pierced, used sterile single use instruments and sterile jewelry. Now it’s up to you to take appropriate care of your new piercing.

Our Healing Philosophy

How To Clean Your Piercings

WASH your hands thoroughly before to cleaning or touching your piercings for any reason.

SALINE spray/rinse as needed while healing. Use clean gauze saturated in saline solution if easier for certain piercings.

RINSE piercing site as needed to wash away excess cleaning solution residue. It is not necessary to twist or move your jewelry during cleaning.

DRY with clean disposable paper, gently patting wet area. Avoid towels, the can snag on jewelry and can harbor bacteria.

What Is Normal?

Initially: some bleeding, localized swelling, tenderness, and/or bruising.

During Healing: some discolouration, itching, secretion of a whitish-yellow fluid (not puss) that will form some crust on the jewelry. The tissue may tighten around the jewelry as it heals.

Once Healed: the jewelry may not move freely in the piercing; do not force it. If you fail to include cleaning your piercing as part of your daily hygiene routine, normal but smelly bodily secretions may accumulate.

A piercing might seem healed before the healing process is complete. This is because tissue heals from the outside in, and although it feels fine, the interior remains fragile. Be patient, and keep cleaning throughout the entire initial healing period.

Even healed piercings that you have had for years can shrink or close in minutes! This varies from person to person; if you like your piercing, keep jewelry in – do not leave the hole empty.

What To Avoid

Avoid undue trauma such as friction from clothing, excessive motion of the area, playing with the jewelry and vigorous cleaning.

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

Avoid all oral cleaning, rough play, and contact with other bodily fluids on or near piercings during healing.

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

Avoid ALL beauty products and cosmetic products on or around the piercing including makeup, lotions, sprays, and soaps.

Don’t hang any charms or objects from the piercing until it is fully healed.

Avoid submerging the piercing in unhygienic bodies of water such as lakes, pools, hot tubs, etc.

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.

Hints & Tips

Unless there is a problem with the size, style, or material of the initial jewelry, leave it in the place for the entire healing period. See a qualified piercer to perform any jewelry change that becomes necessary during healing.

Irritation bumps are common for piercings. Adjusting the care, changing to higher grade jewelry, or downsizing your bar, are options that can fix the issue. If you suspect that you have an infection, contact your Doctor.

With clean hands or paper products, be sure to regularly check threaded and threadless ends on your jewelry for tightness.

Carry a spare clean ball in case of loss or breakage

Should you decide you no longer want the piercing, seek professional help in the removal of jewelry and continue cleaning the piercing until the hole closes. In most cases only a small indentation will remain.

For Particular Areas

Downsizing Jewelry

Advice