Body Piercing: Aftercare and Healing 

A new body piercing will be sore, tender or red for several days up to three weeks. Complete healing normally takes several weeks or more. Below are more specific healing time estimates. During this period, care must be taken to avoid infections. Touching--or, for genital and oral piercings, sexual activity--is usually discouraged.  

Healing of body piercing usually takes about as long as is listed below; the body piercing jewelry should not be removed during this period. The healing time should not be rushed. Very often a piercing that seemed to be healed will start to have problems when it is handled roughly, or exposed to mouth contact or unwashed hands before fully healed.

*Ear cartilage: 2 - 4 months

*Ear lobes: 6 - 8 weeks

*Eyebrow: 6 - 8 weeks

*Lip/Labret: 2 - 4 weeks

*Nostril: 6 - 12 months

*Septum: 6 - 8 weeks

*Tongue: 4 - 6 weeks

*Navel piercing: 6 months

*Female Nipples: 4 - 6 months

*Male Nipples: 2 - 4 months

*Clitoris: 2 - 4 weeks

*Prince Albert: 4 - 9 weeks

Over time, after the piercing, the resulting wound is allowed to heal, forming a tunnel of scar tissue called a fistula. When the piercing has fully healed, the initial body jewelry may be changed or removed for short periods.

Help for healing. Be careful with your Body Jewelry

*Revisiting the piercer for an evaluation at any time, if needed *Practicing good hygiene to piercing and body jewelry *Following the recommended aftercare guidelines *Taking sufficient supplement tablets like Iron, Zinc for help the immunological system.

Behavior that hinders healing of Body Piercing

*Contact between the new piercing and another persons skin. *Touching the piercing or body jewelry, unless cleaning it, in which case only with washed hands. *Smoking and drinking alcohol. *Contact between the piercing and body fluids, perfume or cosmetics. *Oral and genital sex. *Swimming in public swimming pools, lakes, rivers, streams, and oceans as they may be too harsh to promote skin cell healing. Chlorine in swimming pool water may be an irritant. Bacteria, protozoa, and parasites found in non-chlorinated water can lead to infections on your body piercing jewelry.

Cleaning of Body Piercing & Body Jewelry

Oral piercings

For tongue, lip, cheek, and labret piercings, it is recommended to rinse the mouth after smoking, eating and drinking (except water). Some piercers recommend using Listerine, while others, claiming that Listerine is too harsh on the piercing thereby hindering the healing process, recommend a non-alcoholic mouthwash such as Oral-B Non-Alcoholic or Biotene, or a diluted saline solution. Kissing and oral sex are advised against for 4-6 weeks after the piercing, as are excessively hot or spicy foods. Some recommend cold foods such as ice cream bars. Blended foods are a great alternative - anything soft.

Body piercings

It is generally advised by piercers to use a sea salt soaks (1/8 teaspoon per 8oz of distilled or boiled water); proportionate mixes are marketed and sold by companies such as H2Ocean) or a medical saline rinse, which

<< Previous    [1]  2    Next >>