Piercing Aftercare
What to DO:
- Always wash your hands before touching your piercing.
- Wash the piercing EVERYDAY with unscented, antibacterial or antimicrobial soap. Thoroughly rinse, then dry with sterile gauze. Wash the piercing last in the shower.
- To remove crust build up, spray saline on a gauze pad. Use different corners of the gauze for the front and back of the piercing. There is no set amount of times a day to do this. If you see crust, remove it. If the crust isn’t coming off easily, warm the saline in the microwave for a few seconds. Do NOT pick at the crust.
- Use a cold compress to soothe swelling:
- – Apply for 5-10 minutes 3x a day. Place sterile gauze on the piercing and then the compress on top.
- To aid in healing & circulation, use a hot compress:
- -A heating pad, bottle of hot water, or saline on sterile gauze. If using saline, microwave for a few seconds ( finger test it! you want shower hot, not scalding hot).
- Even after the piercing is healed, always clean your piercing and remove any build up.
For surface piercings & surface anchors: Remove the ends to clean the area. If you can’t, use saline to soak the area and use floss sticks to remove build up.
What to expect from your healing piercing:
- Tenderness, itching, bruising are normal for a few weeks. Minor bleeding is normal the first few days. Your piercing may secrete a white-ish/yellow fluid which may crust on the jewelry/ around the piercing hole.
- Swelling and redness may occur throughout the healing process.
What NOT to do:
- No rubbing alcohol, peroxide, or ointments.
- Do not touch the piercing unless you’re cleaning it.
- Do not rotate or move the jewelry. Do not remove jewelry during healing.
- Avoid sleeping on the piercing.
- Avoid getting hair products, makeup, moisturizers around the piercing.
- Do not soak the piercing (unless doing a compress/removing crust).
Genital piercing Extra Care:
- Piercing may freely bleed for a few days. Keep wrapped with sterile gauze as needed.
- In most cases, gentle fluid safe sexual activity is fine as soon as you feel ready. Comfort and hygiene is vital.
- Soak in warm saline or plain water to remove any crusties prior to sexual activity.
- Use barriers such as condoms, dental dams, and tegaderm to avoid contact with a partners bodily fluids, even in long term relationships.
- After sex, an additional saline soak or clean water rinse is suggested.
Septum Aftercare
- Four times a day, spray saline on a q-tip (sterile q-tips if possible) and wipe off any crust. Use one end of the q-tip for each side. Don’t use the same end of the q-tip for both sides to avoid transferring bacteria.
- Leave the jewelry flipped up your nose for the entire healing process.
- Do not touch the piercing unless you are cleaning it.
Oral Piercing Aftercare
- Rinse with an alcohol-free mouthwash for at least 30 seconds after eating, drinking, smoking or putting anything in your mouth.
- Brush your teeth 3x a day using a new toothbrush and mild toothpaste.
- Avoid alcohol, hot and spicy foods, and anything with citric acid content for the first week of healing.
- Cut down or stop smoking/vaping. Smokers/vapers may experience considerably longer healing times.
- Soft and bite sized foods will be the easiest for the first few days.
- Most oral piercings will need to be downsized 2-4 weeks into healing. Come back to your piercer when you are ready to shorten the jewelry to insure it is properly sized. Other than to downsize, jewelry should not be changed during healing.
- To reduce swelling, dissolve small pieces of ice in your mouth or use an over the counter anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen. Sleeping with your head elevated above your heart will help reduce swelling.
- Do not use straws for the first week.
Tattoo Aftercare
Here’s what you’ll need to heal your tattoo:
- Unscented or antibacterial liquid soap (no bar soaps)
- Aquaphor or A&D ointment
- Unscented lotion
- Leave your bandage on for 1-3 hours after the tattoo. This is the only time your tattoo should be covered. Do not re-bandage your tattoo for any reason. If you are using second skin to heal your tattoo, that is the only exception and your artist will go over the proper instructions for using that.
- Always wash your hands before touching your tattoo. After the bandage is removed, clean the tattoo with warm water & liquid soap. Lather well, then thoroughly rinse. Pat dry with paper towel, do not rub.
- With a clean, dry hand, apply a thin layer of ointment to the entire tattoo. Do not glob it on, you only need a thin layer, just enough that its a bit shiny. You will repeat this process 2-3x a day, only applying ointment after washing the tattoo. In between washings, leave the tattoo alone & allow it to breathe. Keep your hands off of it!
- After the first few days, your tattoo will begin to dry out. You may notice flaking or peeling. Some scabbing may also occur. Once you notice the tattoo is dry (usually 3-5 days after), switch to a non-scented lotion. You will still be washing the tattoo with the unscented/antibacterial soap, but you may apply lotion as needed. Carry it with you & apply throughout the day as needed.
- Do NOT pick/scratch the tattoo while healing. It may become itchy as it dries out, use the lotion to soothe any discomfort. Scratching/picking may result in loss of ink in the tattoo.
- While healing, avoid submerging the tattoo in water (pool, ocean, lake, hot tubs, baths, etc.). Showers are fine as long as you wash the tattoo at the end of your shower. No swimming/tanning during the healing process. Healing is roughly 2-3 weeks, but healing times may vary person to person.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your artist or the shop. Do not Google!