General Aftercare Guide
Congratulations on obtaining the piercing you've always wanted! Learn here how to take proper care of your piercings as they heal. Please scroll down and select your preferred guide to view a customized aftercare guide for your piercing.
✨ Daily Cleaning Practice
Properly wash and sanitize your hands before cleaning or touching your piercing for any reason.
Spray the piercing area with sterile saline wound wash. It is not required to move, spin, or rotate your jewelry during washing, as doing so will irritate the wound.
Soak the area twice a day using sterile lint-free gauze or clean tissue saturated with saline. This softens the buildup, allowing you to wipe it away gently without picking.
Never clean your piercings with cotton buds (Q-tips), rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, or any other items that shed lint or cause chemical burns.
💡 Golden Rules & Handy Tips
What to Do
- Leave the piercing completely alone except when cleaning.
- Wear clean, comfortable, and highly breathable clothing while sleeping.
- Wash your bed linens regularly and keep your sleeping environment clean.
- Regularly check the tightness of threaded and threadless ends with clean hands.
- Use a travel pillow (sleeping with your ear in the center opening) if you sleep on a healing ear piercing.
What to Avoid
- Never twist, spin, rotate, or slide your jewelry during healing.
- Do not remove the jewelry early—even well-healed piercings can close in minutes!
- Avoid swimming in lakes, pools, and hot tubs while healing.
- Keep cosmetics, moisturizers, hair styling sprays, and perfumes far away.
- Never pick or scratch at dried debris (crusties); let saline soak them off.
General Care
- Take showers instead of tub baths, as bathtubs can harbor bacteria.
- Exercise and sweating are fine, but protect the piercing from gym equipment.
- Visit us for a jewelry downsizing as soon as the initial swelling phase ends.
- If you decide you no longer want the piercing, consult us for safe removal.
- If you must temporarily remove metal jewelry (e.g. for surgery), contact us for non-metallic alternatives.
📅 Healing Timeline & Diagrams
What to Expect
Expect some mild bleeding, localized swelling, minor tenderness, or bruising. This is a completely normal reaction to a new piercing.
Itching, mild discoloration, and the secretion of a whitish-yellow fluid (not pus) that forms crust on the jewelry. The tissue may tighten around the jewelry as it heals.
A piercing heals from the outside in. Even if it looks and feels completely healed on the outside, the interior tissue remains fragile. Be patient and keep cleaning it!
The jewelry may not rotate or slide freely—never force it. Simply clean the piercing as part of your normal shower routine to prevent secretions from building up.