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You should never experience extremes of pain, swelling, redness, heat, discolored discharge or weeping from any piercing. These are signs of a problem. Contact us, or your doctor for advice.

How the body heals

Phase 1 - Usually the first week
Dry, small scab forms around the jewelry; skin begins to grow.

Phase 2 - Approx Week 2 to 30-90 days
Healthy people will notice the inside sheds dried scab and cellular waste material; the new skin is still growing and delicate.

Phase 3 - After 30-90 days
For a healthy individual, your piercing should be sturdy and sealed. You will know you are at this point when your piercing has been clear of dry skin, secretions, and discoloration for about one month.

General Aftercare

1) Be healthy
The healthier you are, the faster your piercing will heal. Good nutrition and avoiding alcohol, smoking, and drugs will benefit your piercing. Consider taking a multivitamin if your diet isn't the best.

2) Keep it dry
Because you don't yet have normal skin on the inside of your piercing, anything that gets on it will soak right into the piercing. This can cause irritation, swelling, and an increased risk for infection.

To keep it dry in the shower, use a plastic cup and keep that area out of the spray as much as possible. A water-tight bandage can be used for your nipple or navel piercing to seal off your piercing from the outside world. 3M NexCare, Tegaderm, CleanSeals, Bioclusive or other water-tight bandages are available at most pharmacies and:

• Provide a barrier against outside contaminants.
• Offer protection from excessive friction.
• Allow you to easily monitor piercings, as they are transparent.
• Are long lasting. Wear until the edges start to peel - usually about 72 hours.
• Conform to your body for easier application and longer wear time for cost-effective use.
• Allow for exchange of moisture and oxygen while providing a moist wound environment for enhanced healing.
• May be combined with sterile gauze to absorb perspiration.

Make sure to clean your piercing if you get sweat or other liquids under the bandage.

3) Keep it clean
The main causes of infection are dirty fingers and dirty fluids, which can easily be avoided. In other words - DON'T TOUCH IT. Getting it wet in the shower counts as getting it dirty - you rinse shampoo, deodorant, and dirt and bacteria from the rest of your body into your piercing. So, if you don't keep it dry in the shower, you need to wash afterwords.

IF IT GETS WET OR DIRTY wash it with a mild liquid soap [such as castile, vegetable or glycerin without dye, fragrance, moisturizer, deodorant, or antibacterial ingredients], then rinse with distilled water and blot dry with sterile gauze or tissue. Make sure it gets completely dry again.

Use the simplest soap possible, any extra ingredients will leave a harsh chemical residue that can build up in your piercing and cause irritation. Using distilled water is important for the same reasons - it doesn't contain the chlorine, fluoride, hard water residue, or bacterial contamination that comes with tap water.

Of course, in emergency situations use whatever is on hand - it's more important to wash it as quickly as possible than to have the "proper" things. Just make sure you are prepared at home for when it gets dirty - it will happen.

4) Don't mess with it
Don't twist and/or turn the jewelry - it's irritating, like picking a scab. If you notice a build-up of material on your jewelry - that's not attached to you - you can gently brush it off the jewelry with DRY sterile gauze.

Sleeping on piercings cuts of the circulation, which can cause delayed healing, swelling, and an extra bump of capillaries as your body tries to compensate for the circulation being cut off all night.

5) Use hot compresses
A dry hot compress applied for 10-15 minutes as often as every hour increases the circulation and helps deliver your immune system. This can be accomplished with an a hot water bottle, a hot cup of liquid with a lid or a warm washcloth inside a Ziploc bag - just put something disposable like gauze between you and it. With repeated application you may be able to significantly speed your recovery.

6) Get a checkup in about 30 days
Most people are well into their healing at this point, and are often ready for new jewelry. However, if you are having any complications, we will be able to help you troubleshoot them.

Care of Lip and Tongue Piercings

1) Ice it until it feels normal again.
This will sooth your piercing and help things relax as quickly as possible. Literally, until your piercing feels normal again ICE IT. If you're not eating something, sleeping, etc have something cold in your mouth. This is especially true for smokers - remember that the nicotine, heat, other irritating chemicals, and bacterial contamination caused by smoking makes the initial irritation of a tongue or lip piercing much, much worse.

2) Rinse with bottled water.
Any time you eat or drink anything to get rid of any leftover food particles & residues. It will also help avoid bad breath and infection.

3) Brush your teeth with a new electric toothbrush and distilled water.
Don't use toothpaste, mouthwash, etc. during healing - their complex chemistry just irritates the piercing. Even natural products can cause irritation and extra swelling. The extra friction from the electric toothbrush makes up for the lack of toothpaste.

4) Eat normally, just avoid foods that would hurt.
Getting proper nutrition is key to fast healing - so living off of baby food or oatmeal is just a bad idea. There are only a few things to avoid: spicy and acidic foods can burn, salty foods can dehydrate you, and crunchy items can be mistaken for your jewelry while you're still getting used to it.

5) Protect yourself
Kissing or oral sex without a protective barrier is good recipe for infection. And yes, this also applies with monogamous partners.

6) Shorten your jewelry
Within two weeks, come back to change to a shorter post to prevent potential damage to teeth and gums. A closer fit will reduce wear and increase comfort. You keep your longer post, as it may be useful later for another piercing of your own body.

Hot Weather Suggestions

• Moisture around the area of the piercing should be dried as soon as possible with sterile gauze to reduce irritation and germ growth.
• Piercings do not need to be protected from the sun any more than normal skin. Do not put sunscreen on or too close to your piercing.
• If you feel like swimming:
  • Use a sterile, water-tight dressing (3M NexCare, Tegaderm, CleanSeals or Bioclusive or other water-tight bandages are available at most pharmacies) to provide a barrier to outside contaminants.
  • These bandages offer protection for navel or nipple piercings, and also protect from excessive friction.
  • The dressings allow you to easily monitor piercings without the need to change dressings as often. Wear until the edges start to peel - usually about 72 hours.
  • They conform to your body for easier application and longer wear time for cost-effective use.
  • The breathable film allows for exchange of moisture and oxygen while providing a moist wound environment for enhanced healing.
  • Make sure to clean your piercing if you get sweat or other liquids under the bandage.
  • They may be combined with sterile gauze to absorb perspiration.

And in closing

Please come back to show us your results as part of our ongoing process of improvement and development of our techniques and documentation of our work. You play an important role in our quest to make the art and science of piercing safe, simple, and gentle.