DRY by gently patting with clean, disposable paper products because cloth towels can harbor bacteria and snag on jewelry, causing injury. For hands-free drying that won't move your jewelry or irritate your piercing, you can use a hair dryer on the cool air setting.
Let air-dry or pat dry with non-woven gauze or clean paper towel (no hand towels that could snag jewelry or contain bacteria). Rinse your piercing daily with fresh warm water in the shower to clean away any excess crusty discharge. Keep yourself healthy!
Note: Do not let your piercing air dry while healing. If you are having difficulties with drying your piercing, after you've dried all the moisture you can off the piercing, use a hair dryer on a cool setting to evaporate moisture left behind.
If it's wet, dry it by dabbing it with a sterile disposable tissue/gauze or by using a hair dryer on the cool setting. If it's dirty, gently wash around the piercing with a mild anti-bacterial soap and rinse with distilled water or saline.
Eating healthy, drinking plenty of water, and keeping a positive attitude will help the healing process. Get some rest and take it easy. Get plenty of sleep and try to maintain a low-stress lifestyle. Keep it clean.
You should avoid swimming for at least 24 hours after having a piercing, and ideally until it has healed properly. While it's still healing, it's important to keep the piercing dry as there's a risk of infection.
For piercings to heal it is important that the area remains clean and dry. Swimming may surround the opening of the piercing with bacteria. This may cause infection, through the opening in your skin.
Avoid baths, hot tubs, swimming pools, saunas, lakes, etc. for the first three weeks after being pierced as they contain bacteria which can increase the risk of infection.
Your sweat is sterile to you, so shower like you normally do and clean the piercing afterwards with saline or sterile wound wash. Do not swim in rivers, lakes, hot tubs, pools, or oceans until your piercing is healed.
Flaky, dry skin around a new piercing site is usually a result of the body becoming accustomed to the recent change. The area could be experiencing moisture loss, either because of the body's own healing process or due to your newfound sensitivity in that area.
Don't eat spicy, salty or acidy foods or liquids while you are healing. Avoid hot drinks such as hot chocolate, coffee, and tea. Eat cold foods and drinks as they lessen swelling. Be extra careful when eating crunchy foods.
Handle your piercing ONLY after washing your hands, and ONLY when it is being cleaned. Be sure to follow the cleaning directions outlined in the information below. Overcleaning can slow healing and cause irritation. Overcleaning is just as bad as undercleaning.
But make sure you don't use too much salt or not enough water. If you over salt the mixture, you will not only dehydrate the bacteria but also dry out the upper dermis around the piercing, which can lead to microscopic cracks in your skin.
Flip your hair to the opposite side of your head so you can avoid getting an excessive amount of water or any product in the wound. Make sure you stay in this position until you've completely rinsed the product out of your hair before gently patting your ear dry.
Clean your piercing immediately after showering or styling to avoid irritation and product build up on your starter piercing earrings. Since you will be cleaning your new piercing at least 3X a day, it's important to use a product created for new piercings.
3) It is normal for dried blood or serous fluid (yellow crust) to form around the edges of your piercing. DO NOT pick it away while it is dry.
The single best thing you can do for your piercing is to keep up a regular regimen of salt water soaks. These flush out the piercing, help to draw out discharge, stimulate blood circulation, and soothe irritations. We strongly suggest soaking your piercing at least twice a day—more often if healing is difficult.
Oral piercings, or piercings that have constant contact with your saliva, tend to heal a lot easier than most other piercings, due to the healing properties of our own saliva. Tongue piercings have the fastest healing duration of all piercings at only two weeks before you can downsize the bar.
It's normal to have some redness, swelling or pain for a couple of days after getting your ears pierced. But your ears should look and feel better each day. If you find that your ears do great and then suddenly start to become red, inflamed or crusty a week or two later, that's usually a sign of infection.
Any ointment, such as Neosporin, Bacitracin, Vaseline or triple antibiotic should be avoided. The large amounts of petroleum jelly will block oxygen to the body piercing and allow bacteria to breed.
Saliva creates a humid environment, thus improving the survival and functioning of inflammatory cells that are crucial for wound healing. In addition, saliva contains several proteins which play a role in the different stages of wound healing.