Warm Sea Salt Soaks We strongly suggest soaking your piercing at least twice a day—more often if healing is difficult. Make a soaking solution by mixing sea salt and distilled water.
Saline/Salt Water Soaks:
The best thing you can do for your piercing is a saline soak 2-4 times a day, completely submerging your piercing in the solution for 7-10 minutes.
Fully submerge piercing in a warm salt water solution (1/4 teaspoon of non-iodized sea salt to every 8 oz of warm water) and soak for three to five minutes twice a day for the first month and once a day for the remainder of the healing period.
Too much salt will “burn” your piercing, leaving it very red, sore, dry and itchy and nobody wants that. Over cleaning is also just as bad as under cleaning. If you over clean you will remove any good bacteria trying to help your new piercing heal. Also, don't play with or touch your new piercing!
Spray your piercings entrance and exit holes with sterile saline spray 2 to 3 times a day. You can wipe away any crusty discharge from the jewelry with sterile non-woven gauze soaked in saline but do not pick at it.
New piercings should typically be cleaned twice daily. (Frequency also depends on your skin type, your daily activities and environment, and what piercing you are trying to heal.) You should continue this cleaning routine for the entire healing period.
Therefore, you should continue this cleaning routine for between three and six months! As with the majority of piercings, you want to clean it once or twice a day as required, for a good couple of months following the procedure. All you need is hot salty water (NOT TABLE SALT! FRESH SALT!)
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.
Keep The Area Clean With Sea Salt Soaks
1 The way to fix that is to kill and/or clear the bacteria. Try cleaning the area twice a day and doing sea salt soaks twice a day; basically treating it like a brand new piercing.
DO NOT pick the crusties off—that's just introducing your dirty hands to a healing piercing and can increase your risk of infection. The best way to clean them is to soak the piercing in warm saline solution, softening the crusties which then come off easily.
Rinse with clean water after your salt soak to prevent salt crystals forming, which can cause irritation and slow the healing process. 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.
When you are finished using the salt solution, it is very important to rinse with plain water afterwards. You can do this the same way as done with the salt solution, but make sure to use clean water this time. If you re-use the same glass or cup, it is important that it is clean and there is no salt left in the cup.
You may have heard of people using salt to clean piercings, which is fine, BUT, it's not as simple as mixing hot water with whatever salt you find in your kitchen cabinet. If you want to use a water/salt mixture to clean your piercings it's important that you only use sea salt and not table salt.
Clean Your Piercing Regularly
“The key to fast and proper healing is to keep the area clean,” Kim says. For an easy-to-follow cleaning regimen, Doig suggests light irrigation with sterile saline a few times a day—there's no need to follow things up with a cleanser or disinfectant.
If the piercing is removed, the lump will almost always disappear. They can be sore, itchy and bleed easily. While it is possible that you have a keloid, they are incredibly rare. Unless you have a family history of keloids, you can generally assume that you do not have a keloid.
Use salt soaks for best care/cleaning of ring or stud and loosening dry material on the skin (¼ teaspoon of sea salt or teaspoon of table salt dissolved in 8oz of warm water).
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.
If you don't clean your piercing regularly, you could develop complications like infection, scarring, and inflammation, our experts explain. Additionally, the piercing could potentially take longer to heal. Keep in mind that some types of piercings are more likely to become infected than others.
Taking Care of Your Ears
If you don't, your holes could close up and you'll have to go through everything all over again! You don't want germs with your newly pierced ears, so it's very important to keep your ears clean.
It is not uncommon to have multiple piercings performed on the same day. We recommend not getting more than four piercings in one session, especially if you're getting them on the same ear.