While your piercing is healing, try not to touch it except when you're cleaning it and always wash your hands thoroughly before cleansing. There's no reason to rotate your piercing. You could damage the delicate, healing skin by rotating the jewelry.
Your newly pierced ears will heal faster and will be less prone to infection if they are not touched. Rotating will cause irritation or injury of the new piercings. A piercing is essentially a puncture wound that heals around a piece of jewelry.
Touching your piercing can prolong healing.
The quickest way to heal your new piercing is to leave it alone. If you are twisting your jewelry or touching your piercing too often, you can actually disrupt scabs and clots that are forming, which are the body's way of healing an open wound.
FAQs on dos and don'ts after getting your ears pierced
A common belief is that you should rotate the studs. But it's not advisable as it can push the bacteria into the wound. Only touch the stud while cleaning.
Jewelry should not be expected to rotate or move freely in most piercings, even after healing. Most piercings will shrink or close very quickly if the jewelry is removed, so if you like your piercing it is vital to LEAVE YOUR JEWELRY IN AT ALL TIMES!
PLEASE DO NOT MOVE, TWIST OR ROTATE THE JEWELLERY !!! Twisting jewellery round 'to stop it sticking' can cause redness swelling & unsightly lumps! Keep the piercing jewellery in ALL the time, 24/7, night and day, for at least 4 MONTHS (16 weeks). It does take at least this long for the piercing to heal properly.
--Never spin the jewelry, move it back and forth, or move it while you're cleaning it. The jewelry may feel tight or like it's not moving around and that is OK. It will move around on it's own. --In your shower, avoid any shampoo, conditioner or soap on the piercing.
Unfortunately, you should be patient when thinking about changing the jewellery in a fresh piercing, as changing the jewellery too early can lead to infection, inflammation and even the piercing closing up.
Other than to clean your piercing, avoid touching it as much as possible—do NOT rotate or twist. Spray the front and back of your piercing with sterile saline solution, 2 to 3 times a day.
There Is No Need To Twist Your Earring
In fact, the more you move and touch the piercing the longer the healing time may take. This also means you should avoid sleeping on your piercing to avoid movement. However, if you must twist you piercing only do so if you have clean hands and when the piercing is wet.
There is no need to move or rotate your jewelry, as this can cause irritation and may damage healing tissue.
On the 1st day of piercing, with clean hands, rotate your earrings one full turn about once an hour, or anytime they feel itchy. After the 1st day rotate earrings one full turn at least 3-5 times per day, for the next 2 weeks only, as this promotes healing.
Piercings performed by professionals will allow your piercing room to comfortably swell. If you start twisting it, there are a lot of less than ideal things that will happen. Twisting the piercing breaks the newly forming flesh! Think of this as ripping off a scab on a healing wound.
The ideal earring for freshly pierced ears is sleeper earrings or stud earrings. These light weighted stainless steel or sterling silver earrings are designed with comfort in mind while your freshly pierced ears can heal quickly.
Piercing complications and infections do happen sometimes, which is why proper aftercare is key. Beyond using a saline wash and keeping your fingers away from the piercing, you also don't want to put pressure on it, hence why side sleeping is not ideal.
Clean gauze padding should be worn over navel/nipple piercings during the night for the first few nights. This should be done for the first 1-2 weeks during the day as well if wearing tight clothes/bras or participating in physical exertion (such as sports / gym) or work that may cause friction around the area.
It is important to note that your piercing may be tender or painful for up to 3-5 days after the procedure was performed. This is normal. Sleeping directly on your ears or side may prolong the tenderness due to the pressure on the piercing site.
If you change your ear piercing too early, there is a risk of the hole closing up. This is because the earlobe is still healing and the new piercing is not yet fully healed. If this happens, you will need to get the piercing redone.
Taking Care of Your Ears
This usually takes about 4 to 6 weeks. 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.
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.
Don't overclean your piercing. Cleaning more than twice a day (unless absolutely necessary) can irritate the piercing and prolong the healing process. If your piercing appears clean but is noticeably tender, taper your cleaning regimen down to once a day and eventually to an 'as needed' basis.