Piercing Aftercare
When getting a piercing done you must be aware that there may be some minor swelling or scarring to the area.
Although not common, some piercings have the potential to reject or grow out.
This is only a caution and only affects a very small amount of people.
Our Aftercare
This is a rough guide as there are multiple factors that can cause a problematic piercing.
This can include your diet, lifestyle, immune system and any irritation to the piercing during the healing period.
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Please Remember
Problematic piercings can often be caused by:
- Aggravation (due to clothing on the area)
- ANY contact with unwashed hands or bodily fluids
- Constant applied pressure (often when sleeping)
You may find you need to down size your jewellery towards the middle of your healing journey to help it fully heal.
We will do this for FREE!
Normal Cleaning Routine:
Salt Water Rinse
(1/4 teaspoon of sea salt to 1/2 pint of hot water.
(Boil water and let cool to hot)
Use a cotton bud and dip it into the salt water. Go round the piercing and jewellery both sides for 2 minutes to ensure it has been cleaned.
Repeat once or twice a day if you can and pat dry afterwards.
You should NOT take the jewellery out to clean your healing piercing. You should also avoid touching or spinning the jewellery while it is in the healing process.
All piercings, especially Navel
Soaking and Catching
For quick healing, ensure to keep your piercings dry. Showering is fine, but try to avoid direct soap and not keep it in water soaking for too long!
Don't worry if products get into the pierced area, just ensure you clean it off with water and pat dry with clean kitchen roll.
Avoid the sea, swimming pools and jacuzzies.
Try to not catch your piercing and if you think you may do, cover it up with a plaster but avoid sticking it to the jewellery.
Dermals
Covering
After getting a dermal, we recommend keeping a plaster over it for the first week to ensure it has time to begin healing into your skin. If your dermal appears to be pushing into your skin, discontinue with the plasters immediately.
Ensure there are no scabs under the gem as they can push it up or angle it. Cocktail sticks are good for gently removing these!
These our only suggestions and if you have any adverse reactions or questions about your piercing, don’t hesitate to message or call us!
Hot Compress: Problematic Piercings
(1/4 teaspoon of sea salt to 1/2 pint of hot water. (Boil water and let cool to hot)
Soak cotton pad with solution and place for 5 minutes (until stars to cool down). This helps open the pores of the skin. Pour the remainder into a clean container big enough to cover area (mug, eggcup). Soak the piercing for 10 minutes, making sure the water is warm at all times. This draws any impurites or trapped fluid out of the piercing. Rinse thoroghly with CLEAN water. Can be repeated a few times a week or preferably twice a day for problematic piercings.
Lumps and Bumps
Lets see the difference!
Keloid or Hypertrophic Scarring?
You have probably heard of a keloid, probably thought you knew someone with, or had one yourself due to a piercing.
Although 'keloid' is thrown around a lot, most of the 'keloids' are actually just hypertrophic scarring, which is something completely different and much easier to treat.
Keloid
A keloid is a thick raised scar which often appears once there has been some form of injury to the skin. They are overgrown tissue that is often described as firm, rubbery and shiny. Keloids have no puss or liquid inside and can be painful and itchy.
They tend to range from pink to the person skin colour, or from red to a dark brown. These bumps can exceed the size of the injured area and will need treating to be removed , as they grow but can't be shrunk without removal.
Hypertrophic Scarring
These are more commonly know as 'piercing bumps' or 'irritation bumps'
These are raw, fluid filled bumps caused by irritation which is often from catching, knocking, or applied pressure (being slept on) to the area after a piercing. To help with these, you can keep them cleaning using a saline solution (which we sell at the studio), or diluting tea tree oil can help with bumps, and for navel piercings you can also use an iodine patch to drain out moisture from the bump.
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There are two types of scars: Pustule and Granuloma.
A Pustule is a blister/pimple that contains puss, great to fix with an iodine patch.
Granuloma scars tend to occur 6 weeks after a piercing and are just trapped fluid. This can be treated by soaking or hot compressing the area.
