General Care for Body Piercings
Always wash hands thoroughly before contact with piercing. Do not use rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide. (Both slow the healing of pierced area by drying and killing new healthy cells.)
Similarly, what can I use to clean my ear piercing?
New Ear Piercing Care:
Use a cotton swab (Q-tip) with salt water to clean the area around the hole twice a day. Some recommend using hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, or antibiotic ointment but salt water disinfects and is less damaging to the skin tissue.
Subsequently, can you use hydrogen peroxide to clean nose piercings?
To maintain a nose piercing: Don’t apply over-the-counter antiseptics, including Neosporin. If you think your piercing is getting infected, continue your saline rinses and see your piercer for advice. Don’t use hydrogen peroxide — this will cause irritation in the piercing.
Which is better rubbing alcohol or peroxide?
In general, rubbing alcohol is better at killing germs on your hands, as it’s gentler on your skin than hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide is most effective when it’s allowed to sit on surfaces for at least 10 minutes at room temperature.
What’s best to clean piercings with?
Mild Liquid Soap
While sea salt soaks and/or saline rinses are the preferred aftercare for most piercings, soap effectively removes the residue of sweat, dirt, skin oils, cosmetics, cigarette smoke, and natural discharge that can sometimes remain after a salt water soak or saline rinse.
How can I make my piercing heal faster?
USE WARM SEA SALT WATER (SALINE) SOAKS – MORNING AND EVENING
Soaking your piercing with a warm, mild sea salt water solution will not only feel good, it will also help prevent infection, reduce the risk of scarring, and speed the healing of your piercing.
Should you twist new piercings?
Don’t touch a new piercing or twist the jewelry unless you‘re cleaning it. Keep clothing away from the piercing, too. Excessive rubbing or friction can irritate your skin and delay healing. Keep the jewelry in place.
What is the best saline solution for piercings?
Do not use table salt, kosher salt, Epsom salts, or iodized sea salts. Non-iodized fine-grain sea salt is best for avoiding additives, as well as its ability to dissolve into a solution. Do not make the solution too salty, as that can be irritating to the piercing and the skin.
How do you sleep with a newly pierced ear?
If you have a new ear piercing, a thinner travel pillow works great to keep pressure off while you’re sleeping. If you don’t have a travel pillow you can roll a clean cotton T-shirt or sheet up and place it around the ear so that when you lay on your side, there’s no direct pressure on your ear.
How do I know my ear piercing is healed?
Most people can tell their piercing has healed when there is no redness, the tissue feels normal in the area of the piercing and the normal healing discharge (crust that gathers on the jewelry) has subsided,” he said. “A piercing becoming permanent, where jewelry can be removed for hours or days, is never guaranteed.”
