Healing time for piercings varies greatly from piercing to piercing and from person to person. Some people assume they can remove their jewelry at any time and insert it easily. This is not the case. Something must be left in the piercing for at least the first six months. While most people are sufficiently healed at this point to be able to leave their jewelry out and later insert it with minimal difficulty, a few will lose their piercing altogether if left out for more than the briefest amount of time. Caution and some experiementation are suggested.
Even though superficially healed, some time is required for the piercing to season and toughen up. If the jewelry must be removed for a short period of time furing the first few months, clean the piercing as described below and insert a short piece of monofilament nylon fishing line the length of the piercing. This is virtually undetectable, particularly to x-ray, and will keep the piercing open until the jewelry can be reinserted. The aftercare that you give your piercings will determine how quickly and how well it heals. It is important to do everything possible to avoid infection.
Please click on the piercing below to look at aftercare instructions:
Earlobe, Nostril, Septum, Eyebrow & Nipple
Healing time: 6 to 8 weeks
What you need: Bactine, anti-bacterial soap
Healing Plan:
- Wash hangs thoroughly before contact with the piercing.
- Apply Bactine with cotton swab on jewelry and piercing and rotate.
- Wash once daily with anti-bacterial soap, flush thoroughly with clean water.
- Follow above instructions for 6 to 8 weeks.
Navel
Healing time: 3 to 6 months
What you need: Bactine, anti-bacterial soap.
Healing plan:
- Wash hangs thoroughly before contact with the piercing.
- Apply Bactine with cotton swab on jewelry and piercing and rotate.
- Wash once daily with anti-bacterial soap, flush thoroughly with clean water.
- Follow above instructions for 3 to 6 months.
Tongue, Lip, and Labret
Healing time: 6 to 8 weeks
What you need: Listerine, Gly-oxide, ice, Bactine (Lip and Labret)
Healing plan:
- Wash hands thoroughly before contact with piercing.
- No oral contact of any kind for 6 to 8 weeks. (No wet kissing or oral sex.)
- For the first 48 hours, gently suck on ice to minimise swelling.
- Reduce intake of warm beverages, hot/spicy foods, tobacco, alcohol, and anything which may be iritating to your mouth during healing for the first week.
- Rinse with a Listerine/water mixture (50/50) for 30 to 60 seconds after consumption of anything other than water.
- Use Gly-oxide twice daily, following the instructions of the bottle. Put 5 drops on top, and 5 drops on bottom. Let it foam, then spit. Rinse with water after use. DO NOT OMIT THIS STEP.
- For Lip and Labret Only: The outer opening of the piercing is best treated using Bactine. Apply with cotton swab while rotating the jewelry. Do this for 6 weeks.
All Genital Piercings
Type: Clitoral Hood, Inner Labia, Clitoris, Prince Albert, Frenum
Healing time: Initial healing time 6 - 12 weeks (minimum)
Type: Outer Labia, Scrotum
Healing time: Initial healing time 3 - 5 months (minimum)
Type: Ampallang, Apadravya
Healing Time: Initial healing time 8 months to 1 year (minumum)
It is not uncommon for genital piercings to swell or be very tender during the first week. Soaking in cool (slightly below body temperature) water during the first six hours will help minimise the swelling and stem bleeding. Expect genital piercings to bleed more, from anywhere between twelve and twenty-four hours, depending on the depth and complicity of the piercing. A light bandage can be work (preferably a gauze pad inside a condom or a rubber glove) around the penis in the case of male piercings. A panty liner can be worn in the case of female piercings.
Wash hands thoroughly before contact with your piercing. It is important to thoroughly clean your piercings twice a day. Over cleaning can irritate the piercing, however, so do not clean it more often unless the piercing has been exposed to dirt or bodily fluids.
Recommended anti-bacterial soaps (Liquid Dial, Soft-soap, Almay Hupo-Care, Clearly Natural) are excellent for use in the shower. Lather the soap and apply to both entrances of the piercing. Remove any dried discharge from the jewelry and openings of the piercing. Let the lather saturate the piercing for three minutes. Rinse your piercing thoroughly by rotating the jewelry back and forth under clean water.
After cleaning your piercing, it is a good idea ti urinate to flush out cleaning agents from the urethea as they can cause irritation.
A thin layer of antibacterial or antibiotic ointment, such as Bacitracin or Neosporin should be applied with a cotton swab twice a day after cleaning for five to seven days. The ointment will accelerate healing and provide a barrier against dirt and bacteria. Rotate jewelry so that the ointment reaches the insides of the piercing. Remove excess ointment as air circulation is important for healing. Do this no longer than seven days.
Then, clean twice daily after shower with a sterile saline solution for the remainder of the healing process. This helps toughen and excelerates the healing process.
Do not use rubbing alcohol or Hydrogen peroxide on your piercing. They do little to disinfect and can irritate and destroy newly formed tissue.
Remember, do NOT allow your piercing to come in contact with another persons' bodily fluids during the healing process. NO UNPROTECTED SEX (intercourse or oral) UNTIL THE PIERCING IS HEALED.
Here are a couple pics of some of the piercings that I have... the first is a Madison and the second is a pic of my clit hood and labia piercings.
