CLEANING SOLUTIONS
NEVER TOUCH YOUR PIERCING BEFORE WASHING YOUR HANDS .
1.) At the end of your shower, lather soap with water. Apply foam to pierced area.
2.) Wiggle or push jewelry back and forth 5 to 10 times to get soap into piercing. Repeat wiggle 5 to 10 more times under running water to rinse soap back out.
*THIS PROCESS SHOULD ONLY BE DONE ONE TIME A DAY*
Oral Piercing:
Liquid soap once a day only (on the outside; do not wiggle jewelry) and non-alcoholic mouth wash four to five times a day (depending on if you’re a smoker). Regardless of how many cigarettes you smoke a day or how many times you eat a day.
WHAT TO AVOID:
Avoid undue trauma such as friction from clothing, excessive motion of the area, playing with the jewelry and vigorous cleaning. These activities can cause the formation of unsightly and uncomfortable scar tissue, migration, prolonged healing, and other complications.
– Avoid the use of straight alcohol, sea salt, hydrogen peroxide, Betadine, Hibiclens, ointment or anything with the word “OIL” in it. (These products trap dirt and germs inside a piercing and precent oxygen from reaching the wound. They may work well for cuts and scrapes but are not good for piercings.)
– Avoid over cleaning. This can delay your healing and irritate your piercing.
– Avoid all oral contact, rough play, and contact with others’ bodily fluids on or near your piercing during healing.
-Avoid all beauty and personal care products on or around the piercing including cosmetics, lotions, and sprays, etc.
– Don’t hang charms or any object from your jewelry until the piercing is fully healed.
– Ask your piercer about times good for swimming. Different piercings have different times.
For Particular Areas
Navel
– A hard, vented eye patch (sold at pharmacies) can be applied under tight clothing (such as nylon stockings) or secured using a length of ace bandage around the body (to avoid irritation from adhesive). This can protect the area from restrictive clothing, excess irritation, and impact during physical activities such as contact sports.
Ear/Ear Cartilage and Facial
– Use the t-shirt trick: dress your pillow in a large, clean t-shirt and turn it nightly; one clean t-shirt provides four clean surfaces for sleeping.
– Maintain cleanliness of telephones, headphones, eyeglasses, helmets, hats and anything that contacts the pierced area.
– Use caution when styling your hair and advise your stylist of a new or healing piercing.
Nipple
– The support of a tight cotton shirt or sports bra may provide protection and feel comfortable, especially for sleeping.
Genital
– In most cases you can engage in sexual activity as soon as you feel ready. Comfort and hygiene are vital.
– During healing all sexual activities must be gentle. To increase comfort and decrease trauma, soak in warm saline solution or plain water to remove any crusty matter, prior to sexual activity. – Use barriers such as condoms, dental dams, and Tegaderm, etc.* to avoid contact with a partner’s bodily fluids, even in long-term relationships.
– Use clean, disposable barriers on sex toys.
– Wash hands before touching on or near the piercing.
– Use a new container of water based lubricant.* Do not use your own saliva as a lubricant.
– After sex, an additional saline soak or clean water rinse is suggested.
– Prince Albert and Apadravya piercings can bleed freely for the first few days.
– If using soap, urinate after cleaning any piercing that is near the urethra. Each body is unique and healing times vary considerably. If you have any questions, please contact your piercer.
When to get immediate medical attention
Although minor swelling and redness are expected, signs of a more serious infection include:
an uncomfortable level of pain, throbbing, or burning around the piercing site
unusual tenderness at the piercing site
an unpleasant odor with green or yellow
pus oozing from the piercing site
If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, don’t remove your jewelry. Removing your jewelry will encourage the piercing to close, which can trap harmful bacteria inside the piercing site. This may cause a more severe infection.
You should see your piercer as soon as possible. They’ll offer their expert advice on your symptoms and provide guidance for proper treatment.
If you don’t have these more serious symptoms, read on for five tips on how to resolve a nose piercing bump.
2. Make sure to clean your piercing 2 to 3 times a day
New piercings should usually be cleaned two to three times per day. Your piercer can provide you with a more specific recommendation.
Before touching your nose piercing for any reason, you should always wash your hands thoroughly using warm water and liquid soap. Dry your hands with a paper towel, then proceed to clean your piercing.
Your piercer can recommend specific cleansers to use. They’ll likely advise against using triclosan-containing soaps to clean your piercing, as they can dry out the surrounding skin.
Other products to avoid include:
iodopovidone (Betadine)
chlorhexidine (Hibiclens)
isopropyl alcohol
hydrogen peroxide
You should also avoid:
picking any crust that forms around your piercing
moving or spinning your ring or stud when your piercing is dry
using topical ointments on the area, as these block air circulation
It’s important to clean the piercing every day for the first 6 months. Even if your piercing looks like it’s healed from the outside, tissue on the inside of your nose may still be healing.
What is normal:
Initially: some bleeding, localized swelling, tenderness, or bruising.
– During healing: some discoloration, itching, secretion of a whitish-yellow fluid (not pus) that will form some crust on the jewelry. The tissue may tighten around the jewelry as it heals.
– Once healed: the jewelry may not move freely in the piercing; DO NOT force it. If you fail to include cleaning your piercing as a part of your daily hygiene routine, normal but smelly bodily secretions may accumulate.
– A piercing may seem healed before healing is complete. This is because piercings heal from the outside in, and although it feels healed the tissue remains fragile on the inside. BE PATIENT, and keep cleaning throughout the entire healing period.
– Even healed piercings can shrink or close in minutes after having been there for years! This varies from person to person; if you like your piercing, leave the jewelry in place.
What To Do:
Wash your hands prior to touching the piercing; leave it alone except when cleaning. It is not necessary to rotate the jewelry while healing except possibly during cleaning. – Make sure your bedding is kept clean and changed regularly. Wear clean, comfortable breathable clothing that protects your piercing while sleeping. – Showering is safer than taking a bath, because bathtubs tend to harbor bacteria. If you would like to take a bath, clean the tub well before each use.
Hints and Tips Jewelry
Unless there is a problem with the size, style, or material of the initial jewelry, leave it in place for the entire healing period. A qualified piercer should perform any necessary jewelry change that occurs during healing. See APP website for “Picking your Piercer” brochure.
– Contact your piercer if your jewelry must be temporarily removed (such as for a medical procedure). There are non-metallic jewelry alternatives.
– Leave jewelry in at all times. Even old, well-healed piercings can shrink or close in minutes after having been there for years! If removed re-insertion can be difficult or impossible.
– With clean hands or paper product, be sure to regularly check threaded ends on your jewelry for tightness. (“Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey”).
– Carry a clean spare ball in case of loss or breakage.
– Should you decide you no longer want the piercing, seek professional help in the removal of the jewelry and continue cleaning the piercing until the hole closes. In most cases only a small indentation will remain.
What Is This Nose Piercing Bump and How Can I Get Rid of It?
What is this bump?
After getting a nose piercing, it’s normal to have some swelling, redness, bleeding, or bruising for a few weeks.
As your piercing starts to heal, it’s also typical for:
the area to itch
whitish pus to ooze from the piercing site
a slight crust to form around the jewelry
It can take up to 6 months for a nose piercing to fully heal. But if you notice your symptoms are changing or getting worse, or if you see a bump developing, it could indicate a problem.
A nose piercing bump is generally one of three things:
a pustule, which is a blister or pimple that contains pus
a granuloma, which is a lesion that occurs on average 6 weeks after a piercing
a keloid, which is a type of thick scar that can develop at the piercing site
These bumps can be caused by a number of things, including:
poor piercing technique
touching your piercing with dirty hands
using the wrong products to clean your piercing
an allergic reaction to jewelry
You shouldn’t drain any pus or remove crust, as this can worsen your symptoms and lead to increased scarring.
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In many cases, the bump will clear with treatment. Keep reading to learn how to treat the affected area and prevent further irritation.
1. You may need to change your jewelry
Jewelry is often made with the metal nickel. This can trigger an allergic reaction in some people, causing a bump to form.
Other symptoms include:
intense itchiness
redness and blistering
dry or thickened skin
discolored skin
The only solution is to replace your jewelry with a ring or stud made with hypoallergenic material.
If you’re sensitive to nickel, the best materials for jewelry are:
18- or 24-karat gold
stainless steel
titanium
niobium
If your nose piercing is less than 6 months old, you shouldn’t swap your jewelry out on your own. Doing so may cause your nose tissue to tear. Instead, visit your piercer so they can swap out the jewelry for you.
Once you’re past the 6-month healing point, you can change the jewelry yourself if you feel comfortable doing so. If you’d prefer, your piercer can do it for you.
When to see your piercer
It can take several weeks to fully heal a nose piercing bump, but you should see improvement within 2 or 3 days of treatment. If you don’t, see your piercer. Your piercer is the best person to assess your symptoms and provide guidance on how to care for your individual problem.
DISCLAIMER:
These guidelines are based on a combination of vast professional experience, common sense, research and extensive clinical practice. This is not to be considered a substitute for medical advice from a doctor. If you suspect an infection, seek medical attention. Keep in mind that the removal of jewelry can lead to further complications. Be aware that many doctors have not received specific training regarding piercing. Your local piercer may be able to refer you to a piercing friendly medical professional.
ISSUES WITH PIERCINGS…
DONT FORGET TO DOWNSIZE….
DOWNSIZE YOUR POST!!
You were pierced with a longer bar to accommodate swelling
Please stop in the studio for fitted post when this stage of healing is done. (Usually 4-6 weeks depending on piercing location and other healing factors)
Downsizing refers to switching jewelry in a piercing to a shorter post, once initial swelling has subsided.
Once the initial stages of swelling have passed, the initial jewelry is too long. Jewelry that is too long can snag easily and move around excessively, leading to irritation and renewed swelling.
Please walk-in for a shorter post when your swelling has subsided. Usually 2-6 weeks depending on the piercing location and other factors.
If this window for downsizing is missed for piercings such as the helix, the excessive length may lead to migration or a change of angle of piercing, especially if the piercing gets slept on.
BUMPS!
- Piercing bumps can be the body’s immune system responding to the wound from the piercing, causing some localized inflammation which, in turn, causes the bump. Some specific types and causes of piercing bumps include:
- Granulomas: The body’s immune system can wall off a foreign body (the piercing) or infection with inflammatory cells, forming a granuloma.
- Keloids: A keloid is a kind of raised scar. Keloids can be challenging to treat, but there are treatment options that can make them smaller.
- Allergic reaction or infection: In some cases, piercing bumps may be related to a cyst or an allergy. If treated, these will resolve over time, but the piercing may need to be removed to treat them.
- Tissue damage: Damaged tissue can become inflamed and swollen, creating a bump.
- Genetics: Forming any piercing bump might just come down to the (un)luck of the draw. Importantly, it can be hard to predict if a bump will occur, and there may be a genetic component to it as well.
- Many things can lead to the formation of a piercing bump. Common irritants include bumping, snagging, or sleeping on new piercings; touching the piercing with dirty hands; skincare and beauty products, changing jewelry too soon or with bad quality metal. Keep Your
- Piercing Clean: Cleaning your piercing daily with a mild antibacterial soap can be the key to eliminating abscesses or cysts. It is important to clean the area regularly with a gentle cleanser or sea salt solutions. These may work to draw out impurities, clean infected areas, and loosen dead skin cells and dried fluid.
- At the end of the day, piercing bumps come from irritation. The body does not like the foreign object, so we need to gently convince the body to heal around it rather than fight it. I find most people don’t take great care of their piercings until there is a problem, then they care a lot. My advice is to be proactive from the start.
- Keep it clean and be careful with it.
| Piercing | Pricing | Change out | Heal time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lobe 20g | $50/pair$90 | 6-8 weeks | 6-9 months |
| Eyebrow 16g | $60 | 8-12 weeks | 6-9 months |
| Cartilage 16g | $60/Dbl$120/Trip$160 | 8-12 weeks | 6-9 months |
| Nostril 18g | $60 | 8-12 weeks | 6-9 months |
| Rook 16g | $60 | 8-12 weeks | 6-9 months |
| Septum 16g | $60 | 6-8 weeks | 3-6 months |
| Conch 16g | $60 | 8-12 weeks | 6-9 months |
| Bridge 16g | $70 | 8-12 weeks | 6-9 months |
| Tragus 18g | $60 | 8-12 weeks | 6-9 months |
| Surface Tragus 16g | $150 | 8-12 weeks | 6-9 months |
| Tongue 14g | $70 | 8-12 weeks | 6-9 months |
| Daith 16g | $60 | 8-12 weeks | 6-9 months |
| Labret 16g | $70 | 8-12 weeks | 6-9 months |
| Helix 16g | $60/Dbl$120/Trip$160 | 8-12 weeks | 6-9 months |
| Medusa 16g | $70 | 8-12 weeks | 6-9 months |
| Industrial 14g | $85 | 8-12 weeks | 6-9 months |
| Conch Industrial 14g | $105 | 8-12 weeks | 6-9 months |
| Monroe 16g | $70 | 8-12 weeks | 6-9 months |
| Lip 16g | $70 | 8-12 weeks | 6-9 months |
| Navel 14g | $70 | 8-12 weeks | 6-9 months |
| Vertical Lip 16g | $70 | 8-12 weeks | 6-9 months |
| Snake Bites 16g | $115 | 8-12 weeks | 6-9 months |
| Smiley 16g | $70 | 8-12 weeks | 6-9 months |
| MUST BE 18: | |||
| Dermal Anchor | $100/$70 each additional same sitting | 6-9 months | |
| Nipple / Vert. Nipple 14g | $70 Both $120 | 14g | 6-9 months |
| Any Genital Piercing (male / female) | Please ask | ||
| Aftercare | 5/10/15 | NO LONGER GIVEN FREE | |
| We Do NOT do the following | angel bites-snake eyes | Cheeks that go all the way through | Frog eyes/venom |
| EMERGENCY REMOVAL | $50 | non applicable | non applicable |
| Jewelry Changes | $10 per 3 $5 each add. | Free w/ jewelry purchase |