Aftercare

After your visit, you will be sent a detailed email with aftercare. The following is what we recommend for aftercare, but it is up to you to take care of your piercing as it heals. Always feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns!

General Aftercare:

The most important bit of aftercare for healing any piercing is do not touch your piercing. Do not twist, turn, or rotate your jewelry. By touching your piercing or your jewelry, you are introducing bacteria to the site and it can lead to irritation. It is normal to experience swelling, redness, bruising, and fluid coming from your piercing during the initial healing process. As the process continues, you will find crusty build-up on the piercing but please do not pick at this build-up. You are free to safely rinse with water in the shower and with a sterile saline solution or Briotech but please do not pick at any of the “crusties” or scabs that accumulate.  

Please be mindful to avoid swimming or soaking in bathtubs, hot tubs, pools, lakes, oceans, etc. during your initial healing period as any standing body of water can contain bacteria that is potentially harmful for the piercing.

Do not remove your jewelry to clean your piercing. Keep your piercing clean with Briotech: spray on both sides of the piercing 4 times a day for the first 8-12 weeks of healing. If you choose, you may use classic sterile saline instead, which we would ask you to use only 2 times a day to clear crusties off your piercing. If you purchase saline spray outside of the studio, make sure it is wound wash saline, not nasal decongestant or contact solution.

Please do not use anything like hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, tea tree oil, contact solution, nasal decongestant, ointments, bactine, or antibacterial soaps to clean your piercing.

Do not take out your jewelry to clean your piercing. If you want to keep your piercing, keep the jewelry in: do not remove your jewelry. Your piercing is a wound and it may close if there’s nothing in there to keep it open. If you need your jewelry removed for whatever reason, you may visit the studio and have a piercer assist you.

Downsizing:

All piercings are done with jewelry that looks a little long. We use that larger initial piece so your piercings can swell without swelling over the jewelry. Once the swelling is gone, you may want to get a shorter piece of jewelry: this step is referred to as downsizing.

Having long jewelry can lead to catching and snagging on clothes, hair, pillowcases, etc. This can irritate the piercing, pull the jewelry out, and delay the healing process. Downsizing will make jewelry much more comfortable to wear and it is ultimately much healthier for the piercing. Downsizing your piercing can take place at a variety of different times depending on the piercing you have - please reach out to the studio if you have any questions about downsizing!

Oral Piercings:

Please downsize your oral piercings! This is extremely important for your overall gum and dental health.

We suggest rinsing your mouth with after after you eat, drink, smoke, etc. At the end of every evening, rinse your mouth with a non-alcohol mouthwash—our suggested brand is Biotene.

Maintain good oral hygiene. Cold foods and beverages may help alleviate swelling. Avoid spicy, salty, acidic, and hot food/drinks for the first few days of the healing process.

Troubleshooting:
If you have any additional questions or concerns regarding your piercing, please contact us before reaching out to your friends or doing any personal research online. If you are ever concerned with how your piercing is doing, you are more than welcome to schedule an appointment to troubleshoot with our staff in person. We are here to help you and there is no such thing as a silly question!

Happy healing!