Piercing Aftercare

Your daily habits are critical in the way your piercing is going to heal :

-A good diet will make the difference.
-Avoid stress : stressing up about a piercing problem can only get it worse.
-No oral contact for any fresh piercing for at least the first 3 weeks.
-Make sure you have a regular and correct personal hygiene
-Wear clean and ample clothes.
-Always wash your hands before any manipulation, even for a simple “show off” to your friends.
-Precisely follow the frequencies and delay times of use of your antiseptic solution.
-Avoid rough gestures, abusive pressures and frictions on your fresh piercing (hands, clothes...)
-Don’t change jewellery unless advised by your piercer.

On top of basic aftercare procedure, here are a few tips to help your piercing to heal :

-Regular swabbing with fresh water will help to break down inflammation intensity.
-Saline : saline solution will help to evacuate fluids out of the piercing. Use it as much a you feel.
-In case of chemical burns by antiseptics, some soft ointments can be helpful to hydrate the skin. Contact us for more information's.
-In case you have doubts or problems regarding your healing process, please get in touch with us before any doctor or pharmacist. We will assist you with experience and will recommend you to “piercing friendly” doctors if needed.

We suggest you get back in touch with us after 4 weeks for a healing check up:
Lurgan Body Art Studio is willing to offer you high quality services for a safe and pleasurable body-piercing experience.

Do not remove jewellery unless you really don’t want it anymore.   In this case, the piercing would shrink significantly, this happens sometimes within a few minutes.

It is never recommended to remove jewellery unless it is necessary, as even healed ones will end shrinking. In the case you have to, make sure you can test this reaction by removing jewellery for short period of time first.  It is a way to find out how long you can leave piercing empty without having any problems to replace it.

Plan to use a lubricant for easy removal and insertion of jewellery.

If ever you go through difficulties to replace jewellery, don’t force it inside as you might hurt the internal tissues.

Never use several or different antiseptics or medications in the same period of time as you might get intense side-effects.

Don’t forget daily cleaning : 1st cause for infections !

Don’t use bandages on your piercing, unless you work in an unclean environment.

Infections may occur, but getting one does not mean the end of your piercing.

First thing to do is to contact us, we will first help you by talking about it and getting information's about the situation.

Second thing is to calm down and avoid any unreasonable acts that might get the situation worse.

We will often observe symptoms that won’t necessary relate to an infection.

For any damage caused to the skin, the body reacts by an immune response.

It is simultaneously going to protect and repair the area.

The specific symptom is the inflammatory response (light swelling, oozing of fluids).

The inflamed area might be sensitive, red and itchy. These symptoms usually fade away after 2 to 3 weeks.

Regarding infections, a few very specific symptoms occur :

-Heavy production of thick pus.
-Heat : the infected area significantly rises its temperature.
-Swelling : the infected area strongly swells up within 6 to 24 hours. (Be aware that some mucous areas such as tongue and genitalias tend to swell as well during 3 to 4 days after piercing is done)

If you get an infection, never remove the jewellery. It will act as a draining tool and allow to ooze out germs and fluids, this helps to reject the infection. Without the jewellery, the piercing might turn into an abcess.

Once again, if ever you go through this sort of problems, you should quickly get back in touch with us for assistance.

Most people have allergies to different chemicals or materials. It’s a fact we have to deal with regarding body-piercing too.

Materials and products we use and recommend were chosen for low allergenic level, thus based on both experience and medical information, But although reactions are extremely rare, anyone can be allergic to some of their components.

Once again, the main visual effects are redness and oozing of fluids, but this depend son the reaction,

Some specific symptoms can reveal an allergic response.  Most of them are actually not due to jewellery but more often to antiseptic products (often overused on a fresh piercing).

Main symptoms are:

-Brutal dryness of the whole area
- Itchy area
- Flaking of dead superficial skins as when sunburned.

In this case, stop using the antiseptic, switch to a neutral PH soap and use a mild epidermic caring ointment.

Allergies to metal can also occur, but are very exceptional nowadays as surgical steel is under European law for Nickel level control. The most stunning symptom is a strong and spontaneous expansion of the skin when in contact with jewellery, as if it was avoiding any contact with the material. Switching from stainless steel to other metals such as Titanium or 18k gold, even polymer like PTFE, will prevent this type of reaction.

Allergic reactions are not so common but are difficult to predict. As for any healing problem please get in touch with us for assistance.

 

Please note that the following advices are suitable for tongue piercing only. They would not be any help for other locations.

The piercing is vertically located in the top end of the tongue, in a nerveless tissue splitting it in two major groups of muscles. You should expect a strong inflammatory response during a few days after it is done, this is a normal reaction. It usually stops after 3 to 5 days and its main symptom is an intense swelling. The tongue may feel numb and slightly sensitive for a few days. Relax as these reactions are very easy to deal with.

Lymphatic glands, located on both sides of the jaw in the back of the throat, will manage this response. As they do a heavy job, they might get swollen as well for about a week or so. Go easy on your mouth when eating and talking during this first period of time (see below for tips).

Daily Care

Use a mouthwash 3 times a day for about 2 weeks maximum.

Do not change anything to your daily hygiene and brush your teeth normally.

What to do?

Avoid rough food for the first week. Please note that this doesn’t mean “Don’t eat!”. Diet has a major effect on your healing process, so feel free to eat what you need. Only, you will have to go slow and choose warm or cold meals instead of hot and  spicy ones. Ice-creams are very helpful in dealing with inflammatory response, the cold soothes, enjoy!

Avoid any oral contact for a minimum of 2 weeks. Also keep your fingers out of your mouth and avoid touching the
jewellery.

Wait a minimum of 3 weeks before switching from long healing barbell to a shorter one.