Lynchburg , Lynchburg Virginia Wards Rd, Virginia Body Jewelry and Piercing
Aftercare. Taking Care of your Piercing
A healthy lifestyle will help heal your piercing. Your period,
emotional stress, excessive friction and lack of sleep can all make
a piercing "flare" up or regress in the healing process.
Taking a multivitamin can help the immune system and your body
overall. It should include iron, B vitamins, zinc, and vitamin
C.
Be patient with your piercing. It will feel different throughout
the healing process. Sometimes the discharge will be clear,
sometimes it will be light yellow. Sometimes it will be red from a
small amount of blood. It is a healing piercing and ultimately
being patient with it will significantly help the life of the
piercing. If you ever have any concerns please contact your
piercer. It is important for you to guard your piercing and not let
anyone touch it. Peoples hands are dirty and could introduce germs
into your wound. Avoid using alcohol, peroxide, harsh chemical
soaps, thick antibiotic ointments (Neosporin) and other chemicals
that can damage and/or suffocate your piercing. Oxygen is a key
proponent of your healing process. Make sure to keep the piercing
uncovered and open to air as much as possible. Avoid makeup, makeup
removers, face washes, astringents, hair products (dyes, shampoos,
oils, styling products, etc )
If you have any questions about your piercing, or if anything seems unusual PLEASE CONTACT YOUR PIERCER PRIOR TO TAKING ANY MEASURES ON YOUR OWN ACCOUNT...
ORAL PIERCINGS
Preventive Measures for swelling:
- Sleep with your head propped up
- Take ibuprofen or naproxen sodium as directed on bottle
- Drink slushies and cold liquids (rinse with water after sugary drinks)
- Let ice chips melt in your mouth
The first couple days after the piercing, it is normal for the
area around the piercing to be tender, sticky, stiff, swollen etc.
The jewelry will feel stiff and awkward and may take a couple days
to settle into how it will permanently look.
Before touching your piercing, wash your hands with soap for 20
seconds and get every area with friction. Then dry your hands with
disposable paper towels, not a towel. Your piercing is an open
wound. Keep the piercing as still as possible. Reduced movement of
piercing (i.e. Don't touch it or play with it out of habit or talk
excessively) increases speed of healing time, allowing you to
downsize the jewelry at the earliest suggested timeframe.
There is going to be discharge while your piercing is healing.
On the inside of your mouth the discharge will remain soft and
gooey. On the outsides of lips, monroes, philtrums, labrets, etc.,
the discharge will dry and become a crust. After a warm shower the
crust will have softened and will be easy to remove with hot water
and a clean q-tip or paper towel.
Oral Hygiene Is Important!!
Use a new, soft-bristled toothbrush that is kept clean and away
from other toothbrushes. Maintain healthy brushing habits and use
of the mouth wash you choose after every meal. Gently brush your
teeth, tongue, and jewelry while healing. Keep in mind,
over-cleaning is as hindering as not cleaning the piercing at all.
Mouthwash 2-3 times is sufficient and brushing the piercing twice a
day with the soft bristled brush is ideal. The piercing can become
irritated if over cleaned or by using regular mouthwash (use either
tech2000 or biotene).
Staying strong by maintaining a healthy lifestyle is vital to
the healing of the piercing. Smoking cuts down the nutrients in the
bloodstream by half, thus slowing down the healing process and also
serves as a contaminant. Alcohol and Caffeine also hinder the
immune system and dehydrate you, hurting and possibly regressing
the healing process.
Kissing introduces bodily fluids from someone else into your open
wound (piercing) and should be avoided during the initial healing
process, especially the first few weeks. Even if you are
monogamous…
NON-ORAL PIERCINGS
It is normal for the piercing and for the area surrounding the
piercing to be red, tender, perhaps slightly bruised. There may
also be some slight on-and-off bleeding. The jewelry can also feel
"tight" and "stiff" the first few days. This is normal. You
introduced something foreign into your body and now your body will
respond by increasing the amount of white blood cells, hence
causing swelling.
Before touching your piercing, wash your hands with soap for 20
seconds and get every area with friction. Then dry your hands with
disposable paper towels, not a towel. It is suggested to use a
q-tip or paper towel and hot water to clean any debris and
discharge from the piercing. Then you can use the aftercare your
piercer suggested for you. If you are not using any aftercare, a
warm compress can be used. Simply wet a paper towel with hot water
(not scalding) and proceed to soak for 5-10 minutes daily. Dry the
area thoroughly with the opposite side of the q-tip or a new part
of the paper towel.
Friction, movement, displacement, and pressure hinder and regress
the healing process. If you have a piercing in your ear don't sleep
on it, avoid answering your phone right on it, and watch out for
hats and headbands around it.
Aftercare Products and Info
Aftercare overview:
Our years of research have given us a good idea of what aftercare should do and how it affects the body. We have hand selected the products that we use from the masses of options that are out there. Below we are going to discuss each product in some detail to help you understand why we chose these particular products.
Warning:
Over cleaning your piercing is worse than not cleaning it at all. The delicate tissue that is trying to grow back could use some help, but sometimes its good to let it rest and do its healing with out excessive interruption.
Things to Avoid:
Some things that are very important to avoid unless otherwise instructed by your piercer are as follows:
Alcohol: This is a product that will dry out your piercing, cause excess swelling and irritation. The harshness of the chemical will also kill delicate skin cells trying to grow.
Hydrogen Peroxide: Very Similar to Alcohol, Peroxide will dry out, increase swelling and kill growing tissue.
Bactine: A first aid antiseptic used for treating cuts, scrapes and burns caused by dirty items (ie: nail, rock, etc) is not needed in an injury like this where the wound was made by a sterile needle in an aseptic area such as our piercing room. The harsh chemicals used in this product have similar effects as the two aforementioned items.
Bacitracine, A&D, Neosporin, petroleum jelly, etc: Very simply put, your piercing needs oxygen to heal. If you apply thick greasy ointments like these to your piercing you are cutting off 100% of the oxygen from your wound. Just like your lungs need air to breathe so does an open wound. These items are designed to be used for the very initial days of an open wound like a cut or burn. They are a very different type of injury.
Hair products, face washes, makeup, etc: Most of these items contain alcohol or other harsh chemicals that can do damage to your piercing- slowing or even stopping the healing all together.
Products We Sell And Suggest:
H2Ocean:
H2Oceans is a blend of pure sea salt added to purified water in a pH balanced mixture. With over 80 trace elements in the formula, it will bring nutrients and minerals back to your skin to help heal your new piercing. H2Ocean can also be used during the entire life of your piercings to condition the skin, flush out piercing canals and maintain skin health. It can also be sprayed into a small cup and heated to facilitate a warm sea salt soak or warm compress. The warm water helps to relax tissue and increase blood flow to allow your body to bring natural healing to the wound. The lysozyme in the mixture acts as a natural antibody and helps keep bacteria in check. Lysozyme is already present in your body's tears and saliva and that's why oral cuts and abrasions heal so fast. H2Ocean can also be used to aid in the healing of burns, cuts, and abrasions. H2Ocean comes in a non-aerosol 360 degree dry mist can that keeps your product sterile as long as your can stays sealed.
Emu Oil:
Emu oil is a natural food by-product with many beneficial properties. Rich in essential unsaturated fatty acids, the oil penetrates all layers of the skin and works from the inside out delivering Omega 3, 6, and 9- which all aid in skin's health and repair. Emu oil is an animal by-product so it is not something we recommend for vegans or vegetarians. Emu oil also has many other uses from burns, cuts, and insect bites all the way to swollen joints and muscles.
Tech 2000:
Tech2000 is an alcohol and sodium free antimicrobial mouthwash with humectancy to counteract dry mouth caused by your body working overtime to heal your oral piercing. We carry this mouthwash to help heal piercings because of its gentle cleaning ability and excellent track record speeding healing times. Its gentle mint flavor is easy to handle and not overbearing. It can be used 2-3 times a day during your healing and continued after if you desire.
Dr. Piercing Aftercare Swabs:
Dr. Piercing Aftercare Swabs come in two forms. First, in the original medicated option that uses a Benzalkonium Chloride - 0.11% solution. The other option is the 'Hole-istic' swabs that contain: Saline solution to promote healing, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) as an anti-inflammatory; and to relieve pain and increase blood flow, promoting healing, Panthenol, Pro-Vitamin B5, and Allantoin- a skin protectant. Both types of swabs are sold 36 to a pack which is made of plastic and snaps closed to help keep the swabs clean. One end of the swab breaks to release the contents onto the cotton swab for application onto your piercing. These swabs can be used 2 or 3 times a day and are especially effective for someone on the go or without consistent availability to clean water.
Alternative Option:
If using an aftercare product is not your style or you feel you are unable to use them as needed there is an alternative. Applying clean water with a clean cotton swab or paper towel 2 or 3 times a day to remove secretions from the area is another option.