Piercing aftercare
2011
Tantrix Body Art Piercing Aftercare
Piercings by Leanne and Jamie
An important thing to remember is that there are many different kinds of after care given for body piercing, this is the one that we find has less reactions and irritations.
If you are having any problems with the aftercare or maybe just have some questions please call or email the shop and we would be happy to help you!
You can also check out this website that has tons of information about piercings!
Piercings by Leanne and Jamie
An important thing to remember is that there are many different kinds of after care given for body piercing, this is the one that we find has less reactions and irritations.
If you are having any problems with the aftercare or maybe just have some questions please call or email the shop and we would be happy to help you!
You can also check out this website that has tons of information about piercings!
Congratulations on getting a professional piercing in a sterile environment! At Tantrix we strive to offer the best services in the industry and will be more than happy to answer any questions and ease any concerns you may have about your new piercing. When it comes to body piercing there are a few basic rules to follow in order to make healing an easy and successful experience”
Never touch your piercing! (especially with dirty hands)
You might not realize it but your hands are full of germs and other harmful bacteria that are not good for a healing piercing. The other reason to leave it alone is due to crusties. Crusties are formed when lymph fluid (that clear/yellowish discharge) dries and hardens on the jewellery and around the piercing. These crusties are sharp! If you move them through the piercing it will be very painful as they cut and tear up your tissue and any healing progress you already have made, taking longer for the piercing to heal. The jewellery is non-porous which means your skin will not stick to it so you have absolutely no reason to touch it, rotate it, change/remove your jewellery, push it back and forth, etc. Leave it alone!
Keep chemicals and bacteria off of your piercing!
Hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, Bactine, Polysporin, etc. will NOT help it heal any faster! In fact it will do exactly the opposite by drying out or gumming up the piercing not allowing it to properly drain or heal. If it’s not infected don’t treat it like it is. This also means no make up, lotions, chlorine (pools, hot tubs) and no lakes, oceans… seas, etc. due to the amount of bacteria in them, the longer you wait the better off the piercing is. Make sure to wash clothing, bedding, and towels regularly that come into contact with your fresh piercing and NEVER touch it with dirty hands.
Do not leave your jewellery out or without a bead on it
Jewellery can and will fall out periodically if your not careful with it. Make sure to tighten your beads regularly and avoid playing with the piercing. If your jewellery does happen to fall out for any reason, put it back in as soon as possible. Nose screws are notoriously tricky to get back in and can close up within a few hours. If you can’t get your jewellery back in on your own don’t force it, simply put a straight post earring in the hole to keep the piercing open. Come in as soon as possible so we can help.
Take care of yourself
If you’re not in good health, you can’t expect your piercing to be.
Oral Piercings
-No alcohol for the first few days due to increase in swelling
-Avoid hot and/or spicy food since it will irritate your piercing
-Pineapple juice is an anti-inflammatory and will naturally reduce swelling, make sure it is ice cold
-Make sure not to ‘suck’ on anything, this causes scarring especially in tongue piercings. That means stay away from straws until you are fully healed. Do not suck on ice, drink ice cold water instead, sucking on ice will make your piercing more swollen.
- We can’t stress enough to check your beads, they work loose during the first few days so check it at least twice a day. If your bead keeps popping off that means you are very swollen and need up upsize your jewellery, come in as soon as possible and we will adjust your jewellery.
Downsizing and Embedding
Many piercings require longer initial jewellery to accommodate for any swelling. Oral piercing typically swell more than other piercings. It is necessary to downsize the jewellery as soon as the swelling has subsided, generally 2 weeks or less in some cases. After downsizing an oral piercing it is important to keep taking care of it as swelling can re-occur and possibly embed. All other piercings should be fully healed before downsizing.
Imbedding occurs when the jewellery is too small to accommodate the swelling and sinks into the surrounding tissue. If you notice the jewellery is becoming too tight stop by the shop to have a piercer look at it, do not wait for the skin to grow over it. If you ignore the problem the jewellery can become sucked into the skin/tissue and be very painful and tough to get out. Imbedding is totally preventable as long as you follow proper aftercare and keep an eye on the piercing.
Migration and Rejection
Migration is when you body tries to push the jewellery out like it would a splinter. The most common piercings to migrate are navel, nipple and eyebrow, but all piercings have the potential to. There is no way to prevent migration but proper jewellery, placement and avoiding stress on the piercing are mandatory to reduce the risk. Sometimes piercings will migrate slightly and finally rest, other times they reject completely. Rejection is when a piercing migrates totally out of the body leaving a massive scarring. If you suspect your piercing is migrating come in and talk to a piercer to find out if anything can be done to stop it such as change of jewellery or if it should be removed.
Have a bump?
Even if you are taking care of you piercing exactly how you should, sometimes little bumps can form on the area. Do not panic it is not an infection and it will go away. The most common ‘bump’ people experience is called hypotrophic scarring and is common on cartilage piercings, but can form on other areas as well. DO NOT POP IT! Hypertrophic scarring occurs when the piercing is under stress or is being irritated. Recognize what is causing the irritation and eliminate it. Constrictive/rubbing clothing, pressure from sleeping on it, playing with it or in appropriate jewellery are the leading stresses piercings encounter. Give it time and continue taking care of it making sure to keep makeup, lotions, etc off of it and definitely NOT using polysporin or other such products. The bump will go away on it’s own, but we suggest stopping by the shop to have a piercer look at it to properly diagnose what the problem is, what is causing it, and what you can do to help it go away quicker.
Have an Infection?
Chances are if you have been taking care of it correctly it’s not an infection. Most people mistake infections for irritations. An irritated piercing looks red around the holes only, is usually dry, itchy and can have a cloudy white or yellow discharge with no odour. As with hypertrophic scarring (the bump on a piercing), you need to identify what the stress on the piercing is and eliminate it. If it is infected, you will know it. The area around the piercing will be red, fevered (hot to the touch) swollen, and will have a bloody/green puss discharge with a strong pungent smell. If it truly is infected DO NOT TAKE OUT YOUR JEWELLERY! come into the shop immediately before doing anything to fix the problem yourself. By taking out the jewellery you can trap the infection inside you body causing it to go septic (once at this stage it can become FATAL and only treatable with oral antibiotics) You were pierced in a sterile environment- what you do afterwards with your piercing is totally up to you! Be smart! Only you can prevent an infection from ever starting.
Never touch your piercing! (especially with dirty hands)
You might not realize it but your hands are full of germs and other harmful bacteria that are not good for a healing piercing. The other reason to leave it alone is due to crusties. Crusties are formed when lymph fluid (that clear/yellowish discharge) dries and hardens on the jewellery and around the piercing. These crusties are sharp! If you move them through the piercing it will be very painful as they cut and tear up your tissue and any healing progress you already have made, taking longer for the piercing to heal. The jewellery is non-porous which means your skin will not stick to it so you have absolutely no reason to touch it, rotate it, change/remove your jewellery, push it back and forth, etc. Leave it alone!
Keep chemicals and bacteria off of your piercing!
Hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, Bactine, Polysporin, etc. will NOT help it heal any faster! In fact it will do exactly the opposite by drying out or gumming up the piercing not allowing it to properly drain or heal. If it’s not infected don’t treat it like it is. This also means no make up, lotions, chlorine (pools, hot tubs) and no lakes, oceans… seas, etc. due to the amount of bacteria in them, the longer you wait the better off the piercing is. Make sure to wash clothing, bedding, and towels regularly that come into contact with your fresh piercing and NEVER touch it with dirty hands.
Do not leave your jewellery out or without a bead on it
Jewellery can and will fall out periodically if your not careful with it. Make sure to tighten your beads regularly and avoid playing with the piercing. If your jewellery does happen to fall out for any reason, put it back in as soon as possible. Nose screws are notoriously tricky to get back in and can close up within a few hours. If you can’t get your jewellery back in on your own don’t force it, simply put a straight post earring in the hole to keep the piercing open. Come in as soon as possible so we can help.
Take care of yourself
If you’re not in good health, you can’t expect your piercing to be.
Oral Piercings
-No alcohol for the first few days due to increase in swelling
-Avoid hot and/or spicy food since it will irritate your piercing
-Pineapple juice is an anti-inflammatory and will naturally reduce swelling, make sure it is ice cold
-Make sure not to ‘suck’ on anything, this causes scarring especially in tongue piercings. That means stay away from straws until you are fully healed. Do not suck on ice, drink ice cold water instead, sucking on ice will make your piercing more swollen.
- We can’t stress enough to check your beads, they work loose during the first few days so check it at least twice a day. If your bead keeps popping off that means you are very swollen and need up upsize your jewellery, come in as soon as possible and we will adjust your jewellery.
Downsizing and Embedding
Many piercings require longer initial jewellery to accommodate for any swelling. Oral piercing typically swell more than other piercings. It is necessary to downsize the jewellery as soon as the swelling has subsided, generally 2 weeks or less in some cases. After downsizing an oral piercing it is important to keep taking care of it as swelling can re-occur and possibly embed. All other piercings should be fully healed before downsizing.
Imbedding occurs when the jewellery is too small to accommodate the swelling and sinks into the surrounding tissue. If you notice the jewellery is becoming too tight stop by the shop to have a piercer look at it, do not wait for the skin to grow over it. If you ignore the problem the jewellery can become sucked into the skin/tissue and be very painful and tough to get out. Imbedding is totally preventable as long as you follow proper aftercare and keep an eye on the piercing.
Migration and Rejection
Migration is when you body tries to push the jewellery out like it would a splinter. The most common piercings to migrate are navel, nipple and eyebrow, but all piercings have the potential to. There is no way to prevent migration but proper jewellery, placement and avoiding stress on the piercing are mandatory to reduce the risk. Sometimes piercings will migrate slightly and finally rest, other times they reject completely. Rejection is when a piercing migrates totally out of the body leaving a massive scarring. If you suspect your piercing is migrating come in and talk to a piercer to find out if anything can be done to stop it such as change of jewellery or if it should be removed.
Have a bump?
Even if you are taking care of you piercing exactly how you should, sometimes little bumps can form on the area. Do not panic it is not an infection and it will go away. The most common ‘bump’ people experience is called hypotrophic scarring and is common on cartilage piercings, but can form on other areas as well. DO NOT POP IT! Hypertrophic scarring occurs when the piercing is under stress or is being irritated. Recognize what is causing the irritation and eliminate it. Constrictive/rubbing clothing, pressure from sleeping on it, playing with it or in appropriate jewellery are the leading stresses piercings encounter. Give it time and continue taking care of it making sure to keep makeup, lotions, etc off of it and definitely NOT using polysporin or other such products. The bump will go away on it’s own, but we suggest stopping by the shop to have a piercer look at it to properly diagnose what the problem is, what is causing it, and what you can do to help it go away quicker.
Have an Infection?
Chances are if you have been taking care of it correctly it’s not an infection. Most people mistake infections for irritations. An irritated piercing looks red around the holes only, is usually dry, itchy and can have a cloudy white or yellow discharge with no odour. As with hypertrophic scarring (the bump on a piercing), you need to identify what the stress on the piercing is and eliminate it. If it is infected, you will know it. The area around the piercing will be red, fevered (hot to the touch) swollen, and will have a bloody/green puss discharge with a strong pungent smell. If it truly is infected DO NOT TAKE OUT YOUR JEWELLERY! come into the shop immediately before doing anything to fix the problem yourself. By taking out the jewellery you can trap the infection inside you body causing it to go septic (once at this stage it can become FATAL and only treatable with oral antibiotics) You were pierced in a sterile environment- what you do afterwards with your piercing is totally up to you! Be smart! Only you can prevent an infection from ever starting.
