All about the Aftercare – the key steps for post piercing

Hygiene is very much at the forefront of all our minds at the moment with the continual reminder to be washing our hands, during these increasingly uncertain times.

Maintaining high levels of hygiene is also an integral part of the piercing process and very importantly, the post piercing aftercare. What you do at home after your piercing is as important as the best practice standards adopted by your piercer.

When you get a piercing with a Studex system, you can be sure that our systems benefit from single-use, fully disposable cartridges that hold the jewellery. The instruments do not come into contact with the skin at all and all jewellery is pre-sterilised without the piercer touching them.

As part of the piercing service, your piercer will chat to you about aftercare and advise you of the best way to look after your piercing so make sure you are listening as they explain the necessary steps to promote safe healing. We understand that the anticipation and excitement of having a piercing can mean that you may not be fully focused on the importance of these steps, which is why your piercer will also supply you with a form reiterating the steps for you to take home and read again.

So, what are the key things that you need to remember to do at home, post piercing?

Always wash your hands thoroughly before touching the piercing site and try to avoid playing with the jewellery in between the cleaning. Bacteria can be introduced to the piercing site if you haven’t washed your hands prior to touching.
You should be cleaning the piercing area two to three times per day with the solution provided with your piercing. Make sure you are cleaning properly around the front and back of the jewellery. You can use a cotton wool pad or even a cotton bud to make sure that you are really cleaning effectively. Studex After Piercing Solution is a pH neutral solution which will not cause irritation, nor dry out the skin.
Remember to rotate your jewellery with little half turns, about 180◦ left and 180◦ right with clean hands when you are cleaning. Don’t spin them fully round as this could cause long hair to become wrapped around the post.
You must follow the aftercare steps for the whole duration of the healing time:
- 6 weeks for ear lobes
- 8 weeks for nose piercing
- 12 weeks for cartilage piercing
Please do not push the butterfly back on earrings along the post. It may be tempting to move them closer to the back of the ear lobe, but this can lead to problems with swelling and embedding. Rest assured that the butterfly back is positioned in exactly the right place at the time of piercing to allow the correct spacing for optimum healing.
After following the aftercare steps for the recommended timeframes, you can carefully remove your piercing jewellery and clean the site thoroughly front and back. You should then make sure that you put jewellery back in to prevent the hole from closing:
- Ear piercing – you can choose to put your piercing earrings back in or swap them for another pair of post-style, hypoallergenic earrings such as some from the Sensitive or Tinytips ranges.
  - You should not wear hoops or hook style earrings straight after the 6 / 12 weeks as this can affect how the piercing continues to heal.
- Nose piercing – make sure you select a suitable hypoallergenic nose stud. The piercing jewellery is designed for the piercing process only.
In order to maintain the safe healing, you should keep jewellery in for 6 months for lobe piercing, 12 months for cartilage and nose piercings. We can all heal at a different rate and we would hate for your new piercing to close, which it can within a few days without wearing jewellery.

Always remember that if you have any queries at all about your piercing, make sure you contact your piercer who can advise you on further steps. It could simply be that you have not been cleaning as thoroughly as you should, or the butterfly back has been pushed along the post.

Do not ignore any discomfort with your piercing. Where it is quite common for the piercing site to look a little bit red and feel a little uncomfortable straight after the piercing, we would not expect to see any sign of swelling or irritation several days after a piercing.

With aftercare being a key step in the piercing process, Studex will be announcing some exciting news about a NEW revolutionary aftercare product that will promote accelerated skin recovery and provide added protection for new piercings! We will be sharing details with you over the coming weeks so watch this space…

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All about the Aftercare – the key steps for post piercing