How to Care for New Piercings to Prevent Infections
Piercings are now more popular and widespread than ever, and you can get piercings in any number of places on your body - your ear, belly button, nose or almost anywhere you can think of!
However a piercing can easily become infected and irritated if you do not perform the correct aftercare necessary for the skin to heal and prevent your piercing from becoming infected.
Some prevention and hygiene techniques will allow you to reduce the risk of an infection after a new piercing and reduce the risk you have to take it out. We at OneHowTo will explain how to care for piercings to stop them from becoming infected.
Steps to follow:
Not everyone's body reacts the same way to piercings: some heal in days and for other people it lasts months. The important thing to remember is: Don't try to speed up the process, go at your body's own pace and let the wound recover with the time it needs.
Follow general common hygiene practices - i.e. washing and drying the area regularly and carefully- as these will help your skin not to get infected.
It is advisable to clean the area of the piercing using a saline (salt water) solution or possibly some antibacterial soap. However make sure the solution is strong enough, and make sure you dry it thoroughly each time after washing - if not it may do more harm than good.
While the skin heals, don't use any type of cosmetic product in the area like perfumes, paints, creams, etc. You should also avoid exposing the area to prolonged sunlight, at least for the first few days.
Depending on where it is, you need to take certain precautions: if it is on your ear don't sleep on that side, and don't wear tight clothing with navel piercings,or other piercings which will be in contact with your clothing.
Avoid gyms, swimming pools, saunas, etc. These places are full or bacteria and moisture which will not help the piercing heal and may cause the piercing to become infected.
If you have any questions, visit the specialist that gave you the piercing, they will help and advise you on how to treat your piercing the best way and prevent infections.
Alternatively, or if you think you may already have an infection why not find out more about caring for your Ear, Nose, Belly Button or Tongue piercings?
Let us know what helped heal your piercing in the comments below.
If you want to read similar articles to How to Care for New Piercings to Prevent Infections, we recommend you visit our Beauty & Personal Care category.
Tips
- Get a piercing in a parlour with professionals.
- Whenever you get a piercing, make sure both the person themselves and their tools are hygienic.
