Body Piercing Care
Posted by ellie on October 1, 2007 · 121 Comments
The following piercing jewelry care information is strictly advisory and you should consult your physician for care instructions. Should irritation or infection occur, consult your physician.
Navel Piercing
- Clean your belly button 2 times daily (no more, no less) with antibacterial soap. Before cleaning, use a cu-tip soaked in warm water to gently remove any crust that may have formed around the ring.
- In addition to regular cleanings, salt-water soaks work well to promote healing. You can buy non-iodized sea salt and put about 1/2 tsp in 1/4 cup of cooled boiled water. Put this in a shot glass or small medicinal cup and bend over. Place it over your navel, lie down and kill 15 minutes. This helps get rid of any pending infections.
- Other than for cleanings and salt water soaks, leave your piercing alone. Do not move your navel jewelry around. If you want to see it, look in a mirror.
- Avoid swimming pools and spas. If you must, be sure to clean your navel immediately afterwards with antibacterial soap.
- Lavender oil and tea tree oil may help speed healing. To be sure that you are using the essential oils appropriately, consult your piercing professional before using them.
- Wear a waterproof bandage over a new (up to six months) piercing when swimming to avoid bacterial contamination.
- Avoid using laundry detergents that contain stain fighting enzymes on clothing that will come into direct contact with the piercing. The enzymes can impede healing.
- Don’t touch your new belly button piercing with dirty hands.
- Don’t let other people touch it… or lick it.
- Replace your belly button piercing jewelry only after your piercing has completely healed (usually 6 months to a year).
- When you are ready to replace your belly button ring, select a quality piece of jewelry the does not contain nickel to avoid a possible allergic reaction. You can find a great selection of nickel-free gold belly rings at AlluringBody.
Although the belly button piercing is one of the most popular piercings it can be one of the most difficult to heal. It can take anywhere from 6 months to a year to heal. Curved barbells should be used to wear initially after the piercing as they allow for the safest and fastest healing. Wearing tight waistbands or frequent activity involving bending at the waist can prolong healing time. The pressure of waistbands can force the ring to one side causing the piercing to heal crookedly and scar. Too much pressure can cause the piercing to migrate or reject completely.
Oral Piercing (Tongue, cheek, lip, labret)
Many piercing locations involve the mouth and should be considered oral piercings. These include any piercing that has an opening inside the mouth.
- Use an alcohol free mouthwash to rinse your mouth 4-5 times daily for 30-60 seconds, including after meals and at bedtimes
- To clean the outside of the piercing, use sea salt soaks 2-3 times daily and wash with mild anti-microbial soap no more than twice a day.
- Do not touch the piercing or jewelry except for cleaning.
- Always wash your hands with antibacterial soap before touching the piercing or jewelry.
- Dry with disposable paper products rather than a towel or cloth which can harbor germs and bacteria.
- Let small ice chips dissolve in the mouth to help reduce swelling.
- Use ibuprofen or another non-steroidal anti-inflammatory for swelling if needed.
- Avoid tobacco, alcohol, large amounts of caffeine, oral sexual contact (including French kissing), chewing gum and playing with jewelry during healing.
- Avoid overly spicy, hot, salty or acidic foods for a few days.
- Cold drinks can help soothe and reduce swelling during the healing.
- The original jewelry should be replaced with shorter jewelry after the swelling has reduced. See your piercer for this change, as it usually will be during the healing period.
Cartilage Piercing
Next to the navel, piercings to the upper ear cartilage take the longest to heal. Healing times can vary from two months to a year. Cleaning the piercing carefully and caring for it should become part of your daily routine.
- Clean twice daily with mild, antibacterial soap
- Avoid handling the piercing outside of cleaning to reduce the chances for infection.
- Use a cotton ball, gauze square or other disposable product to apply sea salt soaks and to clean the piercing. Don’t use washcloths or face cloths, as they can harbor bacteria.
- Ibuprofen can be used for discomfort or swelling.
- If there is excessive swelling or signs of infection, see your piercing professional and your doctor.
- Change bedding (pillowcases) frequently. You can use the ‘t-shirt trick’ recommended by many piercers. Slip a clean t-shirt over the pillow before bed. The next night, turn the t-shirt inside out. One t-shirt provides four clean surfaces for sleeping.
Nose Piercings
Nasal piercing is popular throughout the world and has been throughout history. All the usual rules of aftercare apply, including:
- Clean the piercing and jewelry twice daily using a cotton swab, gauze pad or other disposable product and a mild anti-bacterial soap
- Do not touch or play with the jewelry. It will damage the tissue and delay healing.
- Salt soaks can help promote healing and reduce swelling in the early days.
- Ibuprofen will help reduce pain and swelling if needed.
- Ice and cold compresses can help reduce swelling if needed.
- Pat- don’t rub- your face dry to avoid catching and pulling on the piercing jewelry.
- Do not remove the jewelry for more than a day at a time, and not at all until it is fully healed.
Typical Healing Times for Body Piercings
Every piercing is different, just as every body is different, but most piercing pros agree on standard healing times for different parts of the body. The chart is below, but you may have some questions about the length of time it takes to heal a piercing. For instance – why does it take so much longer to heal a navel or ear cartilage piercing than it does to heal an earlobe piercing?
Believe it or not, one of the biggest factors is how much blood flows to the area. The more blood vessels and ‘vascular activity’, the faster the area will heal. Thus, ear lobes which have quite a few blood vessels in them, heal in 4-8 weeks. But the cartilaginous part of the ear along the outer rim, which has very little blood flow, can take up to a year to heal completely.
Healing Times
| Body Part | Time to Heal Completely |
|---|---|
| Ear lobe | 6-8 weeks |
| Ear cartilage | 4 months to a year |
| Eyebrow | 6-8 weeks |
| Nasal septum | 6-8 months |
| Nostril | 2-4 weeks |
| Lip | 2-3 months |
| Tongue | 4 weeks |
| Nipple | 3 to 6 months |
| Navel | 4 months to a year |
These healing times are not exact, and will be affected by how well you care for your piercing as it heals, of course. Infection and migration may happen. Be sure to follow all aftercare instructions given by your healing professional.
Possible Risks
Like anything in life, piercing your navel or any other part of your body carries some risks with it. You are deliberately opening a wound in your body, and forcing it to heal into a fistula. Before a professional piercer will agree to pierce your navel – or any other part of your body, he or she should, at the very least, give you a sheet detailing the risks involved in a body piercing. A truly conscientious piercer will discuss the risks with you to be sure that you understand them. In general, though, the risks of a body piercing include:
- Infection at the site of the piercing
- Systemic infection arising from the piercing (That’s an infection that’s spread through your system in your blood or through other glands.)
- Infective endocarditis is a particularly nasty infection that affects your heart. It’s very rare, but very serious – it can kill you. If you have a pre-existing heart condition or have ever had surgery to repair a heart condition, you have a higher risk of developing infective endocarditis.
- Scars and/or keloids at the piercing site
- Jewelry migrating – pushing its way out of the skin – can leave nasty scars as well as reopen the original wound
- Blood borne diseases are a risk any time that the skin is punctured. If the equipment used to do your piercing has been in contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person, you run the risk of contracting hepatitis C, hepatitis B, tuberculosis, tetanus and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
- Allergic reactions to the metal in jewelry is not uncommon. The symptoms of an allergic reaction can range from mildly irritating to life threatening.
You can reduce the likelihood of many of these risks by taking the time to research the piercing studio where you will be pierced, and paying a visit to your doctor in advance. Some precautions that may help you decrease the above risks include:
- Get a tetanus shot from your doctor if you haven’t had one in the last ten years.
- If you have diabetes, a heart condition or any condition that impedes healing or predisposes you to infections, ask your doctor about prophylactic (preventive) antibiotics before your piercing date.
- NEVER attempt to pierce any part of your body yourself, or have a friend do it for you. A reputable professional piercing studio will have the equipment to properly sterilize any equipment and materials that come in contact with your body. That’s vital to avoid blood borne diseases, and will help reduce the chances of other infections as well.
- Follow the aftercare instructions you receive to the letter.
- Don’t handle your piercing or jewelry with your bare hands. If you must, then wash your hands thoroughly with antibiotic soap first.
- Avoid wearing clothing that irritates the piercing site. With navel piercings, it’s a good idea not to wear clothing with a waistband that presses against it.
- Remember that your piercing is not completely healed for up to a year after you have it pierced. Contact your doctor at any sign of infection.
I had my belly button pierced on my last night of my first trip to Vegas. I am 47 and I had wanted it done for a while. I found that it barely hurt at all getting it done, but I have a pretty high pain tolerance. I am doing all the recommended stuff to keep it healing: salt water soaks twice a day, and cleaning it with H2Ocean in between, as well as cleaning the jewelry with an antibacterial soap when I shower. I can’t wait until it is healed and I can change the jewelry. I already have a small collection!
@Angela, I’d say it doesn’t look real good. I’d go see your piercer and see what they have to say about it. Are you using bottled water to soak it with? I would also get some H2Ocean and clean it with that. Read through the instructions on the website for the American Association of Piercers and follow their recommendations.
I got my belly pierced yesterday and they used a clamp and everything it wasn’t as sore as I had expected. It just felt like a slight pinch
I am 15 years old and don’t regret getting in one bit. It is not that sore to clean it and is not red at all.. My piercer says it varies from different people, but he told me not to use salt solution because what a lot of people don’t realize is that its actually making the skin around very soft and gradually you will have a droopy naval with an ugly piercing so he just gave me some other solution. 
Hope it heals properly and I haven’t had any problems so far yipppeeeee 
Love Ivy xxx
P.S. very good luck to those going to get their piercing’s done, it will be fine
In addition to my tongue and Belly I Just got my Nipples pierced ! It was quite an amazing experience, my Nipples are kinda sore right now, but I’m sure I’m taking the necessary precautions to keeping it clean. I’ve had a lot of other piercings so I’m pretty sure I’m doing a good job of keeping infections and other things like that away
I love my nipple piercings, I rarely ever wanna wear a bra ! Lol
Soo I pierced my cartilage with an earring… Didn’t even use a needle and it didn’t hurt at all till the last little snap at the end..everyone says not to..one of my friends said I could paralyze my face..scary stuff like that but my mind was set and I was on a HUGE adrenaline rush when I did it so it wasn’t bad. It’s been almost a year and I absolutely LOVE it!! Don’t freak out about cleaning it just clean it at night and make sure your ear is in the water when you take a shower and it’s all good(: I’m only 14.
<3
I just got my belly pierced monday the day before my 18th birthday and i was scared but they told me to close my eyes and i did but it hurt like hell i hate needles so it was painful for me and it’s very sore i have trouble bending over and bending down but i have been cleaning it everyday as it says and not touching it i never sleep on my stomach anymore just my side or back but i wish it would stop being sore so i can actually bend down because at school it’s hard for me to bend down is that a bad thing if your feeling this sore ?
i went and got my navel pierced Monday and today is Wednesday. i was very nervous. i almost backed out of getting it but im glad i didn’t. i love my piercing. the only part that hurt was the clamp. he had be breathe deep when the needle went it. the needle doesn’t hurt. you cant feel it because the clamp. the ring pinched a little when he put it in but it was fine after. its sore when i bend over it or something hits it (not hard). i was it twice a day with DIAL antibacterial soap. its orange. everyone recommends it. the guy who pierced it for me was professional and he told me not to put anything on it such as salt, cream, piercing stuff or anything. JUST SOAP AND WATER. he told me not to change it out till until 6 weeks so it has enough time to heel. i had been messing with it so it became irritated but i recommend not to mess with it to avoided infection. but the belly piercing is very cute and popular. i love it!(:
i got my belly button pierced oct 8, honestly for people that are worried about the pain it doesnt hurt, just be really really calm. When i got mine done i had my arm covering my face i felt the needle go through i dont rember exatcly what it felt like but there was no pain whatsoeva just like a tiny pinch inside ur skin i was really calm, its like getting your ears pierced. those peircings dont hurt, trust me i gotten my ears pierced three times the third time i pierced it myself with a earing a year ago looks good today(:
just make sure u take care of your piercing, we dont want a infection now do we.
Ok. So, I did my naval piercing by myself on Dec. 18, 2011.I’m pretty proud of myself, because it is straight, lol. It hurt but, at the time I was really mad, so it didn’t hurt as much as it would have. (I can take pain way better when I’m mad.) It is still alittle red but doesn’t hurt now. At first all I was using was hydrogen peroxide, and it cleaned it but after a while it started to puss some and hurt really bad. Then I started soaking it in warm salt water and it healed greatly. Salt water works like magic on your piercing. It is still red now but doesn’t hurt. I take the belly ring out and soak it in hydrogen peroxide while I soak my belly button in the salt water. And I do suggest that when you soak it in salt water, clean the rest of the salt off when your done! It burns really bad if you don’t!
I do recommend this piercing, it is beautiful and depending on your self-esteem it can make you feel great about yourself. The only reason I don’t recomend this piercing, is because if your a lazy person, you will regret not cleaning it; esspecially if you take it out and get it repeirced, the scar tissue (that the needle will go through, AGAIN) hurts worse than not cleaning it. Other than that I love my peircing! Goodluck to anyone who gets it done
I got my navel pierced on Dec. 30th and its a bit red but I think its cause when I clean it, it moves and gets irritated, I love my piercing. I went to a local smoke shop/ piercing store and they gave me a cleaning solution that is in a q-tip already, and I think I am going to switch to using antibacterial soap because I am severely afraid of getting an infection in my navel.
So i’m getting my navel for my birthday in 2 weeks o.o would it be ok to go swimming in a pool without the bandage in march o.o
I just got mine done three days ago with my friend by someone at their house she was very clean with it all so I’m not to worried. Right now it’s just red it does not hurt at all . It looks really great I use antibacterial soap as well
Well I just got my piercing today and when i got there i asked the man to explain the process to me . He did and then i asked him to show me all the things that suppose to be in sterilized plastic (It was). I got on the table and he marked the spots. He then put the clamps on that was the hard part i didn’t feel the needle and before i knew it i was done. It really don’t hurt as bad if i don’t move around and i really recommend that everyone buys H2Ocean you can just spray it on without touching it !
hey guys , I got my belly pierced today like an hour ago or so & it doesn’t hurt a bit :L I can bend turn everything , I love it already I’m 14 turning 15 this year & have wanted one for ever! just curious on how to clean it at the moment I have a spray that I got given to me but don’t know how to properly clean it? any help or ideas would be great thank-you ! x
i want to pierce my belly botton but i would like to know how long it takes for it to heal so i can change it.
I had my belly button pierced 3 years ago when I was 14.. My dad, who’s a doctor, did it for me and gave me some local anasthesia so it didn’t really hurt at all when he put the piercing in, which was one of those curved barbells. The piercing had trouble healing though and after a year or so it actually migrated from my skin. I was really upset about it and it left a small scar.. Now at 17 Im trying to make it work again, and I just got a new one (this time a round piercing) on sunday – today’s wednesday. Im cleansing it twice a day and wash it with soap in the shower – I think it’s really hard not to touch it, even though i try hard not to! Really hope it works out this time!!!
Good luck!
4 months to a year. It’s the same as a top piercing.
There’s some good advice at the top of this page. You can also check with http://www.safepiercing.org.
I want to get my belly button pierced and was wondering how much it costed?
I got my navel pierced 8 months ago and we recently realized it was not pierced all the way to where the entire bar is pretty much inside my skin. It’s now migrated to almost nothing because of the fact it is rejecting because it was pierced wrong. It was one of my favorite piercings of which I bought quite a bit of jewelry for and now it is going to have to be redone because the ring was only half way in when it was pierced. I did plenty of research and have looked at tons of properly done bellies, and mine was DEFINITELY not done correctly and at 25 and spending 50 bucks with a lifetime guarantee, I am not happy right now, because God knows when it gets pierced the second time it is gonna hurt like HELL because of some of the scar tissue. First time I didn’t even notice, but second time it will hurt. It never really healed correctly due to the botch up, so tomorrow I have to go complain about it which I don’t like doing before the ring is removed to heal the rest of what’s left properly for future re-piercing. My tongue was also screwed up by the first guy who did it, but the second time I had it done it the ring was still in because the bottom hole was perfect, top was crooked, so they just went up through the bottom hole straight and it healed properly. The second time it bled a bit, first time it didn’t. I have 4 piercings in each ear, 3 lobes and 1 cartilage each ear, a nose, tongue, and belly of which has to be redone. First piercing I got done when I was 7, most recent ones were done in October of 2011, at age 24.