Do not use table salt, kosher salt, Epsom salts, or iodized sea salts: Non-iodized fine-grain sea salt is best for avoiding additives, as well as its ability to dissolve into a solution. Do not make the solution too salty: Too much salt can be irritating to the piercing and the skin.
If you over salt the mixture, you will not only dehydrate the bacteria but also dry out the upper dermis around the piercing, which can lead to microscopic cracks in your skin. This can then provide a better environment for bacteria to grow, despite you cleaning the piercing with saline solution.
Sea salt is not iodized, so it's safe for piercings (as long as you get the water to salt ratio right as too much of any kind of salt can be harmful to your skin). So, this is a safe alternative to using table salt on a piercing.
No. Use sterile saline wound wash bought from your piercing artist or at any pharmacy. Table salt isn't sterile and neither is tap water. You can introduce irritants and microbes into your piercings and cause infection.
Saline/Salt Water Soaks:
The best thing you can do for your piercing is a saline soak 2-4 times a day, completely submerging your piercing in the solution for 7-10 minutes. There are many packaged sterile saline solutions available, including Wound Wash and Blairex.
Handle your piercing ONLY after washing your hands, and ONLY when it is being cleaned. Be sure to follow the cleaning directions outlined in the information below. Overcleaning can slow healing and cause irritation. Overcleaning is just as bad as undercleaning.
We suggest cleaning no more than once a day. On average, most piercings will need to be cleaned over the next 3-4 months (unless otherwise stated by your piercer). It is vital that you do not over-clean the piercing. If it has been longer than four months, do not clean the piercing anymore.
Cleaning Solution
1/4 tsp of non-iodised fine grain salt(not regular sea salt, pink Himalayan salt works too) to one cup of pre-boiled warm water is the perfect ratio. Too much salt can irritate your healing piercing.
1/8 TEASPOON of SEA SALT
Drench a cotton ball in the salt solution and hold it on the piercing for 3-5 minutes. Afterwards, use a Q-tip or another cotton ball to remove any dried matter from around the piercing. Repeat this process 2-3 times a day for the first 2 weeks and then once a day for the following 4 weeks.
tap water or distilled water. non-iodized table salt. baking soda (optional, but it helps make saline less irritating)
Some pain and redness are part of the normal healing process for pierced ears. It can be easy to confuse those with signs of infection. If there's a bump on the back of the ear piercing, it's not necessarily infected. Small bumps called granulomas can sometimes form around the piercing.
It's normal to have some redness, swelling or pain for a couple of days after getting your ears pierced. But your ears should look and feel better each day. If you find that your ears do great and then suddenly start to become red, inflamed or crusty a week or two later, that's usually a sign of infection.
Your piercing might be infected if: the area around it is swollen, painful, hot, very red or dark (depending on your skin colour) there's blood or pus coming out of it – pus can be white, green or yellow. you feel hot or shivery or generally unwell.
Cleaning Solutions
Your saline ingredients should list . 09% sodium chloride as the only ingredient. Mixing your own sea salt solution will commonly result in the product being far too salty and strong, this can over dry the piercing and interfere with healing.
First wash your hands with soap and water. Then prepare a saltwater solution of 1 cup (0.24 liters) water with about 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir until the salt dissolves. Leaving the piercing jewelry in place, soak a cotton ball in the solution and place it on the affected area.
Try putting some Vaseline around the area of your piercing that your want to protect from the saline solution. If you are using sprays, cover the area outside your nose piercing with a thin layer of Vaseline, and spray your solution on the piercing site.
It's possible to pick up an infection from any body of water, so while your piercing heals you should avoid swimming in: swimming pools. streams, lakes and rivers. the sea.
To maximize healing, use saline solution in the morning, and a 15 minute warm sea salt water soak at night before bed. The warm sea salt water will pull discharge out of the piercing, while providing extra nutrition to the piercing.
When you are finished using the salt solution, it is very important to rinse with plain water afterwards. You can do this the same way as done with the salt solution, but make sure to use clean water this time. If you re-use the same glass or cup, it is important that it is clean and there is no salt left in the cup.
Sea salt dissolved in warm water is good for cleaning and disinfecting lots of oral wounds, from a bit lip to dental extractions, and that includes oral piercings.
Most importantly, the products used in mixing sea salt soaks at home are not guaranteed to be free from harmful bacteria and contaminants. Tap water contains a number of bacterium which will automatically contaminate your home mixture.
If you don't clean your piercing regularly, you could develop complications like infection, scarring, and inflammation, our experts explain. Additionally, the piercing could potentially take longer to heal. Keep in mind that some types of piercings are more likely to become infected than others.
3) It is normal for dried blood or serous fluid (yellow crust) to form around the edges of your piercing. DO NOT pick it away while it is dry.
Oral piercings, or piercings that have constant contact with your saliva, tend to heal a lot easier than most other piercings, due to the healing properties of our own saliva. Tongue piercings have the fastest healing duration of all piercings at only two weeks before you can downsize the bar.