Yes, touching a new piercing with dirty hands can easily introduce bacteria and lead to an infection, as it's an open wound, so you should always wash your hands thoroughly with antibacterial soap before touching it, and ideally, avoid touching it altogether unless cleaning. Infrequent touching with clean hands is necessary for cleaning, but constant touching, rough handling, or touching with unwashed hands are major infection risks.
If you keep hitting your piercing, it can lead to irritation, inflammation, and even infection. It's best to avoid touching or bumping it to allow it to heal properly. If it becomes painful or shows signs of infection, consider seeing a professional for advice.
It's all good! Your body's pretty resilient, even after having a needle and metal shoved into it. You'll probably accidentally bump it or scratch it or forget it's there and touch it. It's no big deal. Keep it clean and watch it carefully.
The "2:3 piercing rule" is a curated ear guideline suggesting that for every two piercings, you should have three units of space between them, aiming for a balanced look, often by placing two piercings on the lobe and three on the upper cartilage, or by using larger jewelry at the bottom (lobes) and smaller pieces (studs/huggies) as you go up the ear for a cascading, uncluttered aesthetic. It's a styling tip, not a strict rule, for creating harmonious ear stacks.
Mild irritation and infections are common, however, for new piercings. In most cases, infections aren't serious and clear up quickly. In one study, as many as 35% of people with pierced ears had one or more of the following complications: Minor infection: 77%.
Your piercing might be infected if:
A piercing is rejecting when your body pushes the jewelry out, signaled by signs like the jewelry moving from its original spot, the tissue thinning and becoming see-through, the hole getting bigger, prolonged redness/irritation, or the jewelry hanging differently. Key indicators are the skin between the entrance and exit holes shrinking, the jewelry becoming more visible under the skin, and the skin looking shiny, dry, or flaky, meaning your body perceives the jewelry as a foreign object.
Don't touch your piercing.
The best approach is a hands-off approach. Avoid touching your piercing to prevent the transfer of bacteria and infection. If you do happen to touch your piercing, make sure your hands are washed and clean. Also, avoid applying pressure to your piercing.
A nose piercing typically ranks around a 4-7 out of 10 on the pain scale, varying by person and location; nostril piercings are often a quick, sharp pinch (around 4-6/10), while septum piercings can feel intense but brief (around 6-7/10), especially if the cartilage is thick, though it's generally considered manageable and quick to heal.
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What piercings reject the most? Surface piercings have the highest rejection rate. Surface piercings such as microdermals as well as eyebrow piercings and navel piercings reject the most because they are closest to the surface of the skin.
While showering or bathing, you may gently clean the jewellery and the piercing. Leave the soap on the piercing no more than thirty seconds. This is the best time to remove any crusty build up as it should soften. Removing it when dry could cause the wound to be re-opened.
Nipple Piercings
One of the more sensitive areas of the body, nipples can be more painful to pierce. The pain is attributed to the fact that you are piercing through an area with a high concentration of nerve endings.
INFECTIOUS RISK: Between 10% and 20% of all piercings lead to a local infection. The most commonly found causal agests are Staphylococcus aureus, group A Streptococcus and Pseudomonas sp. These germs can cause severe life-threatening complications even in common localizations (earlobe).
Healing may take 12-24 weeks, depending on the location of the piercing. Avoid touching the stud unnecessarily. Nose piercings can close within hours, so never leave the piercing without jewelry.
The "3-2 piercing rule" is a popular guideline for creating a balanced ear piercing arrangement, suggesting three piercings on the lobe and two on the upper cartilage for a harmonious, curated look, or applying a 2:3 ratio of piercings to space for overall balance, often pairing small studs with statement pieces for a chic, "undone" style that avoids overcrowding and emphasizes personal anatomy.
Among the most painful piercings, snug and tragus piercings top the list, while upper cartilage piercings like the helix are slightly less painful, but still no laughing matter. Also, bear in mind the pain doesn't necessarily end once the needle is out. For example, cartilage has less blood flow.
Safest Piercings
Along with the nostrils and belly button, the earlobes are the safest and most common body part to be pierced.
Yes, you can and should take a shower. However, it is important to make sure that you do not clean the piercing directly with soap or shampoo while showering. For body piercings, you should use a pH-neutral shower gel and make sure that nothing but water comes into contact with it.
For an early or minor infection, you may notice changes to the skin around the piercing. It might: Turn red or darker than your normal skin color. Feel warm.
There's no reason to rotate your piercing. You could damage the delicate, healing skin by rotating the jewelry. In the past, rotating the jewelry was recommended, but it has been found to cause damage that can lead to infection and scarring. For happy healing, NEVER rotate your body jewelry.
Too much rubbing or friction can irritate your skin and delay healing. Keep the jewelry in place. Most piercings heal within about six weeks. But some might take several months or longer to heal.
Infections commonly complicate cardiac transplantation, and the clinical presentation of post-transplantation infection is usually readily distinguishable from that of rejection. Infection of the allograft may mimic rejection, however, and endomyocardial biopsies are required to distinguish these two entities.
It may be difficult to determine if a piercing migration is occurring because it is a gradual process. If the piercing is constantly sore and it looks different than it used to, there is a chance it is migrating. The piercing jewellery may appear closer to the surface of the skin or the piercing hole may get bigger.