Piercing Aftercare
nyssa
anyways, before I go into my question, I wanted to say how glad I am that
y'all are here. I've learned an awful lot from reading the FAQ and the
newsgroup for the past six months or so.
What I'm wondering about is how long one needs to do the twice daily
cleanings of pierces.
My partner got his nipple pierced about six months ago, and it's felt
healed for a couple months, he says. I got my inner labia pierced 9 days
ago (yay! ;), and while it's definitely not fully healed, it feels like
it's on its way. And I'm wondering how long I'm going to need to take an
extra shower/bath once it does feel healed.
My only real experience with piercings before this was the very vanilla
earlobe piercings. And with those, I did what everyone I knew did _
cleaned them religiously until they healed, and then pretty much left
them alone unless there was a problem.
Are body pierces the same? Or do people with pierces actually continue
cleaning them twice a day forever?
Hm, and on a related note but not exactly the same thing, how do I know
for sure when my pierces are healed fully? I'm assuming that someday, like
my ears, it won't hurt at all to rotate the ring through. (It's just
tender now, and if I do it during a bath, it doesn't hurt at all) Will I
always have to be careful the way I sit down?
Thanks for the help!
regards,
nyssa
--
``When your lips are burning mine and you take the time to tell me how
you feel _ when you listen to my words and I know you've heard _ I know
it's real. Rain is what the thunder brings. For the first time, I can
hear my heart sing.'' ---Madonna, ``Rain''
Laura Bryannan
>Guess this is my delurk here. :)
Welcome to r.a.b!
>What I'm wondering about is how long one needs to do the twice daily
>cleanings of pierces.
I've heard that one should be religious about twice daily cleanings
until the pierce is no longer producing crusties.
>Are body pierces the same? Or do people with pierces actually continue
>cleaning them twice a day forever?
Since all my pierces are healed, I simply clean them when I take
a shower in the morning. If you let your pierces go for long
without cleaning they can produce a funky smelling "pierce smegma."
Definately something to avoid in polite company :-)
>Hm, and on a related note but not exactly the same thing, how do I know
>for sure when my pierces are healed fully? I'm assuming that someday, like
>my ears, it won't hurt at all to rotate the ring through. (It's just
>tender now, and if I do it during a bath, it doesn't hurt at all) Will I
>always have to be careful the way I sit down?
No. Be patient my little grasshopper. :-) It's the blood plasma
(crusties) sticking to the metal around your pierce that makes
the ring hurt to move. Once a pierce heals enough to stop
producing blood plasma, it is essentially healed. Believe me,
you'll know it. However it will need to go through a period
of "seasoning" in which the tunnel strengthens, before you
subject the pierce to any kind of intense play. How long this
seasoning process takes depends on your own body and the type
of pierce you have.
Hope this helps,
Laura
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Who, if I cried out, would hear me among the angels' hierarchies?
And even if one of them pressed me suddenly against his heart:
I would be consumed in that overwhelming existence.
For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror,
Which we are just able to endure,
And we are so awed because it serenely disdains to annihilate us.
Every angel is terrifying.
--Rainer Maria Rilke
Laura Bryannan
la...@isp.nwu.edu
http://thor.isp.nwu.edu/~laura/
clarice haydon howard
>I've heard that one should be religious about twice daily cleanings
>until the pierce is no longer producing crusties.
Well, I just got my eyebrow double pierced a few days ago, and I have yet
to remove any crusties! In fact, it hardly secreted anything...the first
day, there was some blood/plasma, but since then...nothing! Is this a
bad sign?
Also, I'm wanted to get the entire brow pierced...should I wait until
these are fully healed before getting more piercings to make sure I
don't 'reject' these, or can I go ahead and get them now? How long does
it take to know that your body has accepted the new piercings?
Sorry for so many questions, but I didn't see them in the FAQ. :)
diane
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Michael J. Suzio
>In <4jshtg$82s...@anthro.nwu.edu> la...@isp.nwu.edu (Laura Bryannan) writes:
>>I've heard that one should be religious about twice daily cleanings
>>until the pierce is no longer producing crusties.
>Well, I just got my eyebrow double pierced a few days ago, and I have yet
>to remove any crusties! In fact, it hardly secreted anything...the first
>day, there was some blood/plasma, but since then...nothing! Is this a
>bad sign?
As far as twice daily cleanings, I'd agree. Varies somewhat depending
on the pierce and person, but at the very least, clean the pierce in the
shower (with *antiseptic* soap, and don't use things with irritating
scents added), and then clean it again at night using a hot compress or
a salt soak, and a Q-Tip and Bactine / Hibiclens / (Ask your piercer).
As far as not seeing crusties yet, I wouldn't say that's unusual. Actually,
I usually don't see crusties for up to a week after a new pierce, it takes
some time before a new pierce is in that stage when it's actively pushing
out dead skin cells and other gunk. Don't worry, you will eventually
see them, I'm sure.
- Mike
Michaela Grey
msu...@cerberus.umd.umich.edu (Michael J. Suzio) wrote:
> As far as twice daily cleanings, I'd agree. Varies somewhat depending
> on the pierce and person, but at the very least, clean the pierce in the
> shower (with *antiseptic* soap, and don't use things with irritating
> scents added), and then clean it again at night using a hot compress or
> a salt soak, and a Q-Tip and Bactine / Hibiclens / (Ask your piercer).
>
> - Mike
Yikes!
Hibiclens can cause blindness and deafness, and should never be used for
above the neck piercings. Seeing as it's been found to be carcinogenic (UC
Berkeley/Livermore labs), I would be hard-pressed to suggest its use for
below the neck piercings either.
As for Betadine, it is no longer used by hospitals as a wound care
agent, as it has a tendency to lyse (explode) new, growing skin cells. It
is only used as a prep scrub on unbroken skin these days.
For above the neck piercings, most piercers suggest benzalkonium
chloride, which is the active ingredient in Sensitive Ears/Ear Care/those
other ear piercing care liquids sold at Piercing Pagodas and Earring
Trees. It is also the active ingredient in Bactine, but as Bactine
contains a numbing agent, dyes, and fragrance, it is suggested that you
seek other solutions before turning to Bactine. If you must use Bactine,
please dilute it 50% with water.
For below the neck piercings, Liquid antibacterial Dial, Softscrub, or
other liquid antibacterial soaps containing triclosan are currently
favored by piercees. A new medicated lotion soap called Provon will
probably become very popular for piercing aftercare. But Hibiclens and
Betadine are very outdated, obsolete and potentially dangerous aftercare
agents.
Michaela Grey
Gauntlet, Inc.
--
The meek may be blessed but they don't write memoirs
ã Philip Slater
Julie Brandon
On Mon, 15 Apr 1996 08:27:44 -0700, mich...@gauntlet.com (Michaela
Grey) wrote:
> For below the neck piercings, Liquid antibacterial Dial, Softscrub, or
>other liquid antibacterial soaps containing triclosan are currently
>favored by piercees. A new medicated lotion soap called Provon will
How's about non-soap based products - for those of us out there who
can't use soaps due to eczema/allergy problems?
TTFN,
Julie.
Michaela Grey
Julie,
VERY sensitive individuals have had success with this:
1/3 distilled water
1/3 saline solution
1/3 hydrogen peroxide
3X/day
plus, clean with an antibacterial soap at least twice a week.
Hope this helps!