Piercing aftercare, week by week

This is the sheet Rayna hands you after a piercing at Irish Rose Tattoo, laid out by stage. The routine stays the same the whole way through: sterile saline, clean hands, and leave the jewelry alone. What changes is what to watch for. If you were pierced somewhere else, it still applies, as long as your jewelry is implant-grade titanium or solid gold.

Healing times depend on where the piercing is. Lobes take six to eight weeks. Septum takes two to three months, nostril four to six. Helix, conch, daith and rook take six to twelve months, an industrial nine to twelve, and navel and nipple six to twelve. The outside can look healed long before the inside is done.

Week by week

Week 1

Expect some redness, swelling, tenderness and a little clear or pale yellow fluid that dries into crust. That is normal. Twice a day, spray sterile saline wound wash directly on the front and back of the piercing, wait a minute, and gently pat dry with clean gauze or a paper towel. Do not use cotton balls or swabs; the fibers snag.

Do not twist, turn or slide the jewelry. Sleep on the other side; a travel pillow with a hole in the middle works well for ears. Keep hair spray, dry shampoo, makeup and face cream away from it.

Weeks 2–4

The swelling goes down and the piercing feels better, which is when people start getting careless. Keep spraying saline twice a day. Stay out of pools, hot tubs, lakes and the ocean through week four. Watch out for phone screens, headphones, masks, hats and seat belts, which press on new piercings without you noticing. Change pillowcases often.

Weeks 6–8: downsize

By now the swelling is gone and the longer starter post has extra length. That length snags on hair and pillows and can tilt the piercing, which is where many irritation bumps come from. Walk in for your free downsize check, Tuesday to Saturday from noon to 8. Rayna will look at the piercing and fit a shorter post if it needs one. Lobes are often fully healed around this point; most other placements are not, even if they feel fine.

Months 2–6

Cartilage, nostril and navel piercings are in the long middle stretch. Keep up the saline once or twice a day, and once a day is fine if it has been calm for weeks. Bumps can appear now from sleeping on the piercing or catching it; deal with the pressure and they usually settle. This is not the time to change to a hoop.

Months 6–12

Cartilage and body piercings finish healing on the inside. You will know it is close when there is no crust, no tenderness and no swelling after a bump or a long day. Before changing jewelry for the first time, especially to a ring, have Rayna check it. A swap done too early can undo months of healing in a day. The piercing jewelry page covers what to change to when you are ready.

What to buy and what to skip

Buy: sterile saline wound wash in a pressurized spray can, with 0.9 percent sodium chloride as the only ingredient. Clean, non-woven gauze or plain paper towels. A travel pillow if you have new ear piercings.

Skip: homemade salt soaks, which are hard to get the concentration right. Hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, tea tree oil and antibacterial ointments, all of which irritate healing tissue or trap bacteria. Ear-care solutions from mall kiosks. Any jewelry that is not implant-grade titanium or solid gold.

Call us if

You see redness that spreads instead of shrinking, the area is hot and throbbing, there is thick green or dark yellow discharge, red streaks run from the piercing, or you have a fever. Text a photo to (401) 555-0100; Rayna would rather see it than guess. Do not take the jewelry out if you suspect infection, because that can close the surface over the problem; see a doctor and keep the jewelry in unless they tell you otherwise.

More piercing aftercare help

Prices, placements and booking for new piercings are on the piercings page. Getting tattooed too? Read tattoo aftercare, day by day. For more detail, the blog has a longer piercing aftercare guide.