Solution

We strongly encourage you to use sterile saline. Your saline ingredients should list .09% sodium chloride as the only ingredient . Any other topical creams or solutions like moisturizers and antibacterials should be avoided. 

• WASH your hands thoroughly prior to cleaning or touching your piercing for any reason.
• SPRAY with sterile saline wound wash while healing. Moving or rotating jewellery is not necessary during cleaning/rinsing and may actually irritate the piercing.
• DRY with clean, disposable products like gauze or flat tissue. Cloth towels should be avoided as they can harbour bacteria and snag on jewellery.

WHAT IS NORMAL?

• Initially: some bleeding, localised swelling, tenderness, or bruising.
• During healing: itching, secretion of a whitish-yellow fluid that will form some crust on the jewellery. The tissue may tighten around the jewellery as it heals.
• A piercing may seem healed before the healing process is actually complete. This is because this type of wound will heal from the outside to the inside. Although it may feel fine on the outside, the interior could still be fragile. Be patient, and keep the piercing clean throughout the entire healing period.
• TIP: Piercings, even healed ones, can shrink or close in minutes, even after having been there for years! This varies from person to person; if you like your piercing, keep jewelry in—do not leave it empty.

WHAT TO AVOID

• Avoid over-cleaning. This can delay your healing and irritate your piercing.
• Avoid undue trauma such as friction and pressure from clothing, excessive motion of the area, playing with the jewellery, and vigorous cleaning. These activities can cause the formation of unsightly and uncomfortable scar tissue, migration, prolonged healing, and other complications.
• Avoid submerging the piercing in bodies of water such as lakes, pools, oceans, hot tubs, etc. 
• Avoid all beauty and personal care products on or around the piercing including cosmetics, lotions, and sprays, etc.
• Avoid over cleaning crust in particular as this acts as a scab and protects the wound from bacteria whilst healing the skin underneath.

Timescales

• Lobe: 8-12 weeks
• Cartilage: 6-12 months
• Nose: 6-9 months

Downsizing

• After 6 weeks you will book a downsize appointment for us in the studio to shorten the bar length in your cartilage piercings. This is to reduce movement and the chance of catching the bar and causing irritation. This needs to be done by us in a sterile environment. If you're unsure whether you're ready to get a downsize send us a message.

If something is wrong..

If you have excessive swelling, redness, soreness and heat send us a message asap! We can guide you on what to do and also up size the bar to avoid embedding.