Body Piercing Aftercare
All piercing services are done using high quality, implant grade jewelry.
If you are having a piercing placed on any area of your lip, please refer to the Oral Piercing aftercare guide for suggestions on how to clean the inside portion of your piercing.
Before your appointment, and for the healing period after your piercing, it is important to keep your body healthy, clean, well fed, hydrated and well rested to ensure a healthy, healed piercing.
Some body piercings are prone to migrating or even rejecting. Despite our best efforts and yours, your body can reject the piercing at any time. Implant grade jewelry, appropriate aftercare, overall good personal health and hygiene are key to slowing or preventing migration or rejection.
What to expect:
- Slight swelling, bruising, bleeding, redness and mild discomfort
- Discharge that may dry to form a crust around the piercing and surface of the jewelry
During the first 8-12 weeks:
- Leave your jewelry in at all times. Do not remove it without the help of a piercer to avoid irritation.
- Do not touch your jewelry unnecessarily, however once a day with clean, washed hands, check the barbell balls for tightness. (Holding the bottom ball or inside disc, turn the top or outside ball clockwise- you are not twisting the jewelry in the piercing, just tightening the ends)
- Twice a day and after work or exercise, rinse the piercing in warm running water under the faucet or shower to wash away dried discharge.-A hot compress once a day will help promote circulation and drainage. Gently hold a clean cloth or good quality paper towel saturated with hot water over the piercing for 5 minutes. Rinse in warm water.
- Finally, spray the piercing with PunkMedics Simple Care Spray; a piercing aftercare solution made by body artists specifically for body piercing. Available for purchase at Dragon FX locations.
What to Avoid:
- Picking/wiping at the piercing or jewelry with fingers, Q-tips or other material that may leave fibers and/or bacteria behind.
- Submerging the piercing in standing pools of water such as pools, lakes, tubs, etc can cause irritation and infection.
- Chemical astringents like "ear care/Benzalkonium Chloride solution", rubbing alcohol or peroxide, ointments, antibacterial soaps or tanning oils can seriously irritate your piercing. The rule is, if you wouldn't rub it in your eyeball, don't put in on your piercing!
- Caffeine/alcohol will dehydrate you and cause extra swelling. If you drink either, be sure to drink water immediately after to keep hydrated.
- Sleeping on, putting the phone to, or allowing clothing to rub against the jewelry will irritate it and may cause the piercing to reject.
- Changing the jewelry to low quality costume jewelry with external threading can cause damage and irritation to the piercing. If you would like implant grade jewelry in different styles, talk to our staff about options.
- Do not share jewelry with friends to avoid transmission of disease.