This experience is part two of one I wrote early titled "Proper Cleaning 1". I would like to continue here to name some body parts and list cleaning techniques that I have read about and tried myself over the past few years. I would like to start off with one of the most common piercing places besides ears and that would be oral piercing, such as lips and tongues.
At A Glance Author Becca Seraph Contact Becca [email protected] IAM Silhouettes When N/A ORAL PIERCING
There is a variety of oral piercing. The most common is the Lips such as Labret, Monroe, and Cheek. There are also such piercing that is completely inside of the mouth such as Tongue and Tongue Webbing piercing.
I will start off and discuss how to care for both piercing. This list I am going to make goes on the inside of your mouth only and if you have a Lip piercing such as Labret, Monroe and Cheek, just use the following cleaning procedures for the part of the piercing that is inside of the mouth. I will list later on how to care of the part of the piercing that is on the surface.
1. Brush your teeth up to 3 times a day, after every meal. Try not to over clean as this can irritate and lead to infections. Buy a new soft bristle toothbrush if possible and clean it off after every use. Be gentle and your new piercing and brush softly. Take the toothbrush and carefully run it over both sides (one side if it is a Lip piercing) and gently brush to get off the bacteria. Brush both of the balls and the metal part if you can reach it. Try to turn the jewelry while brushing if possible to work it into the piercing and clean off the bar. Make sure to get all food particles out of the mouth.
2. Use an oral rinse after brushing your teeth, about 3 times a day. The best type of oral rinse is a medical rinse such as Biotene or Tech 2000, but if this is to expensive or not available (I used this the first week of healing my tongue, but it ran out really fast, so I switched to Listerine) use a antiseptic mouth wash and dilute it with water. The best way to dilute it is 4 ounces of water to 4 ounces of mouthwash. Keep this in your mouth for a few seconds, moving it around then spit out. Do not over clean, this does not help. Signs of over cleaning are a white or yellow substance on the tongue. If you see this, try to limit using mouthwash.
3. Use Sea Salt like a mouthwash. If you do not have it already mixed, use 8 ounces of water and � teaspoon of regular teaspoon. Be careful and use sterile cups and mixing tools while making this, so you do not cause an infection. Keep this in your mouth for 15-30 seconds like a mouthwash and move it around your mouth and around your piercing. This will help clean and heal your piercing sooner.
4. Some piercing shops and me in my personal experience recommends the use of Gly-Oxide during healing. This will help in case of bumps forming or just to keep it clean. Apply this to both holes if inside the mouth (do not put outside the mouth) and turn the jewelry. You can use this anywhere from 3-5 times a day, leave it on for about a minute and then gently rinse it away. This can taste really bad, but it helps a lot. I had a small bump in my mouth and when I started using this it was all gone within a few days.
5. Swelling is not uncommon. Ice can be used to help reduce swelling. Small crushed ice is very good for a piercing, letting it melt on top of it. A warning however, if using ice and you are swelled does NOT suck on the ice. This can increase the swelling. Anti-imflammory medication such as Ibuprofen taken every 8 hours as needed; it can also help reduce swelling.
6. Not necessary, but very helpful to get the right amount of the vitamins C and Zinc during healing, a vitamin supplement over the counter can be very handy.
Here are some tips on what not to do while the piercing is healing, in order not to cause an infection.
1. Do not play with the piercing until it is healed.
2. Make sure your hands are sanitary before touching your piercing to clean or turn it.
3. Eat slowly and stay away from spicy or hot foods. Try to concentrate on the piercing while eating. It is very easy to bite it and cause pain the first few times of eating with it.
4. Refrain from alcohol and tobacco products if possible in the first few weeks of healing.
5. Do not change your piercing till it is completely healed and if you have to, get help or go back to the piercing shop.
6. Do not use petroleum-based ointments. These are things such as Bacitracin and Neosporin. They can cause the healing process to slow down.
7. Make sure the balls are on tightly after every cleaning so you do not accidentally swallow them.
8. Do not perform oral or any other activities that result in direct contact. Try to keep the piercing from hitting anything or getting any bodily fluids near them.
9. Do not expose your piercing to makeup, hairspray or location.
10. Try not to sleep on your piercing and get 8 hours of sleep if possible.
11. Avoid water such as lakes, hot tubs, or pools.
Lip piercing also has an outside surface part that should be cleaned differently. The outside of the lip piercing can be cleaned in the same fashion as the following piercing: Nostril, Septum, or Eyebrow. Those piercing are on the surface of the body and are all basically cleaned the same way. I will discuss cleaning procedures for those next.
NOSTRIL/SEPTUM/EYEBROW/OUTSIDE FACE PIERCING
First off all, I will list cleaning procedures to help the new piercing heal in the approximate time and look healthy. Outside facial piercing is easier in my opinion to clean to mouth piercing. Because of the location, note that they will not always turn easily, most of the time with applying enough water on the piercing and being patient and careful, the piercing will be able to turn.
1. Use a q-tip and water to clean off the piercing and any puss or crust that has formed. If your piercing is the result of a lip piercing, I suggest cleaning while cleaning the other part of the piercing. Otherwise, just make sure to clean 2-3 times a day. Do not over clean as this does not help the piercing and is some cases makes it keener to infection. Try to move the piercing back and forth. It might take some time and a lot of water, but eventually you will be able to turn the piercing. If you just got the piercing done, do not worry too much about not being able to turn it, wait a day or two.
2. Use warm water and an antibacterial soap such as Dial and apply a little bit of soap to the piercing on the front and back (unless lip) and move the piercing and work the solution into the piercing hole. Once done, carefully rinse off the soap. Bactine can be used to clean the piercing, but most piercing shops strongly suggest soap. If you use Bactine then you do not need to dilute and rinse off in water, just leave it on to dry.
3. Sea Salt mixtures (8 ounces of water and � teaspoon of sea salt) should be used after every cleaning and applied to the piercing (make sure you are using sterile equipment like cups) and left on up to a minute, then carefully rinsed off.
Cleaning is easy and fast, but here are some tips to avoid doing so infection does not occur. If infection does occur, keep cleaning that you would, but do not take out the jewelry no matter what, this can make the piercing worse, even if you wish to take it out you will need to wait till the infection is down or go to a professional.
1. Do not play with piercing.
2. Do not let piercing interact with anyone else in rough actives. Try to keep bumping it to a minimum.
3. Do not pick at piercing, even if you see crust. Instead, gently rub it off with a cleaning agent. If you do not have one with you, leave it and clean it off when you have one available.
4. Do not use alcohol on the piercing or strong agents like such.
5. Hot tubs, pools, and water should be avoided during healing.
6. Do not bleach or dye hair while the piercing is healing.
I hope this helped someone out. I will be writing another editorial later to deal with Nipple, Belly Button, and Surface piercing. I do not have any of those listed, so I will go on what I researched and friends told me. If you have any comments or questions, feel free to email me. Good luck!