✨ Piercing Tips!

Hey friends! As you can tell, I love getting pierced! I got my first lobe piercings at 10, then my second lobes at 14 ish. The day I turned 18 I got my first helix piercing on my own, and since then I’ve accumulated a total of 18 piercings, 12 of which I still have. I do a lot of research about piercing safety and healing, and it’s a really big interest of mine. While I am by no means an expert or any kind of professional, I’m very familiar with the consumer side of getting pierced, healing them, and buying jewelry. So here’s a post about the basics of safe piercings!

📍 Where should you go?📍

Avoid places like Claire’s, Rowan, Ulta, and Walmart. Most of these places use piercing guns, which can be harmful for your piercing - they force an earring through your ear. Also, most piercing guns can’t be sterilized, and even single use guns do not use the appropriate type of jewelry to allow for swelling during the healing period. Hollow piercing needles are much sharper and cause less trauma to the tissue, and more appropriate jewelry can be inserted into the piercing afterward. Even if they do use piercing needles or offer services by licensed nurses, (ahem, Rowan) nurses do not get any specific training on piercing aside from the store that employs them.

Instead, search for a reputable piercing and/or tattoo shop in your area. Piercers at these places typically go through apprenticeships where they study under an experienced piercer to learn the safest techniques and practices, as well as how to analyze a client’s anatomy to ensure the piercing will heal well and look good.

If possible, check online to see if there are any APP (Association of Professional Piercers) members near you. APP member requirements include CPR & First Aid certification, bloodborne pathogens training, and documentation of piercing experience, as well as equipment requirements like sterilizers and high quality jewelry. APP members are typically very reliable, but it’s important to note that it’s entirely possible to get a fantastic piercing from someone who isn’t listed as a member. Always do your research to make sure they are following the safest practices.

Here are a few things you should look out for wherever you plan to get pierced:

- They offer consultations before piercing appointments to look at your anatomy, discuss jewelry choices, and explain the piercing & healing process

- The studio appears clean

- The piercing area is separate from other areas of the shop (ie. you’re not getting pierced in view of other random clients/customers)

- The piercer uses disposable gloves & sterile tools

- They pierce with single-use hollow piercing needles, not piercing guns

- They offer a wide selection of jewelry in high quality materials such as implant grade titanium or gold, and in a variety of styles and sizes to work with different piercings

- The piercer provides you with aftercare information that is up to date (more on this in the “healing” section)

- The shop doesn’t allow minors to get pierced without a legal guardian present

- The staff/piercer makes you feel comfortable & safe

Remember, you usually get what you pay for. When I was younger, I used to go to a tattoo shop that offered $20 piercings including the (very poor quality) jewelry. I’ve had to remove almost every piercing I got there! At the place I go to now, I pay a $30-$40 piercing fee, which is separate from the cost of jewelry. Basic jewelry made of high quality metals typically starts around $50 for both the post & end, and prices go up from there if you want a fancier piece. I usually pay around $100 + tip total.

💍 What jewelry should you get? 💍

🩹 Choosing piercing jewelry is different from choosing a ring or a necklace, since piercing jewelry is making constant contact with a wound inside your body.

It’s important that your initial piercing jewelry is made of a safe material, and is the proper length and gauge for your piercing. Safe materials include implant grade titanium, niobium, gold, platinum, and glass. Those materials are great for most people who have sensitivities to certain metals. Surgical steel can be used for those who do not have a history of sensitivities to metals, but with caution. Only certain grades of surgical steel are safe for piercings, so you should check if they are listed as ASTM F-138 compliant. I recommend keeping high quality materials in your piercing even after it is healed to reduce the risk of irritation.

Your initial piercing jewelry should also be a bit longer to account for swelling. If it is too tight, it can restrict blood flow, and it won’t allow for fluids to leave the piercing while it is healing. When the swelling has gone down after 4-6 weeks (or 1-2 weeks for oral piercings), you should go back to a piercer to have your jewelry post downsized. It’s important to downsize after swelling goes down because with jewelry that is too long, you risk hitting it or getting it caught and causing more irritation.

The best type of jewelry to use is internally threaded or threadless (aka press in). These are made of a straight or curved post that is inserted through the back of the piercing, and an end that either screws or pushes into the post. The posts come in different lengths and gauges, and the ends come in a huge variety of designs that can be swapped out. Avoid externally threaded jewelry, which has a rough, threaded surface that can irritate the piercing. Also avoid butterfly back style earrings which can gather dirt, dead skin, and bacteria.

🧼 What’s after care and healing like? 🧼

Before cleaning or touching your piercing, you should always wash your hands. The ONLY thing you should ever use to clean your piercing is sterile saline. If the product is not advertised as a piercing cleanser, it’s also commonly sold as a wound wash or a contact solution for sensitive eyes. The only ingredient should be 0.9% sodium chloride. Thoroughly spray the piercing with the saline. You don’t need to move or twist the jewelry, and doing so can disrupt the healing process. When you are done, dry the area with something clean and disposable like a paper towel. Avoid cotton balls, since the fibers can get caught on the piercing, and cloth towels, since they can harbor bacteria which can enter your piercing.

It’s normal for your piercing to feel sore and swell up at first. It is also normal to see some clear or yellowish fluids seeping from the piercing or forming a crust around the jewelry. Irritation bumps may happen at any point during the healing process, especially if the piercing is irritated by improper jewelry or cleaning, or if it gets hit or jostled around. Using only sterile saline to clean the piercing and inserting high quality jewelry will usually get rid of the irritation bump. Many people are misinformed and believe that piercing bumps are keloids. Keloids are actually an uncommon but permanent type of scar tissue that must be surgically removed. Unless you are already prone to keloid scarring and have seen it on previous injuries, it is unlikely that you will get one on your piercing.

Depending on the piercing, complete healing can take anywhere from a few months to about a year. Each body will heal piercings a bit differently, so don’t be discouraged if your piercing doesn’t seem completely healed after a short time.

❓ What other questions do you have about piercings after reading this post? Let me know in the comments!

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