Piercing Safety
If you’re considering getting your first body piercing (or adding additional piercings), congratulations on your willingness to make this unique and alluring personal fashion statement!
Many people believe body piercing is a fad, but that can’t be further from the truth. Body jewlery and piercings have actually been around for hundreds of years, dating back even to ancient Greek and Roman culture. Reasons for wearing body jewelry include not only expressing a personal sense of style, but also as status symbols or to express personal beliefs.
Body jewelry isn’t just for young people either … you’d be amazed at how many of our customers are well over 40, 50, and even 60 years of age! There is one aspect of wearing body jewelry most people have in common, though. They all practice safe and reliable hygiene, not only when wearing their body jewelry, but particularly when having their piercings done.
Safe Body Piercing Explained
Knowing a little bit about piercings, and how to have them administered, can save you a lot of grief. Piercings, when done correctly, are normally quite safe. However, if they are done incorrectly, a few risks arise. These include infection, allergic reactions, and even transmittal of disease. Now this isn’t meant to frighten you, but there are some things you’ll want to look for when deciding who is going to administer your piercings.
First of all, you should ONLY have your piercings done by a reputable professional who uses sterilized equipment, wears gloves, and keeps their hands clean. Never ever let a friend (or yourself) do your piercings.
You should be aware that a piercing gun cannot be properly sterilized, so never allow your piercings to be done with this type of equipment. Too many germs and even diseases can be passed from person to person if unsterilized equipment is used.
Body Jewelry Tips
Even if the equipment used to administer your piercings are perfectly sterile, you can still experience an infection later on. The best way to prevent this is to keep your piercing area clean. Use an anti bacterial wash to keep the piercing area clean, and clean it daily or more often if needed.
Also, be sure to only wear your own body jewelry and not someone elses. Even if the other person is completely clean, you’re asking for a problem. You should never loan your body jewelry to someone else either.
Another common cause of infection or allergic reaction is wearing the wrong type of body jewelry for the pierced area. Every single piece of body jewelry was crafted to be used specifically for one area. Body jewelry that is improperly sized can easily cause blood flow problems, swelling, and discomfort.
Piercing Healing Times
Remember, a body piercing is basically an open wound that will take some time to heal. Different parts of the body have different healing times, although the time frames can differ from person to person. Here’s a general guideline:
Eyebrows: 6 weeks
Nipples: 3-4 months (9-12 weeks)
Tongue: 4-6 weeks
Ear Lobes: 6 weeks
Lip: 8-10 weeks
Nostril: 8-10 weeks
Ear Cartilage: 4-6 months (16-24 weeks)
Remember, these are only guidelines and your personal healing time might be shorter or longer.
