Piercing Aftercare Basics 

  1. DO NOT touch your piercing. 

    1. There’s no need to rotate the jewelry in the piercing channel. Older jewelry with lower quality metal could adhere to the skin during the healing process. We use implant grade titanium that will not adhere to the skin and eliminates the need to touch your piercing. 

    2. Every time you touch your piercing, you introduce germs and bacteria from your unwashed hands. ALWAYS wash your hands with anti-bacterial, fragrance-free, liquid soap before cleaning your piercing.

  1. Piercing heal times are an estimate that can range anywhere from 3-9 months. 

    1. When healing, the best course of action is to not rush the process. Your piercing heals from the outside in and can appear healed even though the inside of the piercing Chanel remains fragile 

    2. Listen to your body when deciding the appropriate time to change your piercing, if you’ve reached the end of the recommended heal time and feel any discomfort, it may be better to wait. 

    3. Our piercers are always willing to look at a healing piercing to ensure its success. 

  1. DO NOT remove your jewelry, especially with a fresh piercing. 

    1. Your body will immediately begin to close the piercing Chanel. 

    2. If you must remove the jewelry for a medical procedure, school, or work-related activity consider investing in non metal retainers. Always check with your piercer to make sure this is safe. 

    3. With many piercings, the initial jewelry will be a longer length to allow for any swelling that may occur and to facilitate cleaning. When you are ready to downsize your jewelry, you can purchase sterilized jewelry which one of our piercers will insert for you. 

  1. Avoid submerging your piercing in water like baths, pools, hot tubs, lakes, beaches, etc. 

    1. They contain either a great deal of bacteria or chemicals. If you opt to swim, flush out and clean the piercing afterward, but please avoid sand, oils, lotions, and excessive sun. 

    2. Whenever possible a watertight, waterproof patch may be used to protect your piercing while healing.

  1. Be careful of all contact with possible irritants such as phones, pillows, hair, cosmetics, combs, brushes, towels, pet hair, etc. Remember to change your bed linens and pillowcases frequently. 

  1. Sterile saline in spray form is the best product to clean a piercing. 

    1. Please DO NOT use any of the following products:  alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, Listerine, Bactine, Betadine, Iodine, Neosporin, Bacitracin, Vaseline, Dial soap, other strong soaps, Hibiclens, pierced ear care solutions (these solutions contain Benzalkonium Chloride and Benzethonium Chloride). These are all very harsh for a new piercing and do more harm than good.

Body and facial piercings 

  1. To clean your piercing use a sterile saline wound wash such as NeilMed. 

  2. Wash your hands. This is the most important step. Any cleaning done will have no effect if you are touching your piercing with dirty hands.

  3.  Using the end of a cotton swab or folded gauze, swab the area around your piercing with NeilMed, wetting and gently removing any crust from around the piercing. 

  4. Rinse the area thoroughly after cleaning and pat dry with gauze (cloth towels may harbor bacteria). You should NOT rotate your jewelry at all.

  5. The perfect time to clean your piercing with water is in the shower. After you have washed your hair and the rest of your body, let the warm water run over the piercing to eliminate any accumulated crust or dried skin. Be careful to keep shampoo, soap, etc. out of the piercing.

  6. When using NeilMed, be sure to let the saline come out without touching the tip to anything in order to avoid contaminating the can.

Oral piercings 

  1. Oral piercings include any lip, cheek, or tongue piercing. If any part of the piercing is inside your mouth, you should follow this section in addition to the facial aftercare section.

  2. Avoid oral contact(kissing and sexual contact), alcohol, smoking, vaping, chewing tobacco, spicy foods, acidic foods, biting your nails, chewing on gum, or anything else that may irritate the area or introduce bacteria into the piercing.

  3. Drink lots of cold water and use ice chips to help reduce the swelling and soothe the area. Now is a great time to get a new toothbrush! We suggest that you avoid toothpaste with baking soda and/or peroxide.

  4. The most important thing is to rinse with lots of cold bottled water throughout the day and after EVERY meal or snack. Rinsing well will remove particles around the new piercing.

  5. Please use mouthwash that is alcohol-free and peroxide-free. Twice a day is plenty – once in the morning and once in the evening. Use cold water throughout the day to rinse after meals and as needed. DO NOT use alcohol-based mouthwashes.

  6. Please be very careful not to bite the jewelry while eating. It will take time to get used to having jewelry in your mouth. 

  7. Once the swelling goes down, come back to the shop for a shorter barbell. The initial jewelry is much too long to wear for more than 1-3 weeks.

Estimated healing time 


Standard Piercings

helix 6-9 months

earlobes 2-3 months 

daith 6-9 months 

tragus  6-9 months

forward helix  6-9 months

rook 6-9 months

conch 6-9 months

traverse lobe 3-4 months

industrial 6-12 months

snug 6-9 months

surface bar 6-12 months 

dermal 6-12 months

orbital 6-12 months 

nostril 6-9 months

high nostril 6-12 months 

septum 3-6 months 

bridge 3-6 months 

nipples 3-6 months 

eyebrow 2-6 months 

navel 3-6 months 

Oral Piercings

jestrum 3-6 months 

labret 3-6 months

vertical labret 3-6 months

Philtrum 3-6 months

Ashley 3-6 months

tongue 1-3 months 

frenulum 1-2 months 

cheek 9-12+ months 


Genital Piercings

Christina 6-12 months 

VCH 1-2 months 

outer labia 3-6 months 

inner labia 1-2 months 

horizontal hood 3-6 months

Lorum 2-4 months

pubic 6-12 months 

Prince Albert 2-4 months 

reverse Prince Albert 6-12 months