Topic: piercing question (Read 8046 times)

Allybee · « **on:** 19 Sep 2009, 08:37 »

(yes, I know this can go in the tat thread, but it's important to me and I don't want it to get lost.)

okay, so I got my nose pierced yesterday. there is still a scab but I'm about to go try to wash that away with q-tips. the piercer told me just to wash it twice a day with antibacterial soap, but a lot of people have been telling me to do salt soaks. I'm freaking out cause I really want to avoid any scar tissue stuff - can anyone give me a definitive answer as to what they think the best aftercare is? google does not give me any answers I feel I can trust.

Drill King · « **Reply #1 on:** 19 Sep 2009, 08:48 »

Hey Ally lovely! I want PICTURES god damnit

Okay, so a bit of scab/crusting is TOTALLY normal, don't worry about it, but the first little while washing it with antibacterial soap once a day(twice a day if you're touching it a lot), loads of people find that antibacterial soap is too harsh on their skin so I would try and feel it out. I find that soap is too drying for my piercings so it just makes them worse. But if you use it I reccomend you do it once a day in the shower, to make sure you really get the soap out completely, make sure you let the hot water soften the crusties/scab before doing anything with it anyway.

But Sea salt soaks are the BOMB you REALLY want to do them, one or two times a day. Making a hot(as warm as is comfortable) saline solution, soak for 10-15 minutes, then wipe any excess lymph/crust away gently with a q-tip.

So to summarize, this is the after care that works for me

Sea Salt Soaks twice a day(for the first while, when it starts to feel better, cut it down to once)
Making sure crust/lymph is removed before trying any q-tip stuff
Antibacterial soap in the shower
DON'T TOUCH IT >:C

michaelicious · « **Reply #2 on:** 19 Sep 2009, 11:01 »

This has always confused me. When people talk about "soaks", are they soaking the jewelry or the body part? Like would she be dipping her nose into the salt water for 15 minutes?

phooey · « **Reply #3 on:** 19 Sep 2009, 11:07 »

The body part and the jewelery. Basically you don't want to take the jewelery out until the piercing is totally healed - at the very least a month and a half.

Alex C · « **Reply #4 on:** 19 Sep 2009, 11:11 »

Quote from: Drill King on 19 Sep 2009, 08:48

DON'T TOUCH IT >:C

This. The other stuff helps, really it does, but you may as well skip the after care and perform voodoo rituals instead if you can't resist touching it. Also, just try to keep in mind that you have a piercing now. Some of the nastier piercing disasters I have been privy to have involved people carelessly toweling themselves off and giving their fresh piercing a good yank.

ackblom12 · « **Reply #5 on:** 19 Sep 2009, 12:56 »

Oh lord yes, you will gain a very acute awareness that your nose exist.

Andy pretty much covered it all, only other thing I'd suggest is if you do a soak and don't plan to shower afterward, just rinse the area to get what little salt might still be there to keep it from drying.

BrittanyMarie · « **Reply #6 on:** 19 Sep 2009, 13:46 »

Yeah, be careful about bumping it and all that. I got my septum pierced on Halloween and later on went to the bars. Someone else bumped into me just accidentally and I ended up having blood gushing down my face, which was extremely inconvenient.

Lines · « **Reply #7 on:** 19 Sep 2009, 15:48 »

Yeah, someone tapped one of my ears the day I got them done and the same thing happened. Really, it happens to any open wound (which technically this is) so it's nothing to be worried about.

For you nose, you don't have to stick it in a glass of saline if you don't want to, you can use cotton balls that are soaked in it. One in the nostril, one on the outside. Just make sure they don't dry out as they're up there. Using the cotton balls may help remove the scab/crusties as it's soaking, it did for my ears and my friend's nose piercing.

Lunchbox · « **Reply #8 on:** 19 Sep 2009, 15:51 »

A nostril or septum piercing is one of those things I have always wanted to get, but my immune system is terrible so I don't heal piercings well (My bellybutton took a good year and a bit and after another year of having it healed I gave up on it and took the damn thing out) and I always have a sniffly nose.
Darn it.

Alex C · « **Reply #9 on:** 19 Sep 2009, 19:12 »

Quote from: tender on 19 Sep 2009, 13:52

Yikes. This thread contains many of the reasons I will not be getting pierced anytime ever.

Well, really, all of my experiences with piercings have been positive. Every once in a while someone just has a bad experience through dumb luck and the fact that a wound is a wound and hence vulnerable to infection, but for the most part a li'l common sense and some caution is all you really need. Even the toweling off thing didn't really affect the outcome of their healing process, it just hurt and made a bit of a mess. The only really bad scenario I've seen play out was when a friend of mine got her nipples pierced and didn't let it deter her from getting in a hot tub the next day. Predictably, infection soon followed.

Drill King · « **Reply #10 on:** 19 Sep 2009, 21:35 »

Quote from: Linds on 19 Sep 2009, 15:48

Yeah, someone tapped one of my ears the day I got them done and the same thing happened. Really, it happens to any open wound (which technically this is) so it's nothing to be worried about.

For you nose, you don't have to stick it in a glass of saline if you don't want to, you can use cotton balls that are soaked in it. One in the nostril, one on the outside. Just make sure they don't dry out as they're up there. Using the cotton balls may help remove the scab/crusties as it's soaking, it did for my ears and my friend's nose piercing.

This works but only if you're super uncomfortable with sticking your nose in a glass. The problem with cotton balls is they don't retain the heat and the warmth of the water is one of the major important parts of a soak

Meg · « **Reply #11 on:** 20 Sep 2009, 07:55 »

I have my nose pierced as well. The piercer told me to clean it with salt soaks and nothing else, for two weeks, no more. I cleaned it for about a week and a half, once a day, and it looked fine. I never touched it again. I've had it for almost five years now and I never had any trouble with it.

Don't clean it/disinfect it (is that how you say it?) too much and it'll heal up just fine.

Drill King · « **Reply #12 on:** 20 Sep 2009, 08:05 »

^^^^ This really depends on the person, if you sweat a lot, wear cosmetics, have it get bumped around, touch it, etc a lot then you want to probably use a soap. Also, I have some piercings that are two years old that every once in a while need a SSS, not because they're infected or anything but just because they can be fussy. But honestly keeping up with sea soaks for longer than two weeks is probably recommended because the cartilage on your nose is very prone to the infamous 'bump'.

Lines · « **Reply #13 on:** 20 Sep 2009, 08:08 »

That is the shortest period I've ever heard for cleaning a piercing...

And yeah, Andy, that's why I said to make sure they stay wet. Also holding your nose in a glass of water for any period of time is kind of awkward. It's just an alternate.

Meg · « **Reply #14 on:** 20 Sep 2009, 09:26 »

Quote from: Drill King on 20 Sep 2009, 08:05

^^^^ This really depends on the person, if you sweat a lot, wear cosmetics, have it get bumped around, touch it, etc a lot then you want to probably use a soap. Also, I have some piercings that are two years old that every once in a while need a SSS, not because they're infected or anything but just because they can be fussy. But honestly keeping up with sea soaks for longer than two weeks is probably recommended because the cartilage on your nose is very prone to the infamous 'bump'.

Well, I think it's implied that you should be careful with it for a while after it's done and not letting it be touched a lot/bumped around. If you're not that careful, of course you'll have to clean it more, but like I said, not too much. People tend to frantically clean the stuff that gets around piercings, but it's part of the healing process and cleaning it off will only slow the process and make it easier for it to get infected. Cleaning it once or twice a day should be enough and in two weeks it should be practically healed.

ackblom12 · « **Reply #15 on:** 20 Sep 2009, 09:30 »

"Calmed down" I would say is a better phrase. I do not like the phrase "practically healed" because it seriously understates how long people should pay attention to the piercing and gives a false impression of how long it actually takes for many piercings to genuinely heal.

Drill King · « **Reply #16 on:** 20 Sep 2009, 09:50 »

Oh man, 'practically healed' was how I almost lost my conch :c I let it go because it felt fine and then it returned with a firey rage of the two year long healing.

Also Linds, I know it's an alternative, and it sorta works, it's just not as good because it cools sooo fast, in my experience it's more work than just using a cup but yeah if you find it too too awkard it's there.

Meg · « **Reply #17 on:** 20 Sep 2009, 10:09 »

yeah, I may have exaggerated. Sorry.

Anyway, bottomline, my point was:

Don't over clean it.

P.S.: What's a conch?

BrittanyMarie · « **Reply #18 on:** 20 Sep 2009, 10:42 »

http://wiki.bmezine.com/index.php/Inner_Conch_Piercing

Meg · « **Reply #19 on:** 20 Sep 2009, 11:12 »

oooh, I see. Tough spot.

Alex C · « **Reply #20 on:** 20 Sep 2009, 12:12 »

Actually, you can get away with a surprisingly short cleaning regimen on a nose piercing IF you get a nose ring instead of a stud. Giving the site the best opportunity to drain properly is overall more important than giving it regular sea salt soaks, and nose rings are easily rotated and given a quick pass with a swab. At that point it's really more of a matter of keeping your hands clean before you rotate it than actually obsessing over the piercing itself.

Drill King · « **Reply #21 on:** 20 Sep 2009, 12:38 »

Alex, depends, rings generally heal slower because they move around a lot more.

Alex C · « **Reply #22 on:** 20 Sep 2009, 13:14 »

Perhaps; it wouldn't really surprise me if there was a sea change in opinion on that front. The rotate or not to rotate thing was real point of contention the last time I got a piercing, and that was a few years ago. I know that surgeons have moved away from using surgical drains a bit over the last decade, but that's a rough comparison due to the fact that the issue with surgical drains is that leaving something in will inhibit healing, something that's already an issue with piercings no matter what you do. Really just brings us back to the cardinal rule in any case: Don't play with the damned thing.

Eris · « **Reply #23 on:** 20 Sep 2009, 16:14 »

When I got my nose pierced the first time I gave it a salt water soak maybe once, then just basically left it alone and it seemed to heal up fine. I did do some damage to it when trying to change the studs (I essentially had to repirece the inside when I wanted to wear a clear retainer for work, and that was plasstic and it really hurts to do that, guys) and after that it would get infected fairly easily so I ended up taking it out after 3 years to let it heal up and get it redone properly.

I got it repierced at the start of this year and only recently it looks like I might be able to change the stud. I got told I could use contact lens solution rather than making up my own salt water solution, but I used a small bit of paper towelling on the outside of my nose. I didn't know how to soak the inside of my nose and sticking the whole thing in a shot glass would be impossible, so I would leave it and try and keep any snot in there away from it while trying not to move it. I bumped it at one point, which made it bleed very easily for about two months whenever I would clean it, or when it would move throughout the day when I would talk or make facial expressions. I cleaned it once a day until it stopped looking so gross and now it's just a little crusty in the mornings.

I am definitely going to my piercer to get it changed over, though, rather than doing it myself. I don't want to screw it up again.

Drill King · « **Reply #24 on:** 20 Sep 2009, 16:20 »

Alex yeah it's an issue, What people are suggesting now is getting it pierced with a slightly longer bar, this allows plenty of drainage while staying in place and moving less than a ring. Then just getting it changed when it's healed, this is really helpful and why it's good to go to a good piercer because they'll know how long is long enough to give some drainage but not get caught on stuff.

Alex C · « **Reply #25 on:** 20 Sep 2009, 16:35 »

Yeah, that does make sense, particularly since pretty much every piercer who's worth a damn already knows to use bigger jewelry when piercing areas that are basically guaranteed to swell.

Allybee · « **Reply #26 on:** 20 Sep 2009, 16:41 »

I got a red solo cup and I cut it down to make a really shallow, small bowl. I've been sticking my nose in that for soaks. Supplies are limited here.

Skibas_clavicle · « **Reply #27 on:** 20 Sep 2009, 16:56 »

Ally, every time I've had to do soaks I've just made a salt water solution, dipped a cotton ball or cotton pad in the solution and kinda pressed it against the piercing. Wipe the goof and crust off with that and then just let the rest soak off. Keep the pad to your piercing for a couple minutes, wash it off, repeat. It's not that complicated. It's not an exact science, you just gotta make sure you get all the puss and such and sterolize the area without drying it out. That is why you clean it with salt water and not alcohol.

phooey · « **Reply #28 on:** 20 Sep 2009, 17:04 »

I am having a hard time that you can't find a shot glass on a college campus. Seriously, I wasted a lot of water doing sea salt soaks in a coffee mug, so I think a shot glass is a pretty handy investment that's just the right size for a nose piercing.

Also, I think one of my piercings got irritated because I used a seamless ball ring instead of a captive ball one? Every time it rotated about the 'seam' it got irritated, and let me tell you there will be blood if you do the same. The piercer ended up hugging my head and apologizing for making me bleed my own blood, which was nice of her.

Allybee · « **Reply #29 on:** 20 Sep 2009, 17:09 »

a shot glass would not fit my nose very well! the solo cup seems to be working. I actually don't really have any puss, just a tiny bit of blood? I'd use cotton balls but I think just sticking my head in the water is more gentle...

JD · « **Reply #30 on:** 20 Sep 2009, 18:44 »

Quote from: Lunchbox on 19 Sep 2009, 15:51

A nostril or septum piercing is one of those things I have always wanted to get, but my immune system is terrible so I don't heal piercings well (My bellybutton took a good year and a bit and after another year of having it healed I gave up on it and took the damn thing out) and I always have a sniffly nose.
Darn it.

Man I should get a bunch of piercings then. (My immune system is the great wall of china)

phooey · « **Reply #31 on:** 20 Sep 2009, 19:53 »

Start with a dolphin piercing.

calenlass · « **Reply #32 on:** 21 Sep 2009, 00:16 »

After the first week or so I would say the best idea is to jump in the ocean. You would not believe how effective it is, and how often people forget how effective it is.

No one in the Virgin Islands sells acne products. Know why?

BrilliantEraser · « **Reply #33 on:** 05 Oct 2009, 16:44 »

I got my cartilage pierced last year, and I would do my soaks by holding a dixie cup full of warm saline solution up to my ear. If I held the cup just right, I could hear the ocean.

Allybee · « **Reply #34 on:** 05 Oct 2009, 19:42 »

I actually all but stopped cleaning it like 5 days ago (except in the shower). the piercing itself was/is fine, but the skin around it got reallllly dry and flaky. like, on the outside of my nose and the inside of the nostril, but only on the piercing side. for a few days it was incredibly painful so I just stopped washing it. I think it was the antibacterial soap so I'll probably go back to salt soaks in another day or two. dunno if this is bad but it seems okay...

BrilliantEraser · « **Reply #35 on:** 05 Oct 2009, 21:00 »

One thing my piercer recommended was plain yellow Dial soap. Apparently it is a little less strong than straight up antibacterial soap? It is what I used, along with the aforementioned sea salt soaks.

Reed · « **Reply #36 on:** 05 Oct 2009, 21:04 »

If you can find it, you should try for something that is dye free/perfume free. Reactions to either aren't that common, but it's still a good idea to find one just in case that is causing your problem.

calenlass · « **Reply #37 on:** 06 Oct 2009, 01:09 »

You should avoid anti-bacterial soap in general. Soap has been good at cleaning things for hundreds of years without anti-bacterial properties, and really killing 99.9% of bacteria is breeding us super races of that 0.1% of resistant strains. So stick with the standard stuff. It is nicer to your skin, anyway.

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Author Topic: piercing question (Read 8046 times)

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