Cleaning Piercings

Oral piercings

For tongue, lip, cheek, and labret piercings, it is recommended to rinse the mouth after smoking, eating and drinking (except water). Some piercers recommend using Listerine, while others, claiming that Listerine is too harsh on the piercing thereby hindering the healing process, recommend a non-alcoholic mouthwash such as Oral-B Non-Alcoholic or Biotene, or a diluted saline solution. Kissing and oral sex are advised against for 4-6 weeks after the piercing, as are excessively hot or spicy foods. Some recommend cold foods such as ice cream bars, slushies, and the like. Blended foods are a great alternative - anything soft.

Body piercings

It is generally advised by piercers to use a sea salt rinse (1/8 teaspoon per 8oz of distilled or boiled water); proportionate mixes are marketed and sold by companies such as H2Ocean) or a medical saline rinse, which could be placed in a shot glass and held to the piercing for about 10 minutes, no more than 2 times a day. The solution could also be soaked into a cotton ball and used to gently cleanse the piercing morning and night. Overcleaning is a common cause of irritation and redness in a piercing, as well as inappropriate cleansing agents. Table salt Sodium Chloride is considered to be less natural than sea salt but in equal concentrations table salt may be less irritating than sea salt because table salt may be purer than sea salt. Another technique is sometimes practiced in which a new piercing is left to heal completely on its own without any cleansing, under the philosophy that the body will treat it as any other minor wound. More Info