Piercing one’s body with jewelry is an ancient tradition. People in different parts of the world belonging to diverse religions pierced their bodies with jewels to enhance their beauty and as an offering to the god. If you walk in an Indian Bazaar, you’ll find that most women (if not all) have their ears pierced. Indian women wear elaborate golden and diamond jewelry in their ears to show their love for the culture. In America, however, piercing is a personal choice. You can pierce parts of your body to show your unique style and personality. Some people like to pierce their tongues, ears, eyebrows, navel area, etc. Though these piercings look cool, they require daily care. Continue reading the article to learn practical tips if you have a piercing or planning on getting one.
Stop Touching: When you first get your piercing, you may want to touch the same for no apparent reason. Yes, the piercing looks shiny and cool, but there is no reason for you to touch it again and again. After the piercing is done, the skin around the jewel is open and sensitive. Touching sensitive skin with unwashed hands can lead to a skin infection.
- Wash your hands with antiseptic soap every time you need to touch the piercing for cleaning or other purposes.
- Make sure when you touch the piercing, you don’t pull it. If you let anyone see your new piercing, don’t let them touch it to avoid contamination.
Cleaning The Piercing: Some people fail to clean the piercing thoroughly, which can lead to infection. Infected skin often emits a foul smell. One might wonder why do piercings smell, but in reality, the infected wound around your skin smells bad. Accumulated dead skin, pus, and other infection can cause a bad odor around the pierced area.
- First, wash your hands with antiseptic liquid soap and water.
- Next, clean the pierced area with soap and water.
- Once the area is cleaned, dry the same with a paper towel or tissues. Clothes often have microscopic germs that can transfer onto metal jewelry. Therefore, avoid dry clothes and instead opt for a paper towel to dry the skin around the piercing.
- Apply antiseptic cream on the torn skin and let it do its work for further protection. However, antiseptic cream blocks the air to the skin and delays the healing process.
What Not To Do: Right after you get that nipple piercing done, don’t jump into the pool. The skin around the piercing stays sensitive for 48 hours. After that time, the wound begins to heal itself. Therefore, one must stay extra cautious not to harm the area right after the piercing is done.
- Body fluids, including saliva, can lead to infection.
- Avoid hot tubs, lakes, rivers, and pools. A quick shower is better than a bubble bath because baths can hold on to bacteria that may cause harm.
- You may like to cover the wound using foundation and skin cream. But, the chemicals in the makeup are harmful and should not be applied to open wounds.