Ear/Ear Cartilage and Facial

♦ Use the t-shirt trick: dress your pillow in a large, clean t-shirt and turn it nightly; one clean t-shirt provides four clean surfaces for sleeping.

♦ Maintain cleanliness of telephones, headphones, eyeglasses, helmets, hats and anything that contacts the pierced area.

♦ Use caution when styling your hair and advise your stylist of a new or healing piercing.

Nipple

♦ The support of a tight cotton shirt or sports bra may provide protection and feel comfortable, especially for sleeping.

Genital Body Piercings

♦ In most cases you can engage in sexual activity as soon as you feel ready. Comfort and Hygiene are vital.

• ♦  During healing all sexual activities must be gentle.

• ♦  To increase comfort and decrease trauma, soak in warm saline solution or plain water to

remove any crusty matter prior to sexual activity.

♦ Use barriers such as condoms, dental dams, and Tegaderm, etc. to avoid contact with a partner’s bodily fluids, even in long-term relationships.

• ♦  Use clean, disposable barriers on sex toys.

• ♦  Wash hands before touching on or near the piercing.

• ♦  Use a new container of water based lubricant. Do not use your own saliva.

• ♦  After sex, an additional saline soak or clean water rinse is suggested.

• ♦  Prince Albert and Apadravya piercings can bleed freely for the first few days.

• ♦  If using soap, urinate after cleaning any piercing that is near the urethra.

Tongue/Lip (Labret)/Cheek

♦ Swelling will normally occur within the first 72 hours. It is important to drink lots of cold liquids and gently suck on ice to help minimize the swelling. Use ice 30 minutes on, 30 minutes off to help keep maximum blood flow.

♦ Don’t share plates, cups, or eating utensils with others. Replace your toothbrush and keep it clean during the healing period. Keep dirty fingers, pencils, sunglasses etc. out of your mouth.

♦ Avoid excessive talking, playing with the jewelry and all oral sexual contact (including wet kissing) during the healing time.

♦ Check that the threaded ends of the jewelry are on securely. Tighten them each day to ensure the jewelry stays in place.

♦ Those with tongue piercings should be cautioned that playing with the jewelry exces- sively is frequently the cause of reported tooth and gum damage and should be avoided.

Each body is unique and healing times vary conciderably. If you have any questions, please contact your piercer.

Cleaning Instructions for Body Piercings

1. WASH your hands thoroughly prior to cleaning, or touching on or near your piercing.

2. SeaSalt soak at least two to three times daily. Simply fill a small paper dixie cup with warm water. Add a 1/2 teaspoon of salt we provided to the warm water and stir with Q-tips. Use soaked Q-tips to clean the piercing/s inside and out for 2 minutes twice a day for 2 weeks. If cleaning nipple piercings, you can soak the entire nipple in the dixie cup if preferred. Make sure to rinse of any/all salt from skin/piercing as the salt can irritate the skin.

3. SOAP no more than once or twice a day. While showering, lather up a pearl size drop of antibacterial soap to clean the jewelry and the piercing. Leave the cleanser on the piercing no more than thirty seconds, then rinse thoroughly to remove all traces of the soap from the piercing.

4. DRY with disposable paper products such as gauze or tissues, because cloth towels can harbor bacteria and catch on new piercings causing injury. Pat gently to avoid trauma.