Saline Solution Recipe Piercing

Body piercings are a personalized experience... What works for your body might not work for everyone else. Beyond everyone's individualized anatomy, each piercing requires a different technique, different tools, and a different piece of body jewelry for healing. Each of these techniques are performed by piercers who have their own style and finesse when it comes to their practice. Pretty quickly, it becomes apparent that the art of piercing is not an exact science; every sing piercing will be its own separate experience. There's no one, tried-and-true answer when it comes to a catch-all that works for everyone.

What we can agree on is this: piercing aftercare is integral to the long-term health of your piercing. Knowing the basics of aftercare can go a long way toward healing your piercing as quickly and as effectively as possible.

Basic

It is generally agreed upon that new piercings should be cleaned at least once a day, but at most twice a day. Since everyone's body is different, you'll need to determine the frequency that works best for you. Do you have dry or sensitive skin? Then cleaning more frequently might chap or irritate your skin (which could complicate your healing time significantly).

Basic Piercing Care

The best method for cleaning your piercings is to use a warm and gentle sea salt soak which can be easily made in the comfort of your own home!

It's important to use sea salt when making your salt soak - iodized table salt has extra additives that can further irritate your piercing. Be sure to stay away from Epsom salt as well, which is an entirely different chemical formula and will not be therapeutic for healing.

Sea salt soaks are very simple to make. The most important part of the process is to make sure the salt to water ratio is correct.

Septum Piercing Aftercare (how To Clean Your Piercing)

Don't forget that you can make a big batch of salt soak and keep it in the refrigerator for use throughout your aftercare.

Fill a glass with your pre-made sea salt solution and warm it in the microwave (alternatively, you can heat this in a clean and sterile pot). This container can be as small as a shot glass, as long as you can physically place your piercing inside the container. For nose rings; nipple piercings; and ear piercings, you should do your best to submerge the entire piercing in the solution. Press the container up against your skin (so that it forms a seal). Hold it there for approximately five minutes.

Basic

If you don't have a container that fits your piercing size, be sure to use a paper towel and gently lay it over the piercing without rubbing or wiping. Never use cotton swabs or cotton balls to clean your piercing - fibers could get trapped inside your piercing site!

Best Saline Solutions For Piercings In 2023 (neilmed, Recovery, And More)

It's not the salt soak itself that helps heal your piercing effectively. In fact, you shouldn't be thinking about putting anything on your piercing to help it heal. Aftercare isn't sped up by a topical; it's actually the act of flushing away dirt and bacteria that helps heal quickly.

Sea salt soaks have long been revered for their therapeutic effects on piercings. While irrigating your piercing, they will also hydrate your cells, flush out any nasty invaders, and can even help to relieve some of the pain or swelling associated with healing.

Basic

Salt soaks only! An occasional exception can be made for gentle soaps, but only at the advice of your professional piercer. Be sure to avoid:

How To Use Saline Solution To Clean Piercings Properly

Rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, witch hazel, Bactine, and anything with triclosan in it is a HARD NO. These chemicals are not made to treat puncture wounds (like piercings). They will dry out your skin and irritate your piercing, which will negatively affect your healing time.

From Tea Tree Oil to Lavender oil, it's best to simply avoid essential oils altogether. They are often extremely concentrated and too powerful to place on a sensitive, healing area of the body. Although essential oils may be therapeutic in other ways, they should never be used on a healing piercing.

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Technically, saline solution is very similar to sea salt soaks... But contact solution often has extra additives that are not formulated to be placed on healing piercings.B0dy Piercing CareNew piercings should typically be cleaned twice daily (though the frequency also depends on your skin type, your daily activities and environment, and what piercing you are trying to heal). You should continue this cleaning routine for the entire healing period. Do not over-clean your piercing.Cleaning too often with an overly harsh cleaning solution, or with too many different types of cleaning solutions, can irritate your piercing. If cleaning your piercing twice a day is suggested, don’t assume cleaning it ten times a day is better, it isn’t. You wouldn’t wash your hands three times in a row with three different types of soap, would you? Healing piercings discharge lymph, blood, plasma, and dead cells. The purpose of cleaning your piercing is to remove this discharge as well as any dirt or bacteria picked up during the day. The products you use on your piercing are not what make it heal—they only keep the piercing clean while your body works to heal it. Do not think of your cleaning solution as medicine, because it isn’t. Salt water and/or saline solutions should be used to irrigate your piercing, but it is the action of flushing out the wound that helps healing, not the saline itself. Likewise, soap should just be treated like soap; lather around your piercing and then rinse thoroughly.

How To Make Saline Solution At Home: Ingredients And Uses

TO CLEAN YOUR PIERCING, USE ONE OF THESE METHODSWarm Sea Salt Soaks: The single best thing you can do for your piercing is to keep a regular regimen of salt water soaks. These flush out the piercing, help to draw out discharge, stimulate blood circulation, and soothe irritations. We strongly suggest soaking your piercing at least twice a day—more often if healing is difficult. Make a soaking solution by mixing sea salt and distilled water. Use Sea Salt (non-iodized) and NOTtable salt which contains extra chemicals that can irritate your piercing and dextrose (sugar) that can cause yeast infections. When buying salt, read the label: if it contains only sodium chloride (salt), or just salt and calcium (as an anti-caking agent—calcium phosphate or calcium silicate), it’s good. DO NOT use Epsom salts, as this is a completely different chemical compound, and make sure your salt-to-water ratio is correct: a stronger or weaker solution is not better and may actually harm your piercing. It is easiest to make up the mixture by the gallon, heating it as you need it. Mix according to the ratio below (using measuring spoons for accuracy.) To use: Make the water as warm as you can stand it without burning yourself. (You can heat it in the microwave.) Put the solution in a glass or shallow bowl, (DO NOT use plastic containers) press the glass against your skin to form a seal, and hold it over your piercing for 10 minutes or until the water cools. For piercings like nostrils, ears, nipples, and female genital piercings the entire body part should be submerged in the solution. Please rinse piercing with clean water after sea salt soak has been completed and NEVER REUSE THE SEA SALT SOLUTION ONCE YOU HAVE SOAKED YOUR PIERCING IN IT.

STERILE SALINE SOLUTIONS are a convenient, portable cleaning option. While rinsing with saline solution doesn’t promote increased blood flow to the area the way that a warm soak does, it does provide a quick cleaning fix if you’re at work, traveling, or someplace where soaking isn’t an option. Popular brands include H2Ocean® and Saline wound wash. (The saline products sold for contact lenses or ear and nasal irrigation sometimes contain additives that may not be suited to healing piercings. Instead, check the first aid aisle of your drugstore and look for saline specifically formulated for wound care.)To use, liberally spray the solution, thoroughly cleansing the piercing. Or you can saturate a cotton square and hold it on the piercing for 5 minutes, spray new cotton square and repeat for another 5 minutes. It is very important to make sure both sides of piercing are coming in contact with the saline soaked cotton square so both sides of piercing are soaking in the saline solution. Your jewelry does NOT need to be rotated and sterile saline solution does NOT need to be rinsed off.

Saline

MILD LIQUID SOAP While sea salt soaks and/or saline rinses are the preferred aftercare for piercings, soap effectively removes the residue of dirt, skin oils, cosmetics, cigarette smoke, and natural discharge that can sometimes remain after a salt water soak or saline rinse. Antibacterial soap has NOT been proven more effective than other kinds of soap and Antibacterial soaps can even kill good bacteria that your body needs for proper healing. (Antibacterial soaps don’t know the difference). It is the action of washing that is most effective in removing bacteria, not the soap itself. Use a natural, fragrance-free and dye-free soap (Dr Bronner's tea tree soap). Stay away from harsh antibacterial soaps, especially those containing

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