Body Piercing - The Aftermath

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Aftermath of Body Piercing Piercing - The Aftermath: After Primary Healing has taken place, Full Healing can start – something that too many people are unaware of is that this can take as long again as the time for healingPrimary healing! This is when the skin thickens up again as your body finally accepts the piercing: the elasticity and ability to pull and tug at the surrounding skin without fear of hurting yourself has come back. The pocket of skin holding your piercing has toughened up so much that it’s become like an internal ‘tube’ or fistula in your body. This means you can take out the piercing for a few days and then painlessly put it back in, and swap piercing jewellery around without worrying too much.

Dealing With Infection, accidents, horrible twists of fate, etc

Even if you’ve followed this advice to the letter there’s still a number of things that can go wrong. Here are some points of advice that can help.

- Keep in touch & on good terms with your piercist, who should be the best source of information and aid.

- If it happens that your piercing is suddenly yanked, poked or prodded in any number of ways that are hilarious to apparently everybody except you, immediately cover and protect it, and clean it as recommended once the pain dies down. If the piercing gets yanked completely out – nightmarish as this sounds, it can happen – make your way to the nearest A & E. If it’s partly tugged out of it’s place, visit your piercist as soon as you possibly can.

- Infections are signalled by a persistent pain and discomfort in the pierced area, persistent leaking of pus and blood (not lymph!) and nasty smells emanating from the pierced skin. Note, however that for septum piercings in particular it’s normal to catch some bad smells off the pierced area as it heals up (obviously, since it’s bang in the middle of your nose!) If you get an infection:

Navel Pierce

(1) Renew, or increase the number of times you’re washing and normally cleaning up the piercing.

(2) Especially for piercings exposed on a flat area of skin, like navels, cheek and surface piercings, mix up a warm salt water mixture and half fill a shot glass with it. Quickly flip the glass open side down onto your skin to ‘suction’ around the piercing. This way the salt solution can harmlessly mingle and clean up any damage and bacteria. Leave the cup there for between three and ten minutes before wrapping the glass in a towel and de-suctioning it off the skin. Wipe away any dried salt. Do this about three times a day.

(3) Visit your piercist to see if they can change the bar, ring or stud for something that will accommodate easier healing.

(4) Remember that those of us cursed with more delicate constitutions will sometimes find it difficult or impossible to keep a piercing in and sometimes the body will simply just reject it, pushing it out of the skin over time. Others of us simply take aeons of time and patience to heal.

(5) If it’s been weeks and weeks, and despite all your efforts your piercing just won’t behave, it’s time for a final visit to your piercist. If absolutely nothing else can be done, it may just be time to accept that your body won’t take to your piercing, and you’ll need to take it out and have a rethink.

Credits: Author - Rachel Kennedy, Photo - Roebot

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