Taking Care of Your belly piercing
Congratulations! You have a pierced belly button! Now what?
Hopefully you were given a sheet with aftercare instructions (or, at the very least, verbal aftercare instructions) by the piercing artist. If not, the following instructions are fairly common instructions given for new piercings, along with some information specific to belly button ring piercing.
You should wash your new belly piercing at least once a day, and possibly twice a day in the first week or two after being pierced. You should only use unscented antibacterial soap for washing your new belly piercing—the dyes and scents used in other soaps can cause irritation or other problems for a fresh belly piercing. Be sure to be gentle with your belly piercing while washing it. Particularly in the first days after a new belly piercing, there is a very good chance that you will discover dried blood or a white crusty substance on the belly button ring or near the holes of your belly piercing. The fluid that causes the crusty substance is called sebum, and it is completely normal. You must take care, however, to remove the “crusties” gently, as they can cause the delicate skin at the edges of your belly piercing to tear or bleed. Running warm water over the piercing will generally help to loosen the dried sebum.
In addition to regular washing, you should also do sea salt soaks of your new belly piercing. Most belly piercing artists will provide you with a small bag of sea salt; if not, be sure that you find sea salt—regular table salt is not what you want for these soaks. In order to do the sea salt soaks, find a small cup or glass—shot glasses are the ideal . The correct proportion for a sea salt soak is ¼ teaspoon salt to 1 cup of hot water. This will create far more water than you need for a single soak, but it is wise to measure out the salt and water in these quantities, as it is difficult to estimate how much you need. Make sure that the water is hot, but not scalding, and then invert the cup or glass over your navel. You may be able to create suction between your skin and the cup or glass, but if not, just hold the bottom of the cup, sit back, and relax while you soak your belly piercing. Sea salt soaks should generally last about 10-15 minutes.
While on the subject of caring for your new belly piercing, there are some things to avoid as well. You should not clean your belly piercing with alcohol, and you should not use antibacterial creams. While both of these things seem like good ways to keep a wound clean, the alcohol will over dry your belly piercing, while the antibacterial cream can actually trap bacteria and dirt in and around your belly piercing. You should also avoid things like lotion, sunscreen, and perfumes near your belly button while your piercing is healing.
In addition to substances that you should avoid, you also need to try to avoid wearing tight clothing over a new belly piercing. Tight clothing can cause your navel ring to “lean” to one side or the other, which can ultimately affect the way in which your belly piercing will heal. You should also avoid unnecessary contact with your new piercing and navel ring. As tempting as it may be to fiddle with the navel ring, frequently touching your belly piercing or navel ring causes dirt and bacteria to enter the belly piercing. You should only handle your navel ring after washing your hands with antibacterial soap, and only when it is necessary for cleaning or changing the navel ring.
Speaking of changing your belly button navel ring, you should wait approximately 6 months before changing to new navel ring. Some people are able to change their navel ring successfully before this period has elapsed, but generally speaking, belly piercing take at least 6 months to heal, and the belly piercing should not be changed until the piercing is healed. You also should be sure that any navel ring you use in your belly piercing is of a high quality material titanium navel jewelry and surgical steel navel ring are the most highly recommended material for belly piercing.
Finally, you will want to watch the new belly piercing for signs of infection. While the signs of infection can vary somewhat from person to person, some signs include the skin around the belly piercing being red and hot to the touch, or yellow or green pus coming from the piercing (clear or white substances are generally sebum, and nothing to worry about). If you believe that your belly piercing has become infected, you should not remove the navel ring, as this can cause the infection to be trapped inside the belly piercing. See your piercing artist or a medical doctor to confirm that thebelly piercing is infected. A doctor will be able to prescribe antibiotics to help fight the infection, and you should be able to keep the belly piercing.
Related posts:
