Internal Care-

• Keeping good oral hygiene practices is vital to heal your piercings properly.

• You should brush, floss, and use mouthwash once or twice a day

• Gently brush your jewelry with a clean, new toothbrush (a baby toothbrush is best for this, as the bristles are very very soft) to avoid plaque buildup, keep this toothbrush away from other toothbrushes to keep it as clean as possible, and make sure you rinse the toothbrush very well between cleanings

• Rinse out your mouth thoroughly after eating or drinking.

Use any or all of the following solutions for inside the mouth:

• Alcohol-free and hydrogen peroxide-free mouth rinse. Or you can use dry mouth oral rinse for hydration

• Plain clean water. Bottled or filtered water is preferred.

• You should only touch your piercings with CLEAN hands, even for a quick adjustment!

• Keeping good oral hygiene practices is vital to heal your piercings properly. You should brush, floss, and use mouthwash once or twice a day

• You shouldn’t use mouthwash more than twice a day

• Gently brush your jewelry with a clean, new toothbrush (a baby toothbrush is best for this, as the bristles are very very soft) to avoid plaque buildup, keep this toothbrush away from other toothbrushes to keep it as clean as possible, and make sure you rinse the toothbrush very well between cleanings

• You should avoid drinking alcohol and smoking, including cannabis and vaping!

• Do not play with your jewelry; long term effects include permanent damage to the tongue, teeth, or gums.

• Once the initial swelling has gone down (about 6 weeks) it is VERY VERY important that you downsize your jewelry, to a more appropriate size for your anatomy. Skipping this step can lead to your piercings not healing properly, can cause damage to your tongue, teeth, or gums, and can lead to ripping or tearing of the piercing site.

• Avoid using straws, the suction necessary to use a straw can put pressure on healing oral piercings and can lead to increased swelling and bleeding. Don’t share utensils, cups, etc.

• Avoid undue trauma; excessive talking or playing with the jewelry can cause scar tissue, migration, and other complications!

• Avoid sexual contact including wet kissing and oral sex during healing

• Don’t chew gum, tobacco, or fingernails, and don’t put ANY foreign objects into/near your mouth, including the ends of pencils/pens, sunglasses, or your phone.

• The healthier your lifestyle, the easier it will be for your piercing to heal.

• For the first three to five days you may experience swelling, light bleeding, bruising, tenderness, and/or a whitish to yellowish secretion that may form crust on the jewelry.

• After the first week, you may still continue to experience some minor swelling and secretion.

• A piercing might seem healed before the healing process is complete. This is because piercings heal from the outside in. Although it feels fine, the tissue remains fragile on the inside. Be patient, and keep cleaning throughout the entire healing period.

• For lip piercings, it is typical for the jewelry to “nest” slightly into the lip (on the inside) once it is healed.

• Once healed: the jewelry may not move freely in the piercing; do not force it. If you fail to include cleaning your piercing as part of your daily hygiene routine, normal but smelly bodily secretions may accumulate.

*Signs of infection include: Severe redness, swelling or tenderness at the procedure site, red streaks going from procedure site towards the heart, elevated body temperature, purulent drainage from the site. Discharge from the site may be green/yellow and have a foul odor. If you believe you may have an infection we recommend reaching out to a medical professional immediately.

*Sacramento County EMD

• If your piercing gets a bump next to or on it, please reach out to us; these bumps are usually irritation bumps and can be caused by any number of things- including bumping the piercing, or small particles getting inside the piercing site- and are usually easily resolved.

• If the skin around your piercing site appears to be getting progressively thinner, please reach out to your piercer as soon as possible.

• If your jewelry looks to be sinking into your body or skin has grown over the top of your piercing (front or back) please reach out to your piercer as soon as possible.

INAPPROPRIATE AFTERCARE IS THE MOST COMMON CAUSE OF A DISTRESSED PIERCING. CHANGING AFTERCARE OR JEWELRY SIZE/STYLE/MATERIAL MOST OFTEN RESOLVES PROBLEM

• When piercings are properly performed and cared for, complications such as irritation or allergy are far more common than infection.

• Even momentary removal of jewelry from a piercing can result in rapid closure of the channel, and make reinsertion difficult or impossible. Everyone’s bodies heal at different rates, so removing your piercing always leaves you open to the possibility of the hold closing, even when they are established piercings that have been healed for years. If you need to remove your jewelry and you would like to keep the piercing open we would recommend that you insert another piece of jewelry or something like a retainer, to keep the piercing open until you decide to put the jewelry back in.

• If you have removed your jewelry and are struggling to re-insert it yourself you can always book a ‘jewelry insertion’ appointment so that a piercer can assist you in re-inserting the jewelry. Keep in mind that we cannot use outside jewelry, per state law, so the jewelry must have been purchased from The Exotic Body and still be in a good enough condition that we feel safe re-using the piece.

Visit https://safepiercing.org/aftercare/ for more information