Body Piercing Healing

Healing Period

Healing times for a body piercing can vary greatly. The care you give your piercing determines how quickly and how well it will heal. During the healing period, some people assume they can remove their body jewelry any time and reinsert it easily.

This is not so. For ear, nostril and septum piercings, something should be left in the piercing for at least two months; for any other body piercing, something should be left in the piercing for at least six months.

At that point, most people have healed sufficiently and can leave their body jewelry out and reinsert it later; however, a few people will lose their body piercing if the body jewelry is left out for more than the briefest time. Even if healed, the body piercing needs time to "toughened up."

If you need to remove the body jewelry during the first few months, clean the body piercing as described below, then insert a short piece of heavy monofilament nylon fishing line through the length of the piercing.

Healing Problems

Even with a near perfect body piercing, where all the steps to establish a sterile condition have been taken, it is still possible that your body piercing may have problems healing. Common causes of healing problems are:

• Oral contact and/or handling your body piercing with dirty hands
• Using a cleaning agent that is not compatible with your body
• Not cleaning the body piercing properly
• Wearing body jewelry to which you are allergic

Following the following suggestions will solve most problems. If following these suggestions do not produce rapid improvement, you should consult a physician as soon as possible.

General Care

Never touch your new body piercing with dirty hands. Do not let your own or other people's saliva or body fluids contact your piercing until it has completely healed.

Your body piercing heals faster if not treated roughly. Genital piercings do not prohibit sexual activity during the healing period; however, use a condom to reduce risk of infection.

Use of rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide on your body piercings is not effective and can prohibit healing. Eat a well-balanced diet with vitamins and supplement. Several medical professionals have suggested taking a zinc supplement.

The suggested dosage is one 60 mg tablet for women and two 60 mg tablets for men daily for four weeks. Also suggested is 3000 mg of vitamin C daily.