Cartilage Aftercare

Expected healing time: 3-9 months or longer.

  • Wash your hands before cleaning or touching your piercing.
  • Clean atleast twice a day. Soak a cotton tip and clean both sides of the piercing, gently removing any discharge (dried lymph).
  • Do no rotate your new piercing. This can cause tearing to the new scar tissue forming. Your skin will naturally 'let go' of the jewelry when healing.
  • Do not remove your jewelry to clean your piercing. 
  • Repeat piercing clean after submerging in any unhygienic bodies of water(bath, pool, ocean etc)
  • Maintain cleanliness of telephones, headphones, eyeglasses, helmets, hats, and anything that contacts the pierced area.
  • Stay Healthy. A healthy body can heal much faster than a run-down one.
  • Make sure your bedding is washed and changed regularly. Wear clean, comfortable, breathable clothing that protects your piercing while you are sleeping.
  • Showers tend to be safer than taking baths, as bathtubs can harbor bacteria. If you bathe in a tub, clean it well before each use and rinse off your piercing when you get out.

What to expect initially:

Bleeding, localized swelling, tenderness, and/or bruising.

What to expect during healing:

Itchiness, secretion of a whitish-yellow fluid (not pus) that will form a 'crust' around and on the jewelry. Some discolouration.

What to avoid:

  • Clean your new piercing with alcohol or any harsh chemicals.
  • Avoid moving jewelry in an unhealed piercing, or picking away dried discharge with your fingers.
  • Avoid undue trauma such as friction from clothing, excessive motion of the area, playing with the jewelry, and vigorous cleaning. 
  • Avoid all oral contact, rough play, and contact with others' bodily fluids on or near your piercing during healing.
  • Do not play with your jewelry.
  • Do not sleep on your new piercing.
  • Over-clean your piercing. 
  • Change the piercing jewelry during the healing time. 
  • Use makeup or beauty care products around or near your piercing. 

Doing any of the actions listed above can cause irritations to your new piercing and prolong the healing period. The formation of unsightly and uncomfortable scar tissue, migration, rejection and other complications can occur. Please refer to our Problem Piercing pages for more information.

 

DISCLAIMER:
These guidelines are based on a combination of vast professional experience. This is not the be considered a substitute for medical advice.