The after care advice that we offer in this pamphlet is based on many years of personal experience, but it is not definitive, and more suitable alternatives may be available. If in doubt, get medical advice. Patient care and perseverance are essential if you are to achieve good results.

We will do our best to help anyone with a piercing problem, no matter what the cause - but we are unable to guarantee any results.

PLEASE NOTE

All piercings that are performed by us at the London Piercing Clinic are carried out on the understanding that they are done at the clients request, and on the condition that our piercers will not be held responsible for anything that may arise from any work done in good faith.

• Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water, then dry them, before touching the piercing.
• Using a solution of clean warm salted water (1 teaspoon of salt to 200ml water) soak a piece of cotton wool or tissue in the solution, and apply it gently, for about two minutes, to the piercing so as to allow the water to soak off any dried matter on the jewellery and surrounding skin. Do not move the piercing until all these traces have been removed. Failure to do this could result in possible damage to the piercing, discomfort and infection. Do not remove any scabs that may have formed.
• After washing the piercing and jewellery, dry off the area by dabbing gently with a soft disposable tissue.
• We now recommend applying a single drop of dilute Tea Tree Oil* to each of the exposed ends of the piercing. This should be worked in gently by moving the jewellery.
• Gently remove all traces of the Tea Tree Oil* after you have finished as the oil can damage clothing, the stains are almost impossible to dislodge.
• Avoid unprotected sex with genital piercings until they are thoroughly healed, this is to avoid getting infection into the piercing, apart from the added risk of sexually transmitted diseases and Aids etc.
• Avoid swimming in polluted water, most swimming baths that are treated with chlorine are OK provided that you wash the piercing under fresh running water and you apply a drop of the Tea Tree Oil* as recommended when cleaning.
• Try to avoid direct sunlight or direct rays from sun beds on the piercing for the first few weeks after it has been done, protect it by putting a piece of damp tissue over the whole piercing. Try to avoid getting sun tan oil and sand into an unhealed piercing.
• Cover the piercing with a paper pad of tissues if you are going to do anything that may be likely to result in a blow against the piercing.
• Inner mouth piercings should be treated by slooshing ones mouth out several times a day with salted water and occasionally with a half cap of Listerine mouth wash (or similar) and a half cap of water.
• Avoid all soaps that are scented or that contain animal fats, the modern soap alternatives such as Dove, Simple Soap, Ph5.5, Nutralia, etc. are fine, but wash out all traces, left behind after bathing, under clean running water (with a hand shower or a jug etc.) Baths salts or bubble baths are not recommended during the first few months. Rather use a few drops of essential (concentrated) Lavender Oil in the bath.
• In some rare instances an allergic reaction to the Tea Tree Oil may be experienced, the alternative is to use pure Lavender Oil diluted with two parts Grape Seed Oil.

Sometimes piercings do reject. This is when the piercing is forced to the surface by the skin and it drops out. The process is not particularly uncomfortable, but the jewellery should be removed before it is completely expelled to avoid scarring. Usually if this occurs, it is possible to repierce behind the resulting scar tissue with better results, the scar tissue often acts as an 'anchor', and the piercing then settles down more readily. The main causes of rejection are:

1. Damage to the piercing, due to either accidentally catching the jewellery, or bumping it hard. This can result in infection and/or bruising that will trigger rejection. Obviously intentional abuse will do the same.
2. External pressure due to things such as tight clothing, seat belts, even the way one sits, can cause the piercing to either move out of alignment, or reject.
3. Poor positioning of a piercing, especially where the skin is taught, or the tissue under the skin is fatty, positioning is most important, and many inexperienced piercers often get this wrong. It is not usual to get a piercing to heal in flat skin, e.g.: the forearm or the back.
4. Inadequate or bad after care techniques will often cause the skin around the piercing to loose its ability to heal properly, often resulting in it causing rejection. Use of disinfectants such as hydrogen peroxide, liquid Savlon, TCP, undiluted Dettol, undiluted Tea Tree Oil, many common antiseptic creams etc. will often do more damage to the piercing site than good.
5. Jewellery that is too tight can be serious. This is often experienced with studs from ear piercing guns. The manufacturers of these implements specify that they are intended for use on ear lobes only. If a barbell is inserted into a fresh piercing, at least 2mm on each side must be allowed for to reduce the chances of infection, and to allow for the build up of scar tissue, that will invariably result in the piercing spreading a little. If a ring is too small the skin becomes bunched up inside it, and the ring will prevent the captive skin moving equally with the surrounding skin. This results in undue pressure on the piercing and a degree of discomfort.
6. The most serious cause of rejection is material allergy. Almost all metals, with the exception of titanium and niobium, are unsuitable for fresh piercings. The only plastic in successful common use is PTFE (Polytetrafluroethalene) which should be used where no metal is successful. Even this has its problems, in that it is only useable in barbell form. So called surgical steel (316 stainless steel) is intended for use in surgical instruments, not body piercing though it is commonly used in piercings. It contains large proportions of nickel and chrome, both these metals can, and usually do, cause allergic reaction which results in rejection, or partial rejection where the piercing moves out of alignment. In fully healed piercings it is rarely problem, and 316 can usually be safely recommended, but definitely not in new - unhealed piercings. Gold is also a problem, 9ct gold contains only 40% gold, and 18ct gold is only 80% pure. The alloys that are mixed with the gold are the problem, many of these include copper, nickel, tin, antimony, solder, etc. all of which are some what poisonous to the system. Frequently the body acids react with these alloys resulting in the gold jewellery breaking inside the piercing. Again when the piercing is fully healed this is not a problem, but for the first full year of a new piercing avoid it. Silver is also not recommended. Because one can use silver, gold or many other metals in one ears, it does not mean that other parts of ones body will react the same. They seldom will. Ear piercing studs are a serious cause for concern, most of them are gold dipped or electroplated to about 3 microns thick, (cigarette smoke is 5 microns), these usually cost the Piercer under a pound a pair, and about six previous concerns have made a profit out of them before you get them. Most are usually junk 'pot metal', and often cause nasty results. The surest way to tell if you are chronically allergic to any material is if it feels as though the jewellery is causing a burning sensation. If so it must be changed immediately.

It is always advised that if one gets an infection in a piercing that you see your GP immediately.

Infection is usually indicated by a combination of swelling, redness, puss discharge and sensitivity to the touch. (with jewellery allergy most of these symptoms also exist, with the addition of the burning sensation, but it is not normally painful to the touch).

Infection should be treated with antibiotics, and the cleaning procedure should be changed. Stop using the Tea Tree Oil, and replace it with either undiluted surgical spirit or Isopropyl Alcohol. These will assist the piercing to dry out. Once the infection has been cured then resume the original treatment.

In serious cases of infection the piercing should be removed and re-done after about three months.

Infection can occur at any time, even years later, especially if one does not remove all traces of soap/shampoo after washing.

It is not unusual for a 'polyps' to form on the edge of a piercing. These usually appear as a dark coloured blister, do not try to pop them, they normally disappear completely once the piercing has fully healed, although the discolouring may take a lot longer to disperse. Some times around the polyps the area may bleed a little or there can be a clear discharge. Again alter the cleaning procedure stopping the Teatree Oil and use the surgical spirit or Alcohol until it dries out. Normally the polyps will eventually disappear if the piercing is removed permanently. The 'polyps' is usually caused by the body's reaction to continual movement of the piercing and the sensitivity of the skin.

Swelling usually occurs in mouth piercings, the lip and the tongue will often swell up for about a fortnight. It is essential that overlength studs or bars should be used initially, and then changed for shorter ones after the piercings have settled down. With the swelling a cold compress normally gives some relief, and an anti-inflammatory, such as aspirin, often helps.