Jewelry/Piercing Questions

Jewelry/Piercing Questions

What are the healing times for piercings?

Each area of the body has its own unique healing period and process. Oral and facial piercings tend to heal fastest and every individual heals and reacts to piercings differently.

A general guideline for approximate healing times is as follows:

  • Earlobe: 1-2 months
  • Cartilage: 6 months-2 years
  • Lip: 1-2 months
  • Labret: 1-2 months
  • Cheek: 2-3 months
  • Nostril: 3 months-1 year
  • Eyebrow: 2-3 months
  • Tongue: 1-2 months
  • Septum: 1-2 months
  • Navel: 6 months-over 1 year
  • Nipple: 3-6 months
  • Genital: 2-8 months

How long before I can change the initial piercing jewelry?

It is not recommended to change initial piercing jewelry until your piercing is fully healed, unless the new piece of jewelry is sterile. Many piercings will require a change of jewelry during the healing period as the swelling of your piercing is reduced; however, this should be done by your piercer with sterilized jewelry.

If you want to change the jewelry yourself, wait until the new piercing has healed and developed a tough barrier of healthy skin between the piercing and the jewelry. Reopening the wound will delay the healing process and cancause infection. Wait until the piercing is no longer tender (you can play with your piercing without experiencing any discomfort). Use as much care and be as clean as possible when changing your jewelry for the first time.

How do I change my piercing jewelry?

When handling or changing your body jewelry, always clean your hands, preferably with anti-bacterial soap. A hot shower or hot compress will helps often your skin before cleaning and inserting body jewelry.

1.    Pinch the skin adjacent to the piercing and insert one end of the body jewelry into one hole of the piercing.

2.    Wearing jewelry of the correct size in your body piercing is important.  If the body jewelry is too short it will aggravate the piercing; if it's too long the body jewelry can get caught or snagged which also causes aggravation and might even cause tiny tears in the tissue, which can lead to scarring or infection.

Take a ruler and measure the distance between the two holes in millimeters.  Once you have a measurement round it up to the closest even number in millimeters. (i.e 11.5 becomes 12mm, 13mm becomes 14mm.  To order jewelry pick the proper Gauge (thickness of the bar) and then order the length (which is the distance in between the two balls or the diameter of the ring at its widest point) that matches the measurement of your piercing.