Body Piercing Basics

Quality Jewelry; Simple Shapes

The Basics:

• Don’t get pierced with a gun
• Don’t pierce yourself
• Look for a skilled, safe piercer
• Buy good jewelry
• Protect piercings from germs and trauma
• Let the body  heal itself
• Help by doing sea salt soaks

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Body Piercing in Brief:

• Try to find the best piercer available. Visit the shop, ask questions about safe practices, and trust your instincts.  You have the right to a competent, professional piercer who treats you with respect and who listens to your body art plans.  Don’t expect the piercer on your corner to be very skilled at genital piercings or more advanced piercings; these should be done by the best piercer within your travel range.

Read more here:  Piercee’s Bill of Rights

• Starting body jewelry should be the best quality you can afford. Remember you are trying to convince  your body to heal an wound around a foreign object and it might be in there for quite some time.  Look for implant grade steel or niobium and never skimp on this cost!  Jewelry for healed piercings is more varied.

Read more on body jewelry here:  Body Jewelry: The Least You Need to Know

• Yes, it hurts a bit, although intensity varies by body part and by person. Most piercings done by a competent piercer who is practiced and deft are very fast–done almost before you can register sensation.  Another reason to locate a skilled piercer!

Read more here:  Does it Hurt?

• Piercings can make  you feel and be sexier, but they are not automatic sex life enhancers.  Gentle, fluid-barrier sex can be enjoyed when your body tells you it’s ready.

Read more on piercings and sex here: Which Piercings Make Sex Better? and Safer Sex with Piercings.

The Aftercare Mermaid

Caring for your Piercings:  Aftercare

Basic care for new body piercings is to keep them clean, protect them from infection and trauma, do sea salt soaks to soothe the piercings and draw out dead skin cells, lymph, and other foreign matter.   Patience and time are needed. Less is more–your body does the healing!

• Read more about healing your piercing here:  Body Piercing Aftercare in Detail: Part 1

• Soaking your piercing with a warm non-iodized sea salt solution is a natural and inexpensive home remedy highly recommended for all new piercings, troubled piercings, and for occasional long term maintenance. Read how to do sea salt soaks here: How to do Sea Salt Soaks and  Aftercare in Detail: Salt of Life

• Keep your piercing clean by washing in the shower with mild liquid soap.  Always wash your hands before touching. And try not to touch it!  Here’s more on soap:  Aftercare in Detail: The Dope on Soap

• I usually use a more involved aftercare routine with a very new piercing, keeping in mind the basic principles of cleanliness, soaking, and patience.  Read  how I use oil to lubricate and herbs to  heal my piercings: Aftercare in Detail: Part 2 — Cloud’s Routine and Aftercare in Detail: Cloud Says Oil!

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