Piercing Aftercare
How to heal your new piercing safely, start to finish.
Every piercing at Space Coast Ink starts with implant-grade titanium or solid 14K gold and up, so your body has the best start. The rest is up to you. Follow these steps, and if your piercer told you something different, go with your piercer.
Cleaning
- Wash your hands first, every time.
- Spray sterile saline (a "wound wash" spray from any pharmacy) on the front and back of the piercing 1 to 2 times a day.
- Gently dry with clean, disposable paper products like non-woven gauze or a paper towel. Cloth towels can snag jewelry and hold bacteria.
- Don't use alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, antibacterial ointments, tea tree oil, or homemade salt mixes. They irritate a healing piercing.
Leave it alone
- Don't twist, turn, or rotate the jewelry. It doesn't help healing, and it tears the inside of the piercing.
- Keep hands, hair, and phones off it. Clean your phone screen often if it's an ear piercing.
- Don't sleep on it. For ear piercings, a travel pillow lets you sleep on your side with the ear in the hole.
- Don't change the jewelry until it's fully healed. Swapping too early is the number one way piercings get irritated.
While it heals, avoid
- Soaking it: no ocean, pool, river, lake, or hot tub. Showers are fine.
- Makeup, lotion, and hair products getting into it.
- Tight hats, headphones, and masks pressing on it.
How long healing takes
Everyone heals differently, and a piercing can look healed on the outside before it's healed inside. Common ranges:
- Earlobe: about 2 to 3 months
- Nostril: about 4 to 6 months
- Ear cartilage (helix, conch, tragus, and others): about 6 to 12 months
- Navel: about 6 to 12 months
Your piercer will tell you the timeline for your piercing.
Come back for your downsize
New piercings start with a longer post to leave room for swelling. Once the swelling goes down, usually a few weeks in, stop by so your piercer can fit a shorter post. A post that's too long catches on everything and can make the piercing heal crooked.
Bumps, irritation, and when to get help
Some redness, tenderness, and clear or whitish crust are normal early on. A small bump usually means irritation from snagging, sleeping on it, or a post that needs downsizing. Come in and let us look before you try anything at home.
See a doctor if you have redness that keeps spreading, increasing heat or pain, yellow or green discharge, or a fever. Don't take the jewelry out if you think it's infected. Removing it can trap the infection inside. Let a doctor decide.
Questions while you heal? Call or text us at (321) 577-3747, or stop by. Walk-ins are welcome every day, 10am to 10pm.
This is general aftercare guidance, not medical advice.