Piercing Healing Times and Aftercare: What to Ask

Piercing healing times vary, and an estimate is not a deadline or a guarantee. Ask your piercer what to expect for the particular placement and when to return for a review. If you think a piercing is infected, seek prompt medical attention rather than waiting for a timeline to finish.

Read healing times as estimates

The Association of Professional Piercers’ 2013 procedure manual gives the reference estimates below. It states that healing varies between people and cannot be guaranteed. Ask your piercer about the current expectations for your own piercing.

These figures are not an instruction to change jewellery on a particular date. The location, your circumstances and the progress of the piercing need individual consideration.

Ask for clear written aftercare

Before leaving the appointment, ask for written instructions, the recommended product information and a way to contact the studio. Clarify what a routine review involves and who can help if something changes.

The APP aftercare guide favours sterile saline wound wash rather than a homemade salt mixture, and advises against twisting jewellery during healing. It also notes that a piercing can look healed before internal healing is complete. Discuss your own care needs with the piercer instead of combining several conflicting internet routines.

Know when to seek medical help

The NHS information on infected piercings identifies increasing pain, heat, swelling, marked colour changes, pus and feeling unwell as possible infection signs. Seek prompt assessment from a local doctor or clinic if infection is suspected. Do not rely on a photograph or an article to diagnose the cause.

Do not remove jewellery to treat a suspected infection unless a doctor tells you to. A studio can answer jewellery and placement questions, but a suspected infection needs medical attention rather than an improvised home remedy.

Prepare useful review questions

• What changes should I expect for this placement?
• When should I return for a routine review?
• Who should assess the jewellery fit during healing?
• Which product and care instructions apply to me?
• How do I contact the studio about a concern?

Record the piercing date and any change you noticed. That can help you explain the issue clearly; it does not replace an examination when one is needed.

Understand aftercare as part of training

Aftercare communication is one topic in the online body-piercing course. Learners should understand the course instructions, their own scope and the route for referring a medical concern. A course certificate does not make a piercer a medical practitioner.

For course-content or training questions, contact Skinart South Africa. For an existing piercing concern, speak to the practitioner responsible for it or seek appropriate medical care.