Having healthy skin is a priority for many of our clients. The journey to healthy skin usually includes some kind of product regimen; whether you use a simple daily moisturizer or sunscreen, a prescription cream for acne, or a super in-depth daily course of toners and masks, we know it’s all part of the process! With healing piercings though (particularly facial piercings), balancing your skin-care with keeping your piercings clean and healthy can be tricky. We’ve written this article to give you a few tips and tricks to help you keep both your skin and piercings happy!
With healing piercings, it’s important to avoid getting any products besides your saline in or around your piercing. Rather than stopping use, we suggest just avoiding your piercing and leaving a small space between your piercing where the product is applied. Its ideal to leave about a 1/2-1/4 inch border around your piercing. This rule of thumb applies to things like creams, oils, as well as your daily face wash. These products can contain things like moisturizers or even acids that can be too harsh on a piercing. If you need to wash the skin directly around the piercing, use a mild soap like a Johnsons and Johnsons baby soap instead, and be careful not to get soap in the piercing. We know some folks like to get a little more in depth with their skin-care by using face masks, sheet masks, and/or pore strips but those can be detrimental to a healing facial piercing if applied incorrectly. When applying a face mask leave the same recommended space around your piercings; remember to be gentle washing off the mask so that none of the product runs into the piercing. For a sheet mask you can take scissors and cut small holes when your piercings would be so that the sheets don’t sit directly on your piercing but rather around them. The same trick can work for pore strips, trim them accordingly to avoid them sticking to/harming your piercing!
If you get regular facials, or even get waxed around your piercings, it’s important to let your esthetician know that your piercing is new and/or still healing. Just ask them to avoid the piercing or that area, and remind them to be gentle. Most estheticians are used to seeing clients who have piercings, and will be delicate working around your new pieces. For waxing, it’s recommended to wait 2-3 months before waxing or threading near a new piercing.
If your daily routine includes a prescription cream for acne, eczema etc, keep in mind that most of these creams and medications contain harsh chemicals that are designed to help with your skin but don’t belong in your body piercing. So if you use any topical creams or medications you MUST avoid the area around your piercing. We know this can sometime lead to breakouts or other issues in the areas surrounding your piercings, however that is preferable over the damage chemicals can cause to your healing piercing. If you do have breakouts around the piercing please try not to pick! If you must, see a licensed esthetician or dermatologist to assist you with it. If you take an oral medication for skin issues like Accutain, it is NOT safe to be pierced while on this medication and others like it. It’s always a good idea to discuss with your dermatologist that you are planning to get a piercing and ask for their advice. If they suggest waiting until you discontinue your treatment, it’s always best to follow their instruction to stay safe.
Once you are healed there are less risks associated with getting products on or around your piercings. Although they can cause less damage to healed tissue, products can still build up in jewelry and cause it to look dull over time as well as clog your piercing and cause irritation. If you notice irritation occurring after use of a certain product on or near a piercing, discontinue use in that area. To help keep your jewelry clean you can use a baby toothbrush with some soapy water or a waterpik on a low setting to keep everything sparkling.
Please remember that for some genuine stones like pearls, you should never get products directly on them, as they can damage or discolor the more delicate gems.There are plenty of ways to wear piercings while maintaining healthy skin, it just takes a little creativity and help from your support team of professionals!