How to Disinfect a Cartilage Piercing

Follow these steps to take care of a minor piercing infection:

• Wash your hands before touching or cleaning your piercing.
• Clean around the piercing with a saltwater rinse three times a day.
• Don’t use alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, or antibiotic ointments.
• Don’t remove the piercing.

Keeping this consideration, how can I make my cartilage piercing heal faster?

• Use warm sea saltwater (saline) soaks – morning and evening.
• Soaking your piercing with a warm, mild sea saltwater solution will help prevent infection, reduce the risk of scarring, and speed the healing of your piercing.

What should you not clean your piercing with?

• Avoid cleaning with alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, antibacterial soaps, iodine, or any harsh products, as these can damage cells.
• Also avoid ointments as they prevent necessary air circulation.
• Avoid Bactine®, pierced ear care solutions, and other products containing Benzalkonium Chloride (BZK).

How do you disinfect a piercing?

• Clean with a clean cotton pad or swab dipped in salt solution.
• You can make this solution by mixing 1 teaspoon of salt in a cup of warm water.
• Use this around the pierced area a few times a day to remove any bacteria.
• Dab (don’t wipe) the piercing.

Why is my cartilage piercing always crusty?

• Crusting after body piercing is perfectly normal.
• Dead blood cells and plasma make their way to the surface and then dry when exposed to air.
• While perfectly normal, these crusties do need to be cleaned carefully and thoroughly whenever you notice them.

Should I take my piercing out if it’s infected?

• If a new piercing is infected, it is best not to remove the earring.
• Removing the piercing can allow the wound to close, trapping the infection within the skin.
• For this reason, it is advisable not to remove an earring from an infected ear unless advised by a doctor or professional piercer.

How can I make my piercing heal faster?

• Maintain a healthy mind and body.
• Understanding how your body works is important in the successful healing of a new piercing.
• Get some rest and take it easy.
• Keep it clean.
• Consider taking a multivitamin.
• Get help if something goes wrong.

What should I do if my cartilage piercing hurts?

• If you aren’t experiencing severe symptoms, you may be able to use the following methods to treat your cartilage bump at home.
• You may need to change your jewelry.
• Make sure you clean your piercing.
• Cleanse with a saline or sea salt soak.
• Use a chamomile compress.
• Apply diluted tea tree oil.

What helps cartilage piercing pain?

• Give a saline bath to your ear once a day.
• Pour a bottle of store-bought saline water into a bowl.
• Dip the pierced area in it for 2-5 minutes a day.
• Avoid touching your ear piercing.

What is the best saline solution for piercings?

• Do not use table salt, kosher salt, Epsom salts, or iodized sea salts.
• Non-iodized fine-grain sea salt is best for avoiding additives, as well as its ability to dissolve into a solution.
• Do not make the solution too salty, as that can be irritating to the piercing and the skin.

Can I use alcohol to clean my piercing?

• General Care for Body Piercings: Do not use rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide.
• Both slow the healing of the pierced area by drying and killing new healthy cells.
• Do not use bacitracin or other ointments.

How do you clean piercings with antibacterial soap?

• (i.e., Phisoderm, Bactine, or liquid antibacterial soaps such as Dial, Lever 2000, or Softsoap) and avoid perfumed products.
• Dilute 50/50 with water if irritation occurs.
• Leave the cleanser on the skin for 3 minutes; lather and work the ring back and forth through the piercing half a dozen times.

Can I use pink salt to clean my piercing?

• Cleaning Solution: 1/4 tsp of non-iodized fine grain salt (not regular sea salt, pink Himalayan salt works too) to one cup of pre-boiled warm water is the perfect ratio.
• Too much salt can irritate your healing piercing.

By following these guidelines, you can properly disinfect and care for your cartilage piercing to ensure its healing process is smooth and free from complications. Remember to consult a professional piercer or doctor if you experience severe symptoms or have concerns about your piercing.