Swimming and Piercings

Summer is here and it seems like the best time to get that fresh new piercing to show off at the

pool! Or is it?

Photo by Jason Thibault from Montreal, Canada - Floatie in Pool, CC BY 2.0

All piercings are just puncture wounds that need time to heal. As we talked about in our previous blog entry on how wounds heal, we know that keeping bacteria and harsh chemicals out of them is a major factor in their recovery to prevent irritation. Let’s talk about different bodies of water and what to avoid.

Showers: This is the most ideal way of cleaning your piercing! As long as the water that comes

through your house is safe to drink (which means it meets all federal and state EPA standards)

then you are safe to use this on a fresh healing piercing to clean it. Just rinse your piercing with

warm water once a day for a solid 3-4 minutes.

Bathtubs: If we are sitting in the bath water, so are our feet and our butts. The rest of our body

isn’t generally that clean, hence why we are bathing! We recommend either avoiding bathtubs

and focusing on showers for a while, or doing a solid rinse with clean running water before

getting out!

Pools + hot tubs: The pool is swarming with bacteria and chemicals. The water is shared by

multiple bodies, exposed to the elements, and is filled with lots of chlorine to try and kill off as

much of those as possible. That kind of chemical doesn’t just go away either, it sticks to your

piercing the same way that it sticks to your skin, so it leaves a film residue that is constantly

irritating it and drying it out.

Oceans: It sometimes seems like the ocean is a great choice because of all of the saltwater!

The salty spray that we use in the studio and is sold online, called saline, is sterile in the can, so it's a

little bit different. Fun Fact: Every tablespoon of seawater contains about 10 million viruses, one

million bacteria, 10,000 algae, and 1,000 protists (https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/) We wouldn’t

drink ocean water without cleaning it, so it shouldn’t go into an open wound.

Lakes and rivers: Aside from the obvious about bacteria and viruses....our river catches on

fire. And have you seen Lake Erie?

So what the heck should I do?? I really want this piercing and I want to enjoy my summer!

Well, let’s start with placement: it might be ideal to hold off on that navel and get something in your ear instead! You can easily avoid dunking your head under and enjoy some new bling without ruining your vacation. You could also just change out some old jewelry for something new!

If you are set on getting a piercing then the wait time is going to depend on how you heal. Piercings start off as open wounds; they swell and form crusties just like any cut or scrape. Over time they eventually decrease in swelling and redness at around the 1-2 month mark. They are still healing on the outside, so changing jewelry out isn’t recommended unless you are getting a downsize. Once you reach the stage where the outside of the piercing is healed then it may be safer to submerge the piercing, but still be careful. Rinse off your piercing after swimming. Take your saline spray with you to remove sand and debris from the area afterwards.

We are always available for free check ups, just book an appointment and a piercer can take a look!