Eat nutrient rich meals throughout the day and consider supplementing your diet with Vitamin C (3000 mg. In mineral ascorbic form) and Zinc (120 mg for the lads and 60 mg for the lasses). This will be most effective during the first 2-3 weeks of the healing process. Active individuals should also consider supplementing a multi-vitamin to help keep your immune system working efficiently.
Drink plenty of fluids. 8 to10 glasses of bottled or purified water a day is good to keep a body properly hydrated.
Try to get at least eight hours of sleep a night. This is considered to be the optimal amount of sleep for the human body. This will help your body heal as best as possible. If you are living in a high stress environment, consider resting as much as possible in your down time.
Do’s And Don’ts
Never touch your piercing for any reason unless you are cleaning it, or at least without washing your hands first with an anti-microbial soap. This is a great way to avoid infection.
Do not use petroleum-based ointments (e.g. Neosporin, Bacitracin, etc.) peroxide, alcohol, iodine, betadine, or hibiclense! These substances will hinder and prolong your healing causing more damage than good.
Do not over-clean your piercing. Cleaning more than twice a day can agitate your piercing and exacerbate the healing process. If your piercing appears clean but is noticeably tender reduce your cleaning schedule to once daily. As you progress through the healing process you will develop a successful cleaning routine.
Do not engage in rough activity that may threaten your piercing. Intense pulling and friction on a new piercing is a common way to trigger migration (a process in which the body pushes the jewelry out of the body).
Do not expose your piercing to oral contact or other bodily fluids. Use protective barriers such as condoms, dental dams, and finger-cots even if you are in a monogamous relationship. Oral: remember you have an open wound in your mouth so treat it like one!
Do not leave jewelry out of a piercing for too long! If you must remove your jewelry, either put in a retainer or replace it ASAP! For example, a healed tongue piercing can close in the matter of hours.
Avoid soaking your piercing in a pool, hot tub, lake, bath etc. These types of water can be contaminated and may induce infection. Cover your piercing with 3M Nexcare, Tegaderm, or Cleanseals bandages.
Replace your bedding with clean sheets, blankets, and pillowcases as much as possible during the healing period.
During the healing process the jewelry installed should remain in place to act as a drain. If the jewelry seems too large to allow adequate drainage your piercing professional should replace it with a smaller size. Removing your jewelry prematurely can cause an infected hole to close up, trapping an infection and leading to complications requiring a medical professional.
Remember: A piercing is a wound. Consequently, you should expect a minor amount of tenderness, swelling, discoloration, and possibly bruising, bleeding, and itching. Also, a natural part of the healing process for healing any wound includes the secretion of a white-yellow fluid (containing dead cells and blood plasma). This fluid will dry and form a crust on your jewelry. To properly remove this crust, refer to the primary suggestions for cleaning.
