You know what they say – your body is an empty canvas, so decorate it! Most of us have had our ears pierced as a child but growing up, we just wanted more and more. From our ears to our noses, and even our bellybuttons – piercings can be a hassle to take care of. The more you get, the more you have to take care of them and if you don’t, you’re prone to nasty and painful infections. Follow this article to find out exactly how to take care of your piercings and keep them all clean and healthy for you to bling.

Use a Needle

This first point is for when you are about to get your ear pierced. It is a lot safer to use a piercing needle rather than a gun for the reason being that the gun forces the earing through with pressure and causes severe and unnecessary damage to the tissue. This is especially important for piercings where you have cartilage. It’s also a myth that the gun hurts less—if a needle piercing is done properly, the pain is very minor.

Stay Healthy and Hydrated

keeping your body hydrated and maintaining a healthy diet is always important but especially after a piercing. The reason being that it allows blood circulation to stay on track in the body which can resist infection.

Be Careful

Make sure to avoid additional trauma to the piercing area – be careful moving your hair around if you have an ear piercing, or with tight clothes with a belly button or nipple piercing as this can cause your ring to be jerked around which may damage parts of your skin or cause infection. Also, try to avoid sleeping on the pierced area to avoid pain and maintain blood circulation.

Clean the Pierced Area

Hygiene is so important when you have a fresh new piercing. Remember, this is a hole in a part of your body in which bacteria can easily contaminate. Use cleaning solution at least twice a day when cleaning your piercing and avoid touching it if you have not washed your hands.

Movement

It is a common misconception that you must move your piercing around to keep it from getting infected. You can do this when you clean your piercing but to move it around at random points throughout the day can cause infection from bacteria off of your hands or fingers and due to the fact that the earing, as well as the piercing, are dry – hence, moving or twisting it can create more irritation towards the skin and pierced area.