Why do we recommend sterile saline for piercing aftercare?

 I’ve been in this industry long enough to see a lot of changes. One of the biggest has been aftercare. When I started small baggies of salt were passed over, much like a sketchy drug exchange. We never knew if you were using it because now we know most of the time you were damaging your piercings by using it. Some lucky people did great. Mixing kitchen salt in a shot glass back in the “dark ages” has come a long way. 

Today we use and recommend a sterile saline solution. Our studio uses NeilMed but there are several reputable companies out there. The most important part about this solution is that it is “body safe”, meaning it’s close to impossible to cause harm to your body by using it (unlike kitchen salt). But saline is saline right? 

Wrong. 

Saline comes in many forms from ocean water to contact solution, and not all are created equal. 

Contact Solution vs Sterile Saline

Contact solution is one of the bigger mistakes people make. It’s marked as sterile saline so it’s an easy mistake to make. Contact solution is used to clean and store contact lenses and often contains cleaners, enzymes, and other bacteria killing additives. It’s gentle enough that it wont damage the delicate lenses or your eyes so it would seem safe. Contact solution is generally made up of a binding agent, a wetting agent,  a buffer, and a preservative of some sort. All of these additives are on top of a mild saline solution but change based on brand, allergy safety etc. None of this is designed for wounds never mind piercings and all of it can cause irritation and dry out the piercing. 

Self Made “saline”

So back in the day when we told you to mix your own solution we told you a teaspoon of salt to a shot glass of water. There’s so much wrong about this. Firstly, your tap water isn’t sterile. If you’ve watched the news in the last 20 years or even tasted tap water you know this. There’s minerals (even lead) from the pipes, contaminants or additives in the water itself (fluoride for example), and then whatever you’re mixing in isn’t sterile either. The amount of salt actually needed is tiny. You’d barely be able to do it if you were mixing at home and you certainly wouldn’t be able to make it consistently for the amount of care needed. Too often we see people who have tried this and instead caused damage by literally pickling their piercings. 

 The salt itself also may contain additives. Himalayan salt has a pinkish hue from the mineral content, iodized salt has iodine. The salt itself is far from sterile and another way you can introduce bacteria.  

Neosporin

Why am I including this? Because we still hear about people using it. Don’t. It even says so on the container - not for puncture wounds or piercing. Petroleum products suffocate the skin to prevent the cells drying out and to provide a barrier against the outside world. The problem is your piercing needs to breathe and on top of that the sticky barrier often attracts dirt instead and provides a breeding ground for anything unlucky enough to get caught in it. 

Sterile Saline Solution

For healing your piercings there really isn’t much better than a simple saline solution. It’s sterile - meaning that there’s likely no contaminants that could introduce bacteria to your piercing. It’s in an enclosed bottle and as long as you’re not touching the tip to anything and you’re recapping the bottle once you’re done then it continues to be a sterile solution. 

It’s designated as isotonic - this means that it’s the same pH etc of the saline your body produces. This allows it to be gentle on your piercings and not cause irritation or drying. The mix of the solution is balanced to simply remove debris (the crusties on your piercing) without affecting the delicate healing cells. That’s the key - not causing more damage and creating an environment that your piercing can heal in without being irritated. 

We provide your solution for your initial piercing. This helps us to guarantee that at the most important stage of your healing you’re using the right thing. No excuses. However, we need you to actually use it and we can’t make that happen without your help. You have to do the care necessary and follow the guidelines to get an easy and successful healing from your piercing. If you’ve run out of your solution swing by and grab some more. Promise we have plenty. We’d rather you came and got more than caused potentially catastrophic damage to your piercing or jewelry with the wrong product. 

So clean your piercings, and come and get some saline if you haven’t got any.