How to Clean Your Piercing

• Wash Hands: Always wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water before touching your piercing.
• Remove Crusty Buildup: Gently clean away any crust with a cotton swab.
• Clean with Saline Solution: Use a sterile wound wash saline solution (e.g., NeilMed™ Wound Wash, not contact solution). Spray or pour over the piercing, or apply with a cotton swab.
• Secure Jewelry: After cleaning, ensure jewelry ends are tightly secured.

Normal Healing Signs

These are common during healing and not cause for concern:

• Tenderness, swelling, redness, or light bleeding
• Itching or clear/whitish-yellow discharge (not pus)
• Crusting around the piercing
• Tightness around jewelry or slight tilting (don’t force it back)
• Small amounts of necrotic tissue forming briefly

What to Avoid

Chemicals:

• Isopropyl alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, surgical scrubs
• Colloidal silver, petroleum-based products (e.g., Neosporin)
• Bactine, ear care solutions, or soaps with triclosan

Activities:

• Touching the piercing without clean hands
• Twisting or playing with jewelry
• Contact with body fluids, lotions, or soaps
• Oral contact or vigorous sexual activity
• Swimming in pools, hot tubs, or other high-bacteria water
• Over-cleaning or excessive trauma (e.g., snagging jewelry)
• Using inappropriate jewelry (e.g., silver, gold-plated, or incorrect size/style)

Tips for Faster Healing

• Support Your Immune System: Eat a balanced diet, take vitamins, exercise, and manage stress to aid healing.
• Warm Compresses: Soak a clean cloth in warm (not scalding) water and apply to the piercing for 3–5 minutes to reduce discomfort.
• Reduce Swelling: Use ice or take ibuprofen (if not allergic) for excessive swelling.
• Hand Hygiene: Always wash hands before touching your piercing to prevent infection.Changing or Removing Jewelry

• Wait for Full Healing: Don’t change jewelry until the initial healing period is complete (see healing times below). Early removal can cause the piercing to close quickly, even in minutes for fresh piercings.
• Choose Proper Jewelry: Consult your Tribal Rites piercer for appropriate jewelry materials (e.g., 316LVM stainless steel, titanium, niobium, solid 14k+ gold, high-grade glass, or biocompatible polymers).
• Retainers: Use a retainer only if necessary to keep the piercing open, but avoid for fresh piercings.
• Permanent Removal: If retiring your piercing, consult your piercer for advice to minimize scarring.

Male Genital Piercing Tips

Urinating:

• Urine may sting initially. Drink plenty of water to dilute it.
• Pour clean water over the area while urinating or submerge the piercing in a cup of water to reduce discomfort.
• For Prince Albert piercings, gently press a finger under the jewelry to guide urine flow.

Bleeding:

• Prince Albert, Ampallang, and Apadravya piercings may bleed significantly. Use a “rubber chicken” dressing (sterile gauze, tissues, and a medical glove) to manage bleeding. Replace when full or before urinating.

Erections:

• Keep a glass of ice water bedside to reduce nighttime/morning erections, which can be painful if crust is present. Frequent saline soaks keep jewelry clean and comfortable.

Stretching:

• Prince Albert jewelry can often be changed easily from the outside. Be cautious, as stretched tissue may not shrink back if jewelry is removed.

Healing Times

• Vertical/Horizontal Clitoral Hood, Fourchette: 6–8 weeks
• Triangle, Outer/Inner Labia, Scrotum, Frenum, Lorum, Guiche, Dydoe: 3–4 months
• Christina, Ampallang: 6–9 months
• Prince Albert, Pubic, Foreskin: 2–4 months

Suspected Infection?

• Don’t Remove Jewelry: This can trap infection and worsen the issue.
• Contact Us: Call or visit Tribal Rites to discuss symptoms and aftercare adjustments.
• See a Doctor: Consult a piercing-friendly physician if concerned. Request a culture to identify the issue before starting medication.
• Warm Compresses: These can help reduce irritation.
• Be Vigilant: Infections can escalate quickly, so act promptly.