Back to School With New Piercings? Tips to Keep Piercing Healthy
New school year, new timetable, new clothes… maybe a new piercing too?
Getting a piercing just before going back to school can feel like perfect timing. The only problem is that a fresh piercing is still healing while you’re suddenly back to early mornings, PE classes, headphones, backpacks and busy school days.
The good news? Looking after it doesn’t have to take over your life. A few small habits can make back to school piercing care much easier.
Keep Your Hands Off It
This sounds ridiculously simple, but it’s probably the rule people forget most. You’re sitting in class, your hand goes up to your ear, and suddenly you’re playing with your new piercing without even noticing. Try not to.
Good piercing care starts with washing your hands before you touch the area. You also don’t need to twist or rotate the jewellery while cleaning it.
Saline Is Your New School-Bag Friend
A sterile saline solution for piercings is a handy option for cleaning around the area. Look for sterile wound-wash saline containing 0.9% sodium chloride rather than mixing your own salt water.
A small saline spray for piercings can also be useful when you’re away from home. Spray the piercing, give it a moment, then gently dry the area with clean disposable gauze or another suitable disposable product.
Avoid trying every random ear piercing solution you find online. More products don’t automatically mean better healing. Your piercer’s own piercing aftercare advice should always come first, especially if your piercing needs specific care.
Don’t Swap Your Jewellery Just Because School Starts
We get it. You’ve bought a new outfit, and suddenly your current jewellery doesn’t match. Leave it alone.
A piercing can look fine on the outside before it has fully healed inside. Changing the jewellery too early can irritate the piercing or interfere with healing. That applies to ear piercing studs, a nose piercing, lip piercings and other facial piercings. Save that new clicker piercing, tiny piercing ring or cute new stud for when the piercing is ready for a jewellery change.
Be Careful With Headphones, Helmets and PE
Over-ear headphones can press against cartilage piercings. Earbuds can be annoying with tragus or daith placements. Sports helmets can catch upper-ear jewellery. If you’re learning about different ear piercings, this is something worth thinking about before choosing your placement.
A good ear piercing guide shouldn’t only tell you which piercing looks cute. It should also tell you how that placement fits into your actual life. If you wear headphones for hours every day, tell your piercer. If you play a sport that requires a helmet, tell them that too.
Your Phone Needs Cleaning Too
Think about how many places your phone goes in one day. Now think about how often it touches your face. If you have a healing nose piercing, cheek piercing, lip piercing or ear piercing, regularly cleaning your phone is a pretty sensible habit.
This is especially useful with facial piercings, where everyday objects can easily end up touching the area without you noticing.
Don’t Turn Jewellery Cleaning Into a Science Experiment
If you’re wondering how to clean new piercing jewellery, remember that the jewellery sitting inside your fresh piercing isn’t something you should keep removing for cleaning. Follow your piercer’s aftercare instructions and clean around the piercing as recommended. Proper jewellery cleaning becomes more relevant once your piercing is fully healed and you’re changing pieces regularly.
If you want to clean piercing jewellery that has already been removed, follow the cleaning instructions for its particular material and design. Jewellery containing stones, coatings or decorative parts may need different treatment from a plain metal piece. Good jewellery care is partly about knowing what you’re actually wearing.
Cleaning and Sterilising Aren’t the Same Thing
You’ve probably seen people searching for how to sterilise jewellery at home or how to disinfect piercing jewellery. True sterilisation means eliminating microbial life and is done professionally using equipment such as an autoclave. Washing or soaking jewellery at home doesn’t magically make it sterile.
So if you need jewellery for a new or healing piercing, don’t rely on a home “sterilising hack.” A professional piercer can advise you and properly prepare suitable jewellery. For everyday jewellery care instructions for jewellery worn in fully healed piercings, check the recommendations for the specific material.
Choose Jewellery You Can Actually Live In
School days are long. Jewellery that constantly catches, moves or feels uncomfortable gets annoying very quickly. This is where choosing suitable body jewellery matters.
Some people like simple flat-back pieces for everyday wear. Others prefer hoops or decorative piercing jewellery once their piercing has healed enough.
You might love gold piercing jewellery, a tiny clicker, a plain stud or something covered in stones. The style is up to you, but fit, material, finish and suitability for your piercing matter too.
Nose Jewellery Loves Getting Caught on Things
Anyone with a nose piercing learns this one pretty quickly. Towels. T-shirts. Makeup pads. Pillowcases. They suddenly become enemies.
Be gentle when washing or drying your face, especially during the first part of healing. Don’t rush to swap your initial jewellery for new nose earrings or a ring just because you’ve found one you like.
10. Give Ear Piercings a Break While You Sleep
Pressure can make a healing piercing angry surprisingly quickly. Try sleeping on the other side or on your back where possible. Your ear piercing aftercare doesn’t stop when you go to bed either. Keep pillowcases clean and be careful with long hair, blankets and anything else that might catch the jewellery during the night.
So, What Should Your School Piercing Routine Actually Look Like?
Keep it boring. Seriously. In the morning, wash your hands and follow the cleaning routine your piercer gave you. Use sterile saline wound wash where recommended, dry gently, and leave the piercing alone.
During school, avoid touching it. Be careful with headphones, phones, sports gear and clothing.
At night, check that nothing has become caught around it, follow your normal aftercare routine and avoid sleeping directly on a fresh ear piercing where possible.
That’s pretty much it. You don’t need a bathroom shelf full of products to clean piercing jewellery or look after a new piercing.