What you should know before during and after getting your belly button pierced.

Belly Button Piercing

A belly button piercing is arguably the most sought-after body modification piercing solution. People who do it say that its beautiful impact is so amazing that words alone cannot express it. You too won’t be making a wrong choice if you opt for it, but the piercing could take more time to heal. A number of things must be taken into consideration before you can go for it. But you have nothing to worry about because here are a few tips you need to know about belly button piercing.

Find The Right Piercer

You are at risk of severe bloodborne diseases like hepatitis C if you go for the wrong piercer. The standards of the place and the piercer should be considered before you take any decision at all. Check out the piercers Google reviews, Facebook reviews, and Yelp reviews...these can give you some insight as to what type of atmosphere the place offers. When you visit the piercing shop check whether they are clean, well-lit, and licensed. Don’t put your body in jeopardy just because you desired bodily modification. You have to look for the right piercer that’ll give you all you want, with no negative health effects too.

Check The Piercers’ Sterilization Process

Take your time to see the sterilization process or method that the piercer uses. The piercer should use an autoclave (a device that sterilizes the piercing jewelry and equipment) because it is a potent killer of bacteria and pathogens. Reusable tools like the closing pliers should be sterilized with this autoclave. Always insist for the best and don’t forget that all piercing needles must be sealed since they are not to be shared. Disposable gloves should be worn by your piercer at all times.

Reject Piercing Guns

Reject outrightly piercing guns if that’s what your piercer wants to use. Go ahead and cancel your appointment with the piercer. Piercing guns can transmit bodily fluids from one customer to the other since they are reusable tools. Also, many people have complained that piercing guns usually cause tissue damage in the course of running the piercing process.

What To Expect After Getting Your Belly Button Pierced

A few days after the piercing, you might see an off-white fluid in the piercing area but that’s normal. It is your body system telling you that it is working hand-in-hand with the object in your navel. Just clean the area with warm water...but that’s after you have washed your hands with soap and water. Just apply a little soap on the piercing area for just 30 seconds and rinse it carefully but thoroughly. Soak the area for 5 minutes daily with a sterile saline solution, and pat-dry the surface with soft disposable paper.

Belly Button Piercing Aftercare

You can use a packaged sterile saline as piercing aftercare but it must not contain any additives. Sterile saline is not readily available in every region but a salt solution mixture is an alternative. You can dissolve 1/8 tsp iodine-free sea salt into a cup of 8 oz bottled water, to make your own salt solution mixture. Make sure your solution is not too strong because it can cause the piercing to get irritated.

Try and keep your piercing from rubbing on clothing. A simple way to do this is to look for a hard and vented eye patch to protect your navel from the threatening impact of the clothes you are putting on. These eye patches are sold in pharmacies or you can easily order one online. This will be added protection against restrictive clothing, excessive irritation, as well as the physical impact during sports and other physical activities.

Cleaning Instruction For Belly Button Piercing

• Always wash your hands before you clean or touch the piercing.
  • Soak saline solution on the piercing area for at least 5 minutes daily. Apply the saline solution on the piercing area and allow it to form a vacuum before you clean it up with clean gauze or soft paper towels.

• If your piercer says you should use soap for the cleaning, use mild soaps only and rinse the piercing as directed. All traces of the soap must be carefully rinsed from the surface of the piercing.

• Use disposable paper products to pat-dry the piercing area. Don’t use cloth towels because they may harbor bacteria or cause injury to the body.

At the initial stage, you might experience some bleeding, tenderness, or bruising, but you shouldn’t panic. In the course of healing, there’s bound to be some discoloration, itching, and secretion of whitish-yellow fluid in the piercing area. Yes, it is whitish-yellow, but not pus. Once you see these effects, you should remember that the healing phase is already in progress.

Don’t assume that the jewelry would move freely in the piercing, even after it has healed. There could still be some difficulties but on no occasion must you force the jewelry to move. If you do, there is a possibility you’ll be injured, and this could be bad for your health. Always remember that failure to clean the piercing daily would lead to the accumulation of offensive body secretions in the area. The piercing could heal from the outside while the inside is still very fragile. That’s why you need a lot of patience during the healing period.

What You Must Avoid

• Don’t move jewelry in piercing that is not completely healed. You must not pick dried discharge with your fingers because it can make you bleed.
  • Don’t clean your piercing with items such as Betadine, Hibiclens, alcohol, or soaps containing triclosan because these things can damage your cells. Avoid ointments too because they stop free circulation of air.
  • Don’t over-clean your piercing. If you do, it will hamper healing and irritate the piercing more.
  Above all, you should ensure you settle for the right piercer and abide by all the instructions you are given. Belly button piercing is quite amazing but that’s if you did it in the right place.

What are you waiting for? Feel free, relax, check out the tips, and go for your coveted belly button piercing once and for all.