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What to Do:

To prevent infection and encourage healing:

• Clean skin piercings. If you've had your skin pierced, clean the area around the piercing three times a day.  We recommend you use  a saline solution made for wound cleaning or soap and water. Don't use hydrogen peroxide, iodine or other harsh products to clean the piercing. They could injure the pierced skin. Wash your hands before cleaning the piercing.
• Don't go swimming. Stay out of pools, hot tubs, rivers, lakes and other bodies of water while the piercing heals.
• Leave the piercing alone during healing. Don't touch a new piercing or twist the jewelry unless you're cleaning it. Keep clothing away from the piercing. Too much rubbing or friction can irritate your skin and delay healing.
• Keep the jewelry in place. Most piercings heal within about six weeks. But some might take several months or longer to heal. To keep the pierced hole open, always leave the jewelry in place during this time, even at night.

The skin around a new piercing might be swollen, red and tender for a few days. It might bleed slightly. If the swelling, redness and bleeding last longer than a few days, contact your healthcare professional. Getting treatment right away can help prevent medical problems related to piercings that could become serious.

Know the risks

A piercing makes an opening in a part of the body where you can wear jewelry. All piercings carry a risk of health problems developing afterward. Those risks include:

• Allergic reactions. Some jewelry used with a piercing can cause allergic reactions. That's especially true for jewelry made of nickel.
• Skin infections. An infection can cause redness, pain and swelling after a piercing. A fluid that looks like pus also may come out of the pierced hole when there's an infection.
• Other skin problems. Piercing can lead to keloids. Keloids are raised areas on the skin caused by an overgrowth of scar tissue.
• Tearing or trauma. Jewelry in piercings can get caught and torn out accidentally. Those injuries may need stitches or another type of repair.

You might need medicine or other treatment if you develop an allergic reaction, infection or other skin problems near the piercing.