Aftercare
How to heal it properly.
A tattoo or piercing is a wound your body has to close around something. About 90% of what goes wrong afterwards traces back to one of four things: over-cleaning, under-cleaning, pressure, or getting impatient. Everything below is aimed at those four.
Piercings
Piercing aftercare
Piercing aftercare is almost entirely about doing less. The single most effective thing you can do is leave it alone — don't twist it, don't rotate it, don't check it constantly, and don't change the jewelry early.
The routine, twice a day
- Wash your hands thoroughly.
- Spray or soak with sterile saline wound wash (0.9% sodium chloride, nothing added).
- Let it sit for 30 seconds, then gently rinse in the shower.
- Pat dry with a clean paper towel or use a cool hairdryer on low. Trapped moisture is a leading cause of irritation.
That's the whole routine. Twice a day, no more — over-cleaning irritates a piercing just as reliably as neglect.
Never use
- Rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide
- Tea tree oil, essential oils or aspirin paste
- Antibacterial ointments or creams
- Harsh soaps or anything scented
- Cotton swabs, which shed fibers into the channel
Come back for your downsize
Initial jewelry is deliberately fitted long so it can accommodate swelling. Once that settles, a shorter post has to go in — roughly two weeks for oral piercings, six to ten weeks for cartilage. It's free, it takes five minutes, and skipping it is the most common cause of snagging, angling and irritation bumps.
Piercing healing times
These are typical ranges, not guarantees. Individual healing varies considerably with placement, jewelry, and how much the piercing gets disturbed.
- Ear lobe
- 6–8 weeks
- Cartilage / helix
- 6–12 months
- Conch
- 6–12 months
- Daith
- 6–9 months
- Industrial
- 9–12 months
- Nostril
- 4–6 months
- Septum
- 6–8 weeks
- Lip / labret
- 6–8 weeks
- Tongue
- 4–6 weeks
- Navel
- 6–12 months
- Nipple
- 6–12 months
- Dermal anchor
- 1–3 months to settle
Warning signs
When to call a doctor
Some redness, swelling, tenderness and clear-to-slightly-cloudy fluid in the first few days is normal for both tattoos and piercings. The following are not, and warrant prompt medical attention:
- Redness spreading outward from the site, especially in streaks
- Heat radiating from the area
- Swelling that increases after day three instead of decreasing
- Thick yellow or green discharge, or a foul smell
- Fever, chills or feeling generally unwell
- Severe or worsening pain rather than gradually improving
Leave the jewelry in if you suspect a piercing infection. Removing it can seal the surface and trap infection inside the channel. See a doctor with the jewelry in place, then come see us afterwards.
This page is general aftercare guidance, not medical advice. If you have a health condition, take blood thinners or immunosuppressants, or are concerned about how something is healing, speak to a healthcare professional.
Bring it in — free, any time
If something doesn't look right, come by. We'll look at it for free whether or not we did the work, and the vast majority of what we see is irritation with a simple, fixable cause: a hoop swapped in too early, a post that's the wrong length, sleeping on it, or a cleaning routine that's doing too much.
We'd far rather see you at week three with a question than at month three with a problem that's now hard to fix.
Aftercare FAQ
The questions we get most.
How long does a new tattoo take to heal?
The surface closes in two to three weeks and the deeper layers finish settling at around two to three months. A tattoo looks healed long before it is — which is exactly why swimming, sun exposure and heavy sweat should wait a full month even when it feels completely fine at week two.
What's the difference between an irritated piercing and an infected one?
Irritation is localized: a bump, some redness right at the site, tenderness that comes and goes. Infection spreads — expanding redness, heat radiating from the area, swelling that increases after day three rather than decreasing, thick yellow or green discharge, foul smell, or fever. Irritation is common and fixable; infection needs a doctor promptly.
Should I use Aquaphor, Vaseline or a tattoo-specific balm?
A thin layer of any unscented, non-comedogenic moisturizer works. Thin is the operative word — a thick layer suffocates the skin and traps bacteria, which causes far more problems than dryness ever will. Avoid petroleum jelly as the sole product on a fresh tattoo, and avoid anything scented or antibacterial.
Can I use alcohol, hydrogen peroxide or tea tree oil on a piercing?
No to all three. Alcohol and peroxide kill the new cells your body is using to heal, and tea tree oil is a common irritant that makes bumps worse rather than better. Sterile saline wound wash — nothing else — twice a day.
My tattoo is peeling and the color looks dull. Is that normal?
Completely normal, and it happens to everyone around days five to fourteen. The dead outer layer flakes off and the skin above the ink is still slightly cloudy while it regenerates. The color comes back as it settles. Don't pick the flakes — you'll pull ink out with them.
When can I go swimming after a tattoo or piercing?
Tattoos: at least three to four weeks, and until all peeling has finished. Piercings: two to three months, longer for slow healers like navels and cartilage. Pools, hot tubs, lakes and rivers all carry bacteria a healing wound has no defense against, and soaking pulls ink out of unsealed skin. Showers are fine from day one.
Book a session
Ready when you are.
Consultations are free. Call the studio or stop in — we take walk-ins every day.