In the same way that some people get addicted to getting tattoos, over the last few years I’ve become a bit addicted to getting piercings. It all started when I got my daith done for my migraines and not only did it help massively, I really liked the way it looked and, without sounding like a complete masochist, I liked the pain!
Amy, my piercer, who is based in Cullercoats, opened me up to whole new world of the different parts of the ear you can get pierced and we have slowly been curating my own look over the last few years.
Of course, getting pieces of metal shoved through various parts of flesh and cartilage on a regular basis is not without it’s risks, and over the last few years I’ve picked up some handy tips on how to care for your piercings to aid healing and try and eliminate as much discomfort as possible.
First you’ll want a trip to boots or superdrug to stock up on what I would now consider piercing essentials. Although any good piercer will send you away with some anticeptic to dab on the area daily with a cotton bud, I also find the following helped me massively when careing for my new holes:
Elastoplast antiseptic spray – the spray element is important here, since getting a cotton bud into ever nook and cranny of your ear isn’t always easy or pleasant. The spray means you’re limiting the amount of time you’re touching your ear.
Ibuprofen spray – essential in my eyes for the first few weeks after a piercing. Ibuprofen is my drug of choice for many things (over paracetamol which doesn’t really do anything in my eyes) so the fact you can get a spray, again limiting how much your greasy hands are on your new piercing. It will help with any swelling and also provides a slight numbing effect which will help with any pain
Now shall we talk keloids? Keloids are patches of scar tissue that tend to form round piercings and are incredibly common; I’ve had them on probably 50% of my piercings and tend to form on the ones that are knocked more easily. But how do you get rid of them? Well, you can use and aspirin and hot water solution whereby you crush and aspirin and mix it with some boiling water then slather on the keloid to dry it out. I found that quite faffy though so decided to use some tea tree oil dabbed on with a cotton bud, which seemed to work just as well for me.
Without a doubt though, the best £12 I’ve ever spent is on a piercing pillow. I found this one on Etsy but there are loads around if you google them. It’s a small pillow with a hole in the middle (looks disturbingly like a piles cushion) which you sleep on with your ear through the middle and there will be no more turning over and causing agonising pain as you catch a fresh piercing. If you buy nothing else to protect your piercing, buy one of these!
As an aside, I’ve also found those pillow come in handy after you’re all healed too; I often put my between my knees when I sleep to help with the mild sciatica I have and it also makes a handy travel pillow!
If you’ve been pierced, what are your go to remedies?
