Recently, there has been a lot of discussion on the internet about piercing aftercare products. We've been doing piercings for years, so we know (and have tried) the various methods, products and tools that can be used to take care of piercings. And, in addition to testing on our own skin, we also keep an eye on professional publications and scientific articles to provide you with effective and safe solutions. We are happy to share our experience and knowledge with you.
What is an aftercare product and do I really need it?
In fact, anything you use to take care of your piercing can be described as aftercare products. But the main healing work is done by your body. Aftercare products help it to do this great work by creating the best possible environment for healing. They have two main jobs.
The first is to wash away debris and products of the healing process from the wound. It is important that the chosen "flusher" does not introduce other debris, especially bacteria, into the wound and is gentle on the wound and its surroundings. The second role of aftercare products is to act as an antiseptic, i.e. a disinfectant that prevents the growth of microorganisms around the wound. This is because around a new piercing there is an increased concentration of certain bacteria that feed on the secretions that the body secretes from the wound.
| Attention! Any disinfectant based on alcohol or hydrogen peroxide is NOT suitable as piercing aftercare. Alcohol does not belong in the wound under any circumstances as it dries out the surrounding area and thus slows down the healing process. And don't even try it on us with ointments. They clog the piercing canal. The oft-mentioned Framycoin also contains antibiotics. And they're meant to treat any inflammation, not promote normal healing. |
So which aftercare product should I choose?
When choosing an aftercare product, you basically have two options.
Saline, otherwise also known as saline, solution
You can do your piercing a great service with a simple solution of table salt. The salt solution creates an environment compatible with body fluids, gently washing away impurities, giving the wound exactly the moisture it needs and creating optimal conditions for the natural healing process without causing irritation. You can easily mix the saline solution yourself at home from ordinary table salt and pure water. Of course, the utensils you use must also be clean. How to mix your own DIY saline solution can be found in our article Piercing care.
The big advantage is that it's an aftercare product almost for free. You always have salt and water at home. But you have to make the solution fresh before each cleaning. You don't prepare it with sterile ingredients in a sterile environment. Plus, it doesn't contain any disinfectant, so you'd get bacteria multiplying quickly. However, if you prepare the solution from clean drinking water and in a clean container and use it right away, the fact that it is not sterile does not prevent it from being sterile. You are treating the wound anyway with (clean!) hands, swabs, grabbers, which are not sterile. Of course, they have to be clean.
You can also buy saline or saline solution (0.9% aqueous NaCl solution) sterile packed. And either for around seventy crowns in a pharmacy or for a significantly more expensive penny in some piercing studios. It comes either in larger packs (similar to contact lens solution) or in single doses (usually 5 ml each in disposable plastic vials).
Because a store-bought sterile saline solution costs similarly, and sometimes even more, than a special aftercare spray, you lose the big advantage of a DIY saline solution, namely its low price. In addition, sterile store-bought solution does not contain a disinfectant component, so larger packages are at risk of contamination. Common practice in hospitals is to consider opened saline solution to be degraded after 24 hours and throw it away. However, research shows that with careful handling the container can be used for at least a month. Manufacturers of contact lens solutions (this is actually saline too) state a shelf life of 1-2 months once opened.
Specialised aftercare products
On the Czech market you can find several products that are called "aftercare for piercing". Some contain only saline solution, others have other ingredients. We are pleased to say that none of the ones we have had the opportunity to get our hands on are considered downright harmful. All of them, if properly stored, have at least the benefit to the piercing of washing well the purchased impurities from the wound without carrying away other impurities.
However, we advocate that aftercare products stored in long-term open packaging should contain a disinfectant component. This prevents unwanted bacteria and fungi from multiplying in the bottle and also disinfects the area around the fresh piercing.
It is not necessary for the preparation to be sterile. Air is not sterile. It contains viruses, bacteria, moulds and other delicacies that start to penetrate the product when the package is opened. That's why in hospitals, after 24 hours, opened sterile packs of saline are considered to have deteriorated and are disposed of, as we've discussed. This is why it is important that the aftercare product that remains open has a disinfectant component that can handle this type of inevitable contamination and keep it safe for use on wounds for a long time.
What we recommend in Hellu
The piercers at Hell recommend a freshly prepared DIY saline solution or Prontolind spray for piercing care, as we find them both effective and safe. Of course, store-bought saline solution packaged by the individual dose is fine too. But for the price, we find it better to choose a specialized aftercare product with a disinfectant component instead.
At Hellu, we recommend Prontolind spray in addition to DIY saline solution to our customers because:
What Prontolind contains
Hard data
Research from 2008 proves that the polyhexanide contained in it helps heal wounds even better than good old saline. Specifically, a product with polyhexanide has a 97% success rate compared to an 83% success rate with saline or Ringer's solution (i.e., another type of saline solution). Another study from 2016 confirms that the combination of polyhexanide and betaine (exactly as they are mixed together in Prontolinde) is significantly more effective in healing than treatment with regular saline. Both studies investigated the healing of tibial ulcers with Prontosan, which has an identical formulation to Prontolind and both are manufactured by the German company Prontomed.
Our experience
In the five years that we have been using Prontolind and recommending it to our customers, we have encountered several people who were not happy with Prontolind. They complained of irritation around the piercing. Years of piercing experience have shown us many times that no solution suits everyone. For these customers, care with a proven and gentler saline solution is definitely better. As Prontolind provides an excellent piercing care service for the vast majority of users - it can even cure incipient piercing canal infections thanks to the polyhexanide antiseptic ingredient it contains - we continue to recommend it, with the caveat that it may not suit sensitive individuals. Should this prove to be the case, opt for saline.
What to choose for piercing aftercare?
The piercers and pierceresses at Hell recommend freshly prepared DIY saline or Prontolind for piercing care, as they are considered effective and safe, which is also backed up by research. Of course, everyone is free to decide for themselves how to care for their piercings. We are here to take care of your piercing - even if it is pierced at home or at another studio - as we have been doing for years. And just because we have years of experience, we know that our recommendations will minimize the hassle with your piercing.
