Piercing Aftercare

At Dorje Adornments, we understand that the aftercare and healing journey is as important as the piercing experience! 

Cleaning your piercing

Spray your piercing for five seconds (front and back) with a sterile saline wound wash twice daily (morning and evening).

Dry your piercing anytime it gets wet, including after spraying your piercing with sterile saline wound wash or after showering. A blowdryer set on cold or low works great!

A bottle of NeilMed piercing aftercare fine mist, a green Monstera leaf, and an aftercare pamphlet on a wooden surface with a blurred background.

Avoid, avoid!

Do not sleep on your piercing.

Do not touch, twist, or rotate your piercing!

Do not use rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, antibiotic ointments, or tea tree oil on your piercing!

Try to avoid bumping, snagging, or hitting your piercing. Be cautious with towels and blankets to avoid snagging.

Close-up of a person's ear with multiple gold earrings, including a hoop, a heart-shaped stud, and a diamond-like ear cuff.

Important considerations

Avoid immersing your piercing in shared bodies of water or swimming for the entire healing period (shower water is great, open bodies of water are not)! 

We recommend not getting pierced if you plan to fly within 4-6 weeks. The altitude pressure from airplanes can cause excess swelling and discomfort.

Downsize your post

We highly recommend scheduling an appointment to shorten the post we used to initially pierce you. Our jewelry comes in two pieces - The decorative front piece and the back post it secures into. At this stage, most of the swelling should have subsided and you should notice some extra length!

Shortening your post is a crucial part of the healing process as a longer post can cause either the angle of the piercing to permanently shift, irritation, or both.

FAQs

  • Piercings are fresh wounds and because of that, you will experience a build up of discharge. Cleaning the piercing prevents the discharge from building consistently and flaking over time both around the piercing channel, your post, and your jewelry.

    This allows you to heal properly, prevent anything from entering your healing piercing, and to keep your jewelry looking its best.

  • Twice a day, no more, no less! Cleaning more than twice a day consistently can cause some irritation or moisture buildup.

    Remember: spray the front and the back, dry well, and do not touch your piercing.

    If you struggle to remember, tie the process into one of your existing routines like washing your face or brushing your teeth.

  • When we pierce you, we take great care in ensuring your piercing is angled perfectly perpendicular to your tissue to look aesthetically optimal. When you sleep on it, you put prolonged pressure on the piercing at a different angle. After doing this for several hours a night, many nights in a row, the angle of your piercing will permanently shift.

    There is no solution for an angled piercing other than completely redoing the piercing and starting the healing process over.

    If you’re concerned, one solution is purchasing a travel or piercing pillow online. You can lay on the pillow with your ear through the hole, ensuring no pressure is placed on your piercing.

  • We highly advise against the use of anything other than sterile saline or water on a fresh piercing. Many of these solutions can be too harsh, dry out the piercing, discolor or damage your jewelry, or cause a chemical burn on the area surrounding your piercing. The perceived reward is not worth the risk.

    If you are having issues with a piercing, please reach out to us and we can have a piercer troubleshoot with you.

  • We advise against the use of paper towels and Q-tips on your piercing. These items may not be sterile, can leave fibers on your jewelry or piercing, and can knock into the piercing causing excess irritation.

    Water or saline typically softens up any buildup of debris and the pressure of the running water/spray typically washes it away.

Downsizing

(SHORTENING YOUR POST)

The way that your piercing heals is just as important as the initial experience. Downsizing (shortening the length of your stud’s post) helps to prevent irritation and preserve the angle of the piercing:

1

Simple line drawing of a piercing with a round barbell. The piercing appears to be inflamed and swollen. Caption reads: "How your jewelry looks in a fresh piercing with a tid bit of swelling."

Initial Piercing

When you get pierced (with the exception of septum and daith piercings), we use a longer post initially. This is because your piercing will experience a few weeks of swelling and we want to make sure you have enough room to accommodate that.

For the first few days or even first week, you may not initially notice any swelling and the post may appear long. Keep an eye on your piercing and be extra cautious of snagging during this stage.

2

Line drawing of a piercing with a decorative top and vertical bar, accompanied by text that reads 'How your jewelry looks in a piercing with a little while of proper aftercare.'

Swelling

Swelling typically happens within the first 3-8 weeks, so keeping a longer post during this timeframe is important. With proper aftercare and not sleeping on the piercing, you’ll notice that swelling will subside and leave you with a longer post.

Depending on which piercing you received, the timeframe for swelling going down will vary. We will prepare you with that timeline, and send you an email reminder when it’s time to come back in.

3

Illustration of a piercing with a decorative top, showing how jewelry looks in a pierced and downsized ear, with the caption "How your jewelry looks in a piercing after trusting your piercer and downsizing."

Downsizing

When you come back for your downsize, your piercer will perform a checkup on your piercing to see if we are ready for a shorter post.

Once your post is downsized, the piercing will appear flush against the skin and can typically stick at that length for the life of the piercing.

4

A simple black and white drawing of a thumbtack on a textured beige background. Below the drawing, there is a humorous caption that reads, "How your jewelry looks in a piercing after you didn’t downsize and slept on it all willy nilly."

Not Downsizing

Downsizing is important for a few reasons: Having a well fitting post is aesthetically optimal, it prevents the post moving through the piercing channel which can cause residual irritation, and it prevents the piercing angle shifting.

If you opt not to downsize, you may experience any of the issues listed above. The only way to correct the angle of your piercing shifting is by redoing the piercing completely.

Image credit: Our friends at Industrial Berkeley!

Healing Times

A detailed diagram of a human ear with labeled parts including the , helix, conch, earlobe, stacked lobe, daith, forward helix, rook, and tragus, showing various earlobe and cartilage structures.

  • Includes earlobe and stacked earlobe piercings.

    Time it takes to:

    Heal: 4-6 months
    Downsize: 2 months
    Switch to a hoop: 6+ months

  • Time it takes to:

    Heal: 9-12 months
    Downsize: 3 months
    Switch to a hoop: 12+ months

  • Time it takes to:

    Heal: 9-12 months
    Downsize: 3 months
    Switch to a hoop: 12+ months

  • Time it takes to:

    Heal: 9-12 months
    Downsize: 3 months
    Switch to a hoop: 12+ months

  • Time it takes to:

    Heal: 9-12 months
    Downsize: 3 months
    Switch to a hoop: 12+ months

  • Time it takes to:

    Heal: 9-12 months
    Downsize: 3 months
    Switch to a hoop: 12+ months

  • Time it takes to:

    Heal: 9-12 months
    Downsize: N/A
    Switch to a hoop: N/A

  • Time it takes to:

    Heal: 9-12 months
    Downsize: N/A
    Switch to a hoop: N/A

  • Time it takes to:

    Heal: 9-12 months
    Downsize: 3 months
    Switch to a hoop: 12+ months

  • Time it takes to:

    Heal: 4-6 months
    Downsize: 2 months
    Switch to a hoop: 6+ months

    To best determine a timeline for you to continue stretching your piercing once it’s healed, please reach out to your piercer.

  • Time it takes to:

    Heal: 12-18+ months
    Downsize: 3 months
    Switch to a hoop: 18+ months

  • Time it takes to:

    Heal: 12-18+ months
    Downsize: 3 months
    Switch to a hoop: 18+ months

  • Time it takes to:

    Heal: 12-18+ months
    Downsize: 3 months
    Switch to a hoop: 18+ months

  • Time it takes to:

    Heal: 6-9 months
    Downsize: 2 months
    Switch to a hoop: 9+ months

  • Time it takes to:

    Heal: 3-4 months
    Downsize: N/A
    Switch to a hoop: N/A

  • Time it takes to:

    Heal: 9-12+ months
    Downsize: 2 months
    Switch to a hoop: N/A

  • Time it takes to:

    Heal: 3-4 months
    Downsize: 2 months
    Switch to a hoop: 4+ months

  • Time it takes to:

    Heal: 3-4 months
    Downsize: 3 weeks
    Switch to a hoop: 6+ months

  • Time it takes to:

    Heal: 3-4 months
    Downsize: 3 weeks
    Switch to a hoop: 6+ months

  • Time it takes to:

    Heal: 12 months
    Downsize: 2 months
    Switch to a hoop: N/A

  • Time it takes to:

    Heal: 2 months
    Downsize: 3 weeks
    Switch to a hoop: N/A

  • Time it takes to:

    Heal: 9-12 months
    Downsize: 3 weeks
    Switch to a hoop: 12+ months

  • Time it takes to:

    Heal: 9-12 months
    Downsize: 3 months
    Switch to a hoop: 12+ months