The needle has come and gone. Just a flash of pain, now the hardest part of getting that body piercing is over, it's done now. At least thats what you thought. Don't let your guard down by ignoring that new piercing. Just a few general steps will help keep infection away, making sure you can keep your new body piercing.

It is most important to keep the area around your new piercing clean. If the technician applied any dressing or bandages be sure to wear it as long as they instructed. A fresh wound is the most vulnerable to infection. Failing to take care of a brand new piercing can result is more then just the loss of the body piercing. Serious medical complications can actually result, always pay close attention infected piercings and seek help if you can't get the situation under control.

In order to minimize the risk your piercing will face you must be sure to keep your hands clean when you need to touch your fresh piercing. Use an anti-bacterial hand soap to wash your hands each and every time you need to touch the body piercing while it is new. Be sure to pay special attention to your finger nails. Bacteria can really build up easily there so be sure to wash it well.

A lot of peoples first instinct to keep their piercing clean is to use rubbing alcohol somehow. This should never be done. It seems like a great idea that will kill off all the bacteria. However it ends up doing more damage by drying the skin out and irritating the piercing. This lengthens the time it will take the body piercing to heal, which means more chances for infection. Rubbing, also known as isopropyl alcohol is not a good idea.

Another important common technique to care for a body piercing is to use sea salt. Soaking the piercing in a sea salt solution for the first several months really helps to prevent infection. The sea salt solution is made with one quarter teaspoon sea salt in one cup of water. For the best cleansing effect use water as warm as you can stand. Be careful not to burn yourself with the water. Always be sure to test how hot it is before immersing your piercing. This is done two to three times a day soaking three to eight minutes each time. Do this for the first few months you have your new body piercing.