Article: Your piercer may sell bottles of saline solution or you can purchase them from most pharmacies, grocery stores, or online. You may see saline solution called "wound wash saline." Don't buy a solution that's designed for contact lenses since it may be too harsh for your piercing. before cleaning the piercing. Your piercing can become infected if bacteria gets into it, so it's important to thoroughly wash your hands with soapy water before you touch or clean the piercing. Dry your hands well on a clean cloth or paper towel. Keep your new piercing out of water that could be dirty, such as lakes, pools, or hot tubs. This can minimize your risk of infection. Dip clean gauze or paper towels into homemade or store-bought saline solution and gently press it on the piercing for 5 minutes. This should loosen any crusty bits of skin near the piercing and they'll come away when you pat the piercing dry. Don't pick off the crusty bits when the skin is dry or you could irritate the skin. If your body piercing can be submerged, lower it into homemade saline solution and soak for about 5 minutes. To submerge your piercing, fill your tub with a few inches of water and stir in salt until it's diluted. You could also use a sitz bath to soak genital piercings. Once the saline has soaked into the piercing, take a new paper towel and gently press it over the piercing. Keep patting the skin until the piercing is dry and then throw away the paper towel. Don't use a cloth towel even if it's clean. Cloth towels can catch on the jewelry and they may have bacteria on them that could get into the piercing site. Although you may think that cleaning your piercing even more can help it heal faster, cleaning too often can dry out your skin. Plan on cleaning the piercing just twice a day until the piercing is completely healed. Healing time will depend on what type of body piercing you got. For example, pierced ears take up to 4 months to heal while a naval, genital, or nipple piercing takes up to 6 months. Most oral or facial piercings will heal within 8 weeks. You should clean the piercing as gently as possible so don't use products that will dry out or irritate your skin. Avoid cleaning with rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, anti-bacterial hand sanitizers, and harsh soaps. Some of these products contain alcohol which will dry out your skin. This can make dead skin cells build up to form crusty material near the piercing site.
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Purchase saline solution from your piercer or a pharmacy. Wash your hands Hold saline-soaked gauze against the piercing for 5 minutes. Pat the piercing dry with a clean paper towel. Clean your piercing 2 times a day until the piercing has healed. Avoid using rubbing alcohol or hydrogen peroxide to clean the piercing.