Genital or oral piercings are basically the same when it comes to taking care of them:

Wash your hand carefully, when touching the piercing and remember only to touch the ball and not the barbell or ring. Here’s what you can do to take care of the scab that will build up around your piercing:

• When taking a shower let it soak and spray with a disinfecting wound spray (like Octenisept®). Then try to take the scab off with your finger or even better, with clean gauze. You can also use a paper towel, but try not to use cotton swabs, because they leave too much lint on the wound. Then spray again with some kind of disinfectant on both sides of the piercing and move it around about 4-5 times, so the disinfectant gets into the piercing canal. Repeat this twice a day.
• We recommend you use a good disinfectant, instead of creams or lotions, because they will clog the piercing and make it worse. Also do not use tea bags or other kind of tinctures or more than one treatment at a time. Octenisept® usually works best and does not burn at all.

After the piercing is completely healed, it also needs to be cleaned constantly by twisting it around in the shower about 4-5 times. That way sweat and dirt cannot get stuck in it. It is also important to constantly wear you piercing and leave the jewelry in. Otherwise the piercing will close up within a couple of hours and new jewelry cannot be inserted without piercing the skin again. In case of infection, do not ever take the jewelry out, because it would make it worse and the infection can be buried inside the skin. In case your piercing gets infected, call us, ask your piercer or call a doctor (who should know at least a little bit about piercings).

How to take care of navel piercings:
You should not wear belts with big belt buckles, because it will come in constant contact with your piercing and can cause an infection or, even worse, could get stuck in the piercing and tear it. Also avoid tight pants, tight clothes in general or anything that could get stuck on the piercing and tear it (like lace or knitted clothing). During the first couple of weeks do not wear belly shirts, unless you cover your piercing with a big band-aid so no dirt can get into the piercing. Make sure to change the band-aid every 2-3 hours. If you chose a ring for your navel piercing, make sure it stays straight by using a rolled up piece of gauze.

How to take care of your tongue piercing:
Try to use an antiseptic mouthwash like Esemdent®, Hexoral® or Listerine®. You can also use Octenisept®, but make sure not to swallow any of it. Do not overuse mouthwash, because that could cause problems for the environment of your mouth. You can use cold club soda to cool it. Within the first 48 hours after getting your tongue pierced keep the following things in mind:

• Do not smoke right after the piercing is done (might be a good time to quit smoking for good).
• To keep swelling down, chew on ice cubes (but be careful not to “freeze” your tongue) or drink cold club soda. No matter what you do, the tongue will probably swell within the first couple of days. 
• Use mouthwash after every meal. 
• Do not eat hot or spicy food.
• Drink a lot of water or tea.

After it is healed completely do not play with it too much, so that you don’t damage your teeth or accidentally chip them.  Even though your piercing is some form of a “toy” it can damage your teeth a lot!

Regards
Stanley tattoo and Piercing crew.