Hi,
I am a body piercer & I would like to offer some advice =]
Most piercings can in fact take up to a year to fully heal, but usually the outside of most piercings settles down around the 6 week mark, so dont worry if your piercing looks red after 2 weeks. Clean it twice a day for 2 weeks then cutting it down to once a day for the next 2-3 weeks, you want your body to start taking over its own healing/cleaning process. Do NOT use table salt, use rock or sea salt, or better still a piercing spray, savlon spray can increase swelling. Do not over clean it, you WILL make it sore. Also dont touch/pull/play with your piercing, bacteria on your hands will easily find its way inside your piercing.
If your piercing really is infected, then you will definitely know about it, it will be too sore to move & the discharge will smell.
If you notice green or black stains from jewellery, then you probably have a nickel sensitivity, switch to using Titanium jewellery & definitely no cheap jewellery in the future.
All initial piercings are pierced with longer bars to allow room for swelling, which is completely natural. Don't change the bar for something tiny after a few weeks, wait for at least 6 weeks. If its still a little sore after then, wait some more.
Don't listen to what your 'friends' did, they are not the professionals, if your unsure go and ask one, they will be able to help you.
I hope this helps some of you =]

Hey guys, A little information for you people that have had your belly button pierced. I had mine done about a year ago, I had it done at a very well known place and was perfectly fine, However, Taking care of it was my biggest problem. I always fiddled with it and moved it about, which is what your not meant to do. So whatever you do dont do it becuase this caused me to get an infection from letting in bacteria etc. Also in school i found it wise to take out my bar for exercise in school but putting it back in was bad, my hole had dried up and forcing in my bar was badddd, eventually it got infected again (My bad :D) but now its fine, i have learnt lesson and use antibacterial everytime i take my bar out, its like a lube kind of thing, also it keeps the germs out! Just listen to what the people tell you when you get your belly done. They know what their doing – Go to a good place! Also use to check up well for any problems, the piercing can move and even go slanted if played with too much! Good luck :)

Hello :) i had my belly button pierced about 2 weeks ago my freiend also had it done her belly button is fine but mine is very red abd sore. I was a little worried when i had it done beacuse it bled really bad and my friends didnt bleed atall. :s i am really worried that it night be infected and i dont know hwta oto do ? please help,,,,. !

my ear has gone black/green aswell people comment on it but i tend to just let it go and now my ears are back to normal. i am wanting to getting loads of piercings but my ears dont react well with piercing so i was wondering wether piercings would effect the rest of my body aswell??

hey im Called Lauren and i am 13 yrs of age and i got my nose pierced and i don't no if it got infected or not it started to dry up inside but it was dry blood.. ?? im really confused . but its getting better i was just curious thats all .cyaa xx

Hi i got my ear peirced and it is black in the hole what does that mean and what should i do?

Yo. i got my tongue pierced 2and half weeks ago. It swelled up and went back down as usual and i clean it all the time. The piercest shop was closed when i went back to change after 2 weeks so im waiting til this weekend. But all my tastebuds or something is like red and sore at t front of my tongue and is gettin me worried. Any idea what is wrong??

hey to all you people i have my tongue pierced for over 2years now. the first time i got it done it swoll up loads and i cudnt eat r drink the reason was that the woman had pierced it to far back. so dif take it out cause it will get infected. i went 2weeks after to the guy that has done my 4tattoos and belly piercin and ive neva had any problems with my tongue r anything. ps your tongue will swell up but you won't choke. also the person that is piercin your tongue should tell you to come back within 2weeks to change your bar for you till a smaller bar f they don't then don't get your tongue pierced there cause they don't have a clue what they are doing. if your belly piercin starts pussin then get antiseptic savlon spray it comes in a c threw blue bottle it really helps. clean round your piercin wit hot water and a cotton bud then spray it on. do it bout 4times a day. hope this info helps some of you. x

Wow.. I never new there could be so many problems with piercings! I'm 15, and I have my tongue, lip, navel (belly), and ears pierced loads.. I never had anything more than a little bit of crustiness near my belly button. (Which was treated with Neosporin!)I was surprised when I saw all of these posts.. All I can say is make sure to keep everything clean as possible. For tongue and lip piercings, brush your teeth twice a day (duh?), and use germ killing mouthwash. If your lip is pierced, be sure to wash the outer part as well, with antibacterial soap. (:

Good luck (: xx

hiya,

i had my nipple pierced about 3 yrs ago and it weeps with puss if i sqeeze around the hole and it doesnt smell very nice. i have tried everything to clear it up but no matter what i use it just comes back with in days? have you any idea what i can do to sort it?