Thinking of getting a piercing? It's vital to go to a dedicated piercing shop where body and facial adornments are the sole focus of the business. This will ensure the highest level of hygiene and professionalism, avoiding infection, itching and soreness. Once pierced, do all you can to keep the skin around your new jewellery clean with the best possible aftercare products.
A saline solution will keep freshly-pierced skin healthy, but for something even more professional, take a look at our ranking of the best value aftercare products to buy online from Amazon and eBay this year. From sprays and wipes by brands like EasyPiercing and H2Ocean to antibacterial essential oils, we're sure there's something for every ear, tongue, nose or cartilage piercing on our comprehensive list.
Quick List - Top Piercing Aftercare Solution
Prontolind
A Brilliant Product for Care Without Compromise
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There are a few different ways to take care of a new piercing and each has its benefits and drawbacks, depending on your routine and the type of protection you're looking for. Use our guide to help you select the right form of aftercare and the appropriate ingredients.
How do you want to care for your piercing once you've got it? Quickly and efficiently? Thoroughly with a slower process? Look at our guide to the types of aftercare product on the market so you can select which method best suits the type of piercing and your personal lifestyle.
Pick a cleaning spray for your new piercing if you want a simple, easy-to-apply product that involves minimal touching of what is essentially a fresh wound.
The key benefit of a spray is its efficiency, but it will also last longer and particularly suits piercings in hard-to-reach places such as those inside the mouth and cheeks, or surface piercings at the back of the neck.
That crusty layer that builds up around your piercing the first few days after you get it done? It's totally normal. It's simply made up of dead cells which helped the skin around the new puncture to heal. Wipes are ideal for cleaning this away sharpish.
Pick sterile and/or antibacterial wipes to gently sweep this scabby layer away from your new jewellery, all whilst killing any bacteria that may be lurking around the piercing – the likes of which could cause an infection if not thoroughly cleansed.
Perfectly acceptable to use alongside other piercing aftercare products is a specially-formulated gel soap, which allows you to clean your newly-pierced skin in the bath or shower safe in the knowledge that its ingredients are specifically designed to prevent infections and help skin heal.
Liquid soaps for piercings usually contain antibacterial ingredients and work well to keep fresh tattoos nice and clean too, should you happened to have gone all out at the studio!
If you're worried about pouring lots of chemicals on to your skin, you may favour a blend of antiseptic essential oils. They'll help your skin to heal naturally, and tend to contain far fewer ingredients so you can be fairly certain they're kinder to your body and the environment overall.
The downside of oil drops is they aren't as time-saving to use as sprays or wipes, but they may work out significantly cheaper on average as they are much more concentrated.
For piercings in or near the mouth, make sure you invest in a good quality saline mouthwash to cleanse the healing skin thoroughly.
Salt-based solutions are particularly effective as they flush through the piercing, washing away buildup and discharge from the fresh wound.
It's particularly important to go for aftercare products described as antibacterial, because they are best placed to prevent what is essentially a healing wound from becoming unclean and infected. Any cleansing product listed as antibacterial fights the germs that, if allowed to breed near your open wound, could cause an unpleasant infection.
Antiseptic products work in a similar way, stopping disease-causing microorganisms from growing on your skin. The best natural antiseptic ingredients to keep an eye out for are tea tree oil and almond oil.
You may also spot the word 'sterile', which simply means completely clean and free of microorganisms and bacteria. Look out for saline solutions (containing sodium chloride, i.e. salt) as these will be effective cleansers that won't irritate broken skin. Any combination of the above properties gives a piercing the best chance of healing smoothly.
One thing many piercing experts recommend is to avoid not only ingesting alcohol for at least 2 days after you've had your piercing, but also to avoid putting it on your skin.
Consuming alcohol causes dehydration which can lead to uncomfortable swelling and inflammation, and there's probably enough of that already! Alcohol also has a drying effect when used topically, so don't apply it to the piercing as you'll risk drying out fresh new cells forming around the pierced area.
Products | Image | Click to purchase | Key features | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Prontolind Antibacterial Spray for Piercings, Tunnels and Body Mods | ![]() | A Brilliant Product for Care Without Compromise | |
2 | Tatoo Goo Deep Cleansing Soap for Tattoos and Piercings | ![]() | The Best Cleanser for Hitch-Free Healing | |
3 | NatraSan Antiseptic Travel Buddy Spray | ![]() | A Versatile Antiseptic Spray to Banish Germs | |
4 | EasyPiercing Antibacterial Body Piercing Aftercare Spray | ![]() | Quick Healing From an Expert Brand | |
5 | The Aftercare Company BPA Piercing Aftercare Solution | ![]() | Natural, Soothing and Gentle Drops for On the Go | |
6 | EasyPiercing Oral Aftercare Mouth Rinse | ![]() | Ideal for Lip, Cheek and Tongue Piercings | |
7 | NeilMed Neilcleanse Piercing Aftercare, Fine Mist | ![]() | The Best Saline Solution for Hard-to-Reach Piercings | |
8 | Blue Banana ProPierce Antibacterial Tea Tree and Almond Oil | ![]() | Soothe Infections and Bumps the Natural Way | |
9 | St John Ambulance Alcohol-Free Sterile Cleansing Wipes | ![]() | Simple, Controlled Cleaning From a Trusted Medical Brand | |
10 | H2Ocean Body Piercing Aftercare Spray | ![]() | The Best-Selling Spray With the Power of the Ocean |
A tip-top product which covers all piercing bases, this unrivalled spray is highly rated across many a retail and body mod site due to its fast-acting ingredients, professional seal of approval and convenient spray bottle.
Non-perfumed and compatible with almost every skin type, this product has received the Dermatest independent laboratory rating of 'very good' thanks to its effectivity and superbly straightforward application process. It's reasonably priced, effective, and safe – what more could you need?
Ultimately, keeping the pierced area washed and clean is the perfect basis for good healing, so a pH-balanced liquid soap that prevents the growth of microbial bacteria is just the ticket.
This one smells great, rinses away beautifully clean and comes recommended by many professionals. We rate this as the best option if you want to ensure your piercing is thoroughly cleansed through every nook and cranny. And as the name suggests, you can keep it around for any new tattoos that need cleaning, too.
Great for any kind of wound and, of course, well-suited to healing new piercings too, this UK-made multi-purpose antiseptic spray is a top pick for professional piercers and those with lots of body adornments.
It's easily transported so could come along if you've got a trip planned directly after a new piercing, and generally makes a good addition to any holiday or home first-aid kit.
One of Amazon's highest-rated aftercare products, this solution by EasyPiercing comes from a great brand with years of experience in the piercing products industry.
The antiseptic formula kills bacteria so that your piercing can heal comfortably and safely without developing itchiness or inflammation. It's easy to spray onto skin and helps to reduce secretions to keep your piercing free from build-up during the healing process.
BPA's Piercing Aftercare Solution is made up of a combination of natural ingredients rich in plant vitamins that effectively clean the pierced area, and add nutrients to skin whilst also protecting your new jewellery itself.
These drops are popular with online customers due to the conveniently-sized, travel-friendly small bottle and easy application process. This is a fine product, ideal for use after you've cleaned with saline – just add a few drops to soothe and protect skin as it heals.
This antibacterial mouthwash is the perfect healing treatment for fresh tongue, lip and dimple piercings since it cleanses the healing skin without aggravating or inflaming its broken surface.
Containing essential oils including antioxidant-rich clove, this product promises to decongest the healing area and avoid swelling of the lips, cheek or tongue, resulting in a healthy new piercing. As a bonus, it also tastes sweet and delicious!
Ideal for spritzing those hard-to-reach areas to ensure the skin does not become irritated, this saline spray is even easier to use thanks to its long tip and the fact that it operates even when inverted upside down or on its side.
The fine mist can also be used for soaking the freshly-pierced area for a little longer if it's sensitive. This sterile, preservative-free liquid effectively supports your skin's natural healing process, and although it is another a simple salt solution, it really does make new piercing aftercare so much easier.
This product is best used when a piercing has become infected or inflamed as it contains naturally-derived antibacterial and antiseptic tea tree and almond oil which help to gently soothe red, aggravated skin.
The vitamin E present in almond oil makes it rich in the fatty acids Omega 3 and Omega 6, meaning it has the capacity to heal irritation, and will also support the maintenance of healthy skin cell membrane. As it has more of a specific use, this oil is probably best purchased alongside other aftercare products.
These individually-wrapped wipes from St John Ambulance are actually designed for use on cuts and scrapes, but that only means they're extra hygienic and perfect for careful cleansing of new piercings.
Saturated with a completely sterile saline solution, they are easy to control and can be used to firmly and swiftly wipe away the crusting that often appears around new jewellery while the pierced hole heals. The downside is that, like with most pre-packaged wipes, they are a bit wasteful.
This hugely popular product uses purified ocean salt water to cleanse and sterilise recent piercings. It's here on our list because it has the power to thoroughly rinse away scabbing without leading to infection.
H2Ocean's spray is highly effective and non-irritating as it is essentially just a solution of salt and water – it doesn't make it to a higher ranking as this could easily be mixed yourself. What you pay for here is the convenient spray, and the reassurance that it has been packaged in a completely sterile way, which isn't always guaranteed at home.
Piercings and tattoos go hand in hand, so if you've got fresh ink (or plan on getting some!), you'll want to make sure you have the appropriate aftercare for that, too. Check out the article below for shopping tips and our carefully-chosen recommendations.
Thus concludes our guide to the best piercing aftercare products available online this year. Whether you've got a brand-new belly button ring or a novel nose stud, we're sure you'll spy something on our list that will aid healthy healing and protect it from the dust and dirt of daily life. Show off your piercing in style this year!
Author: Annie Hopkins
No. 1: Prontolind|Antibacterial Spray for Piercings, Tunnels and Body Mods
No. 2: Tatoo Goo|Deep Cleansing Soap for Tattoos and Piercings
No. 3: NatraSan|Antiseptic Travel Buddy Spray
No. 4: EasyPiercing|Antibacterial Body Piercing Aftercare Spray
No. 5: The Aftercare Company|BPA Piercing Aftercare Solution
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