How To Care For Your New Cartilage Piercing

It's official I'm semi addicted to piercings. I used to have two dermal piercings on my chest and one on my neck, but after a series of unfortunate events they fell out or had to be removed. I stayed away from them for a while. Recently, however, I got some Christmas money and had no idea what to do with it. 

That is until I wanted my cartilage pierced. I've wanted some ear bling for a while but whenever I had the money I would forget to do it. But this time I was like F it let's go. So right before I went to work I went to icing and had them do it. I know you're supposed to use a needle instead of a gun because it's less likely to get an infection or reject. But after talking to my friend who already had her cartilage done at claire's I decided to give it a try, plus piercing there is free.

It was pretty painless, it just felt like a really hard pinch. And every time I touched it, it hurt but it's a puncher wound so I'd imagine it would. It's pretty easy to take care of just make sure you clean it. There's a little more so here's a rundown of how to care for a cartilage piercing if you're considering getting one.

• With me going to icing I did get a cleaning solution which I highly recommend that you get. You can use unscented antibacterial Soap, but from all my piercings Soap can be very drying which can irritate your piercing.
• If you do choose to do the soap method make sure you rinse it well, and you're moving the earring around to make sure you get all the Soap out.
• If you're going to use a cleansing solution and you're not sure which to get. Ask your piercer. If you go to icings or claire's they give you a solution and most reputable piercing places have cleaning solutions available.
• Make sure you clean it one to two times a day. Easiest way to remember is do it when you wake up and when you go to bed just add it too your hygiene routine.
• When you're cleaning it rotate the piercing moving it counter clockwise and back and forth to make sure your ear doesn't heal around it.
• The most difficult part of my piercing was trying to go to sleep. If you sleep on your side like me, just sleep with your arm under your head so you're not laying directly on it.
• If you experience any pain, swelling or irritation after 24 hours. That's not normal, talk to your piercer or doctor about a potential infection. But if you're cleaning it properly and using the right cleaning solution you should be fine.

Good luck with your piercings