How to Care for a Cartilage Piercing

Healing time for a cartilage piercing ranges from 3 months to a year. Diligent care and cleaning is important throughout the healing process. But cleaning a cartilage piercing is not complicated--just follow these simple steps and your piercing will likely heal quite nicely.

Things You'll Need

• Cotton balls or pads
• Antibacterial soap
• Cotton swabs

Instructions

1. Wash your hands thoroughly.

2. Saturate a cotton ball or pad with plain water and wet your ear with it.

3. Sparingly apply a few drops of antibacterial soap to your piercing and use a cotton swab to generate a lather.

4. Loosen any crusty discharge and sweep it away from your piercing using the cotton swab.

5. Gently rotate the jewelry back and forth within the piercing hole to ensure that the soap penetrates the inside of the piercing. Allow at least 2 minutes for this step.

6. Rinse with plain water and air dry.

Tips & Warnings

• Clean your cartilage piercing between 1 to 3 times per day.

• Use antibacterial soap containing either chloroxylenol or triclosan as an active ingredient.

• Do not touch your piercing except to clean it. This could lead to infection and formation of keloid scars.

• If you want to use a cleaning solution containing benzalkonium chloride, the active ingredient in Bactine, dilute it with 3 parts water to 1 part cleaning solution. Using a full-strength preparation can not only kill harmful bacteria, but also destroy new healing tissue.

• Change pillowcases, bed linens and towels frequently.

• Avoid allowing your hair to touch the piercing as this can introduce bacteria into the healing wound.

• Do not use alcohol, povidone iodine, hydrogen peroxide or tea tree oil to clean your piercing. These solutions are too harsh for piercings.

• Consult a doctor if you experience any unusual pain, swelling, discharge or redness at your piercing site.

• Do not change or remove your jewelry until the piercing heals completely.

• Do not use antibiotic ointments or creams at your piercing site unless recommended by a doctor.