The Modern Piercing Guide: After care, Trends and New Ideas

Piercing is an awesome mode of self-expression, a lot like tattoos but way more temporary and reversible. Piercings have come into vogue recently, with more celebrities and social media stars jumping on board the jewelry train. Piercing emporiums have begun to appear in major metropolitan areas, like Liberty, where expert Maria Tash gave her tips and tricks for piercing aftercare and maintenance. She insists that earlobe and upper ear piercings remain the most popular, with customers get bars, dangling earrings and studs. These have been the foundation of piercings across cultures and locations for hundreds of years, if not thousands. And they remain the staple piercings today. Here is the ultimate guide to trending piercings and how to care for them:

Never touch your piercing with dirty hands, as bacteria can get in and cause infection, swelling and pain. This is especially true while it is healing. Also, try to keep other tools and body parts away from the ear that have not been sterilized.

Any piercing that is not in the mouth should only be cleaned twice a day while it is healing. Over-cleaning the area can cause it to become irritated and painful, which slows the healing process.

Saline solution or very mild, non-scented soap is the way to go for cleaning piercings. Perfumed soaps and harsh cleaners can irritate the holes when they are trying to heal. Warm to hot water is also a good idea. A clean q-tip or cotton ball will work wonders.

Giving the new earring a little twist is good to keep the hole open while it heals. But when cleaning the area, try not to roughly handle the piercing or jostle it too much. This is counter-productive to the healing process and may actually result in a deeper wound.