One week ago (04/06) i got a stretch (4mm), got it tapered from nothing to 4mm.
When i got it, it didn't bleed or anything and after half an hour or something i hardly even felt i got it pierced (in a good way ofcourse ).

Now what i got from my piercer is a little bottle of "Antiseptic piercing aftercare", a solution existing of 0.12% Benzalkonium chloride and purified water.

What i was told to do is put some drops of the solution on a cotton bud, and rub it around my ear and on the tunnel itself (twice a day). But i think it's pretty strange as the stretch is hardly cleaned on the inside with this method since she told me to not twist the tunnel or take it out for the first 2 months.
And she never mentioned soaking the stretch in a sea salt solution which ,after reading through the topics here, is mostly advised by you guys?

The stretch isn't red, irritated or anything and doesn't hurt, but sinc i'm a newbie to this, i'm just a bit scared of infections and such.

And especially this morning, i was kind of panicking since i saw it bled a bit (even though i've been doing exactly what she said) and i have been trying not to sleep on my ear for the past week.


So in the end my question is (sorry for the long post by the way): am i doing ok with my piercing (e.g. aftercare, is it normal it bled a bit, ...)??

Thanks in advance


Edited by Fatum - September/13/2008 at 1:18pm

Sea salt soaks are by far the best healing product for any fresh piercing or stretch.  Your piercer is not keeping up with the current aftercare procedures.  Don't use the ear care solution, it will only end up delaying healing by causing excessive irritation.

Was this a new piercing or a healed piercing?  At what gauge was it pierced?  I would never recommend stretching that quickly.  If you wanted that large of a hole, you should have been pierced at that size, or stretched only 1 size at a time.


Edited by Carrie_p2005 - June/13/2008 at 9:48pm

It makes more sense now that you say you were pierced at 3mm then stretched to 4mm.  The way you worded it, it sounded like you were pierced at a small gauge and then stretched all the way to 4mm. 

Just because a shop has a good reputation and is clean does not always mean that the artists are keeping up with the times.  With piercing especially, there are constantly new techniques and procedures.  Just like how many piercers still recommend using soap....these aftercare procedures were recommended 10 years ago, but are no longer recommended today.

Check out this forum for more information regarding Benzalkonium chloride.  http://www.bodymod.org/forum/forum_posts~TID~6299~KW~.htm

If you want to use sea salt soaks, you don't have to get it from your piercer.  It's very easy to make your own.  You can find sea salt in any grocery story or health foods store, next to the regular salt.  Just make sure you get sea salt, not regular salt, and that it is iodine-free.  Mix 1/8 teaspoon sea salt in 4 ounces of warm water for about 5-10 minutes at a time 2-3 times per day.

Saline solution is sea salt solution.  The only difference is saline solution is premade and much more expensive.  The crystals dissolve in the water, so I don't see how they would scratch.

Thanks a lot everyone for the advice, i guess i'll be trying the sea salt soaks then and hope everything will work out fine.
Especially after reading through the topics about Benzalkonium chloride... :s
Kinda crappy to be honest... :(

Any hints or tips on how to get my lobe into the sea salt solution?