My Piercing Refuses To Heal What Should I Do?

In this article, I will discuss piercings; no one wants to admit that this could happen. And that is, what do you do when a piercing will not heal? It’s incredibly frustrating; you’ve done everything and don’t understand why this piercing will not heal. You’ve had it for months, you’ve had it for years, and no matter what, it just doesn’t ever seem happy. So, what do you do if you come across this?

Find Out The Causes

The first thing I suggest is figuring out what’s causing your piercing not to heal completely. Are there certain things that you could be changing or doing differently that may lead to it healing? Or do you need to kind of start over with it? So, there may be various reasons why it’s not healing. We’re going to go over those quickly, and then we’ll get to that one part that no one wants to hear.

You may want to see this: Ear Piercing Not Healing-Top 5 Reasons

What To Do If My Piercing Isn’t Healing?

Do Not Touch Your Piercing

The first thing you need to do is to make sure that you’re not touching your piercing. I know this is difficult; you constantly want to be like, “What’s it like today?” And your first instinct is to touch it.

Let me tell you, I’m really bad about this. I’ve had my forward helix piercing for a year now, and most of the time, it’s totally fine, behaving as expected and without any issues. But then, suddenly, out of nowhere, it decides to flare up and cause trouble.

I find myself asking, “Why are you doing this? Can’t you heal properly now?” One of the reasons it’s not healing is because I keep touching it and asking, “How are you doing today?” It’s no wonder it’s not getting better.

So I’ve learned my lesson, and now I try to stop touching it and leave it alone. Even though I’ve had it for years, like my forward helix, I know it’s best just to leave it be.

Keep Up With Piercing Aftercare Properly

Another reason your piercing may not be healing is that you need to keep up with your piercing aftercare or do improper aftercare.

No one wants to deal with aftercare on anything, whether it’s your tattoos, your piercings, or anything like that. It’s such a pain, but it’s only twice a day, it takes five minutes. It would help if you kept up with it. Just because you’ve done it every day for two weeks straight doesn’t suddenly mean that it will be perfectly fine if you slack off. You need to keep up with it.

You also need to make sure that you’re doing appropriate or proper piercing aftercare. So even if you’re keeping up with it, ensure you’re doing the good aftercare and not making it worse by doing something else.

You could use hydrogen peroxide to clean it instead of a saline solution. That’s an extreme example; I hope no one’s using hydrogen peroxide, but it drives the idea home. Make sure that you’re keeping up with your aftercare, but also make sure that your aftercare is appropriate.

Learn more here: what to do after ear piercing

Do Not Use Low-Quality Jewelry

Another reason why your piercing may not be healing is because of the jewelry that you have in it. You may have an allergy to the type of jewelry you have. It may be low-quality jewelry.

There are a variety of reasons why jewelry could be the reason why it’s not healing. Find out if you have an allergy; there are symptoms you can look for. My body prefers titanium; it does not react well to surgical steel. That also may be the case for you.

Try different types of materials. Also, make sure that if it’s a newer piercing, you’re not using something like acrylic or plastic, or any other materials that are bad for an initial piercing or one that is still healing.

Do Not Expose The Piercing To The Elements

You could also be exposing your piercing to the elements. This includes anything you may find outside or even products you use in your everyday life.

If you go outside and the sun is beating down on you, that can harm it. Getting something like a sunburn or sun damage to it can harm it. Submerging it in water before you are allowed to can also harm it because bacteria get into the site and eats away at it, and it gets all infected.

You need to ensure you’re aware of what’s happening around you. The same thing with products. If you are like me and you wear makeup, and you style your hair and everything like that, certain products can potentially get into piercing sites and make it so that they won’t heal.

So if you’re using hairspray, always cover up whatever piercing it is. The same with makeup. Try not to get the sponge, brush, or whatever to go across that piercing site because otherwise, that can irritate it and cause it to get infected and keep flaring up. We don’t need that.

Your Body Doesn’t Like It

Another reason why your piercing is not healing is your body doesn’t like it. Yes, this is a true possibility. Your body can be perfectly fine with all these other piercings you have, and then suddenly, it just doesn’t like this one, so it’s gonna be like, “I don’t really want it back.” That can happen.

That’s what rejection is; it’s trying to push it out. The same thing with just not healing completely may not lead to outright rejection, but it’s just never going to be happy, and it’s always going to cause issues. You may notice bumps; you may notice blood plus; it may be fine every so often, but then all of a sudden, that flare-up kicks back up.

Just keep in mind and take note of how your body is reacting. As I mentioned before, my body liked my conch because I never had issues with it, but every other piercing has had some issue during the healing process. I don’t know why my conch healed so well.

Do Not Give Up

So, with all those little things in mind as to why your piercing is not healing correctly, things that you may be able to tweak yourself, we come to the last resort that no one wants to even think about. Believe me, I don’t either, and that is taking the piercing out, letting it heal, letting it close up, and then trying again.

You spent a whole lot of time and effort on that piercing. You want to keep it, especially for something like that when you have invested so much time and energy into it. You don’t want to give up essentially. It’s not really giving up; it’s trying again.

If you really want that piercing and you’ve taken all the necessary steps to ensure proper healing, but it’s not improving, there’s one option you should consider. Taking out the jewelry is a good idea, but ensure the area is clean and infection-free. If there’s an infection, removing the jewelry could lead to the site closing up with the infection trapped inside, creating another issue. Therefore, ensure it’s thoroughly cleaned and free from infection.

If a flare-up happens, it’s not the same as an infection; it’s likely just irritation. In this case, let the piercing close up naturally, giving it time to heal. Afterward, you can try again. It might be worth visiting a different shop or studio, as there could have been an issue during the initial procedure. This is not to suggest any fault on the piercers or your part, but perhaps some airborne bacteria caused the problem. There can be a variety of reasons for the issue.

So, if you genuinely desire the piercing and have diligently followed all the guidelines and suggestions but still face difficulties, don’t hesitate to take it out, let it heal, and try again later.

Do Not Use A Piercing Gun

Now if you got it done with a piercing gun, I don’t like piercing guns. That could also lead to it never healing. You may have accidentally shattered your cartilage because you didn’t know any better. That blunt-force trauma to the site just may lead to it never healing. That’s another time we should take the jewelry out, let it heal, let it close, and try again.

Conclusion

Facing the possibility of removing the piercing is not easy; I completely understand that. You’ve invested money and time, and you’ve made every effort to ensure proper healing, but it’s just not happening. Before reaching that point, consider it as a last resort. You’ve already gone through the process, made changes, and adjusted things where needed. If you realize you might have made mistakes, you can make improvements. It’s normal for a flare-up to occur, but don’t worry, it’s okay. You’re not giving up or admitting defeat. Take a step back, let your body recover, and then try again.

So, there are various reasons why your piercing may not be healing, even months or years later. Just make sure you’re doing everything correctly; if not, that may be the cause.