When you’re getting a body piercing, you must avoid certain actions to minimize the risk of getting a body piercing infection.
Actually there are three main types of body piercing infection you can get, not only one!
The first and the most common bugs you can get are some bacterial infections like Staphylococcus and Streptococcus. If you get one of these and the fresh piercing is really infected – painful, swollen and oozing yellow pus, your doctor will most likely prescribe antibiotics to kill the bacteria.
Actually it’s been reported that around 10 – 20% of all body piercings result in a small body piercing infections, so if your fresh body piercing is just slightly reddish and a bit tender to touch – most likely it’s going to pass within a few days.
The second type of body piercing infection is viral infections like hepatitis B and hepatitis C. This piercing infection can be transmitted to your body if the piercing instruments haven’t been properly sterilized. Using a disposable piercing needle is a must, and the piece of body jewelry that is inserted into your fresh piercing needs to be sterilized.
This is why it’s very important to make sure that the piercing studio is of the highest standards and the possibility of getting hepatitis is reduced to a minimum. If you have any doubts when entering the studio and talking to the guy or girl who’s going to pierce you – better leave the place and look for another one.
It would be really silly to get a viral infection when such diseases can be easily avoided by making sure all the health standards are met! So don’t hesitate to ask your piercer if he’s going to use a disposable piercing needle prior to getting pierced.
Another type of a possible body piercing infection includes parasites and other microorganisms. This may happen if you go swimming during the healing period in outdoor waters like seas, lakes and rivers.
So you are advised to avoid going into waters where microorganisms are living. Indoor swimming pools don’t pose such a threat due to chlorine added to water, but I guess you should avoid getting into the pool at least the first week or so after the piercing.