How To Prepare for a New Piercing

First Time Piercing Preparation Check List

It doesn’t matter if it’s your first piercing or your fiftieth, follow this guide on how to prepare for getting a piercing. Even the most seasoned pros still need to take safety steps in order to get a healthy piercing!

Find a Qualified Piercer with References

This probably wasn’t the first step you thought you’d see! But I can’t stress this enough. It doesn’t matter how well you prepare for a piercing, if you go to an unsanitary piercing studio or someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing, you might end up with an infection or another serious issue anyway!

Check out our post on finding a qualified piercer to get your piercing off to the best start.

Book an Appointment

If there’s anything of incredible importance that you’ll need to do before getting pierced, a qualified piercer should mention this when you first book your appointment.

You’ll want to make an appointment for a time when you won’t have to rush around immediately afterwards. Preferable on a day off so that you can relax and let your body heal itself.

Eat a Full Meal and Get Lots of Rest

This is preparation that is often discussed in regard to tattoos, but it can be just as important for piercings. You need to be at your healthiest when getting pierced as you’re literally preparing to be wounded and want your body to be in the best shape in order to fight off infections or other nastiness.

This means eating a full meal a couple hours beforehand, getting a full night’s sleep the night before and staying hydrated!

If you’re not 100%, like you woke up sick, you might want to cancel your appointment as this will lead to longer healing times.

Take a Shower or Brush Your Teeth

Brushing your teeth is especially important for oral piercing, but taking a shower and cleansing the area is an important step to take before getting pierced. Our bodies hold so much bacteria, even though your piercer should use cleansing techniques for the area immediately before getting pierced, it’s a safe bet to take.

Not to mention, piercers and tattooists do not want to be in close proximity to someone with bad hygiene!

Don’t Forget ID

You’ll need ID before getting any piercing, so don’t forget to bring this key piece.

New Cartilage Piercing

Wear Something Comfortable and Loose

Depending on the location of your piercing, you might want to wear something light that won’t irritate the fresh piercing. Even if you aren’t getting a piercing that may interact with clothing, wear something comfortable that’ll help you stay calm and still while getting pierced.

with clothing, wear something comfortable that’ll help you stay calm and still while getting pierced.

Avoid Makeup or Spray Tans

Any makeup that you wear in the area will be removed before getting pierced anyway. Never apply makeup to a healing piercing as this might lead to an infection.

Don’t Drink Alcohol, Energy or Heavily Caffeinated Drinks

It’s illegal to pierce or tattoo a person who seems to be under the influence of alcohol. So, don’t even drink lightly beforehand else you might get turned away!

On a list of things that should be avoided before getting pierced, alcohol, energy drinks and lots of caffeine can thin the blood leading to the blood not clotting properly when getting pierced. This may lead to more bleeding than expected.

The final step is to get your awesome piercing!