Nipple Care

Summary

Healing Time 2 months, depending on the amount of cartilage pierced

Do not touch your piercing with unwashed hands

Do not let others touch it while it is healing

Clean your healing piercing once a day only, using antibacterial soap

Wash and dry your hair before piercing, and frequently thereafter

Never use alcohol swabs, Betadine, hydrogen peroxide or tea tree oil to clean your piercing

Pain, redness and unusual discharge may be due to infection. Consult your piercer or a physician if you develop any of these symptoms

Take vitamin C and zinc to maximise your healing

Wait till your piercing is healed before changing jewelry yourself

Bacterial Infection Prevention

Bacterial infectioncan be especially dangerous with nipple piercings, as infection can spread to the milk ducts in the breast and then become very difficult to treat. Symptoms may include increased pain, a lump in the breast, increased redness and an increase in the amount and thickness of the discharge. The infected discharge is usually thick and yellow, green or grey and may have an unusual odor.

If only the nipple is red or sore, consult with your physician or piercer and do not remove the jewelry until you seek advice. Removing the jewelry may prevent pus draining and cause an abscess to form.

If the surrounding breast itself is red, hot, swollen or you feel unwell, this is an emergency: Consult a physician immediately as this could be mastitis.

Breastfeeding

Nipple piercing should not adversely affect breastfeeding. There are dozens of milk ducts in the average female nipple, and piercing usually cuts off only a few of these. During breastfeeding you can

remove the jewelry altogether, and have the piercing re-opened later,

wear a circular bar bell and remove it only while feeding

or you can wear a curved or straight barbell which allows the baby to feed normally. In Victorian times doctors would recommend piercings to women with inverted nipples.