as someone who also struggles with mental illness such as depression and ADHD, it really eases my conscience knowing that even some of the best and knowledgeable piercers struggle with aftercare as well, thanks Lynn, I always love your content!
Appreciate this one! I take just about forever to heal things (a solid year for even an earlobe) due to a thousand things. I’m autistic and often wear headphones, I toss around when I sleep, I’m often ill, all this contributes to my piercings just being massive pains in my ass, but I keep them in cause I love them! And I love that even if it takes yonks and more trouble than it’s worth my body can eventually heal beautifully.
The shame spiral is real. Positive self talk and self compassion are so important, I wish it was taught in school! Thanks for touching on this important topic :)
Try not to be so hard on yourself! I definitely understand the shame, I have experienced it myself. I've had irritation bumps and gone months without going to my piercer so I could wait until I was "presentable" and "a good client". But at the end of the day, people have autoimmune issues, or their bodies are worse with healing, or they're struggling with mental health, so people shouldn't be judged harshly for having irritation bumps or having a rocky healing road. You're doing ok!
Thanks for this video. I am always so embarrassed to go back to my piercer if one of my piercings looks irritated or has a bump because I feel ashamed that I screwed up their piercing. Your message made me feel a lot better.
Next time you feel bad just tell yourself “Lynn definitely has a bump on at least one piercing right now, so if a professional can be lumpy so can I!” 😅
If this helps anyone at all, my piercer and I had a very honest conversation about irritation and the fact that a lot of my piercings are irritated (especially since last August I got Covid and ever since, none of them have fully recovered) and with 18 years of experience, he agreed wholeheartedly that irritation is just part of the healing process. He also recommended, with my current irritation, skipping saline and any attempts to remove crusties and only rinsing it in the shower & blow-drying on low heat to remove any moisture and I'm already doing the first half of that (and I probably won't get to the hair-dryer, sorry Mike 😂) so sometimes it *is* recommended to do less and leave it the hell alone What helps me personally with keeping that saline going longer is keeping a bottle of saline spray in the shower caddy with a small mirror, where I will give my piercings a quick rinse after turning off the water, but even that isn't perfect Also something I read/heard recently regarding inconsistency in brushing your teeth was "anything is better than nothing - spending 20 seconds brushing your teeth badly is still better than not doing any at all"
This video totally came at the right time for me! Had my bellybutton done (only my third piercing ever) and my piercer told me to leave it alone as much as possible - so I did, however it soon developed an irritation bump. Later, my jewelry snagged and one of the gem ends dislodged, causing some fluid, redness, and soreness from the bump. I cleaned it well and set my jewelry back in right. Now I'm wearing large patch bandages over my bellybutton area so it doesn't get rubbed on to avoid another bump and and inspecting the piercing for cleaning every night. I felt SO guilty about the whole ordeal that I seriously considered just taking the piercing out, but I took a step back and gave myself some grace - the piercing looks and feels FINE only a few days later, and it's only two months old, so I've got plenty of healing left to do and it wouldn't have been perfect already anyway. Advice like yours is what saves beautiful piercings, Lynn! I wouldn't have known what was normal or what to do if I wasn't so consistently engaged by your great content.
as someone with adhd healing piercings is SO HARD. even just following LITHA is barely possible for me because my hands just want to fiddle with any loose thing available. thank you for the reassurance, it means a lot my strategy to this point has been hand in hand with my wallet: go occasionally, knowing that healing will take longer for me, and save up for nice jewelry. i go to ICON (hope to see you there when you’re next in town) and i love that i can choose to afford the beautiful pieces i see by saving up for them
Thanks for posting this. I have a conch piercing that I'm healing and my piercer told me basically just rinse it for two minutes in the shower and don't touch it too much, and I tried to do it like that but every time I saw it was crusty or swollen I was worried that I wasn't doing enough to care for it and became distressed over it. I will remember your advice that it's okay and it's just still healing
I feel like I have the opposite issue. I fixate on them too much and can’t leave them alone trying to keep them perfectly clean. Then they get irritated lol
I just want to say that some of the inconsistencies come from the piercer. In this video you talk about cleaning the piercing twice a day for the entirety of the healing eg a year for some cartilage or maybe more however when I recently got my upper ear cartilage pierced I was told to clean it until it has stopped producing loads of crust and then leave it and switch to more of a maintenance clean. I'm nearly 6 months in now and found it really unnerving to stop the cleaning so I've continued but cut down to once every couple of days. As the client, it's hard to know what to do for the best as there so much differing advice.
is there a reliable way to clean crust off of piercings without irritating it? one of my conches producing more crust than the one below it and i just recently discovered a fresh irritation bump on it today. is it possible that the saline spray is drying on the jewelry and contributing to the crust? how can i better use the spray to get rid of crust? sorry for the amount of times i've said crust lmao edit: i spray neilmed in the mornings and let water run on it in the shower in the evenings
I -personally- love using qtips for this. You can soak them in saline and use them to gently remove and crust or debris. You can also use them to dry the area after cleaning or showering. Those pointy makeup qtips are great for this.
@@Lynn_LoheideWhat do you think of silicone q-tips, like “LastSwab”? I’ve heard some people advise against cotton because the fibers can get stuck, so I’ve thought about those as an alternative. They can’t absorb the saline though. Do you think it could work? and if so, is it possibly a better alternative?
so i had a question about my anatomy for a philtrum piercing: my webbing isnt in the way of where the piercing would go, but i have like a "line" of skin going from where the webbing ends, to where the inside of my lip ends. it doesnt stand out too much, but its there and i didnt want to go thru with this piercing just for it to not be done properly. :(
@@Lynn_Loheide Ok thank you!!! i know it probably isnt smart to use my own judgement, but is there some way i can tell if it's connected to the webbing or not?? if not thats ok. :)
@@Lynn_Loheide Ok and one last question, what would happen if i ended up being pierced thru the skin that's connected to the webbing?? (if thats what i have on my lip)
as someone who also struggles with mental illness such as depression and ADHD, it really eases my conscience knowing that even some of the best and knowledgeable piercers struggle with aftercare as well, thanks Lynn, I always love your content!
Appreciate this one! I take just about forever to heal things (a solid year for even an earlobe) due to a thousand things. I’m autistic and often wear headphones, I toss around when I sleep, I’m often ill, all this contributes to my piercings just being massive pains in my ass, but I keep them in cause I love them! And I love that even if it takes yonks and more trouble than it’s worth my body can eventually heal beautifully.
This is the first I’m hearing of sterile saline wipes. Game changer of an idea! I wish my piercer sold these in addition to the NeilMed Solution.
The shame spiral is real. Positive self talk and self compassion are so important, I wish it was taught in school! Thanks for touching on this important topic :)
Try not to be so hard on yourself! I definitely understand the shame, I have experienced it myself. I've had irritation bumps and gone months without going to my piercer so I could wait until I was "presentable" and "a good client". But at the end of the day, people have autoimmune issues, or their bodies are worse with healing, or they're struggling with mental health, so people shouldn't be judged harshly for having irritation bumps or having a rocky healing road. You're doing ok!
Thanks for this video. I am always so embarrassed to go back to my piercer if one of my piercings looks irritated or has a bump because I feel ashamed that I screwed up their piercing. Your message made me feel a lot better.
Next time you feel bad just tell yourself “Lynn definitely has a bump on at least one piercing right now, so if a professional can be lumpy so can I!” 😅
@@Lynn_Loheide ❤️
If this helps anyone at all, my piercer and I had a very honest conversation about irritation and the fact that a lot of my piercings are irritated (especially since last August I got Covid and ever since, none of them have fully recovered) and with 18 years of experience, he agreed wholeheartedly that irritation is just part of the healing process.
He also recommended, with my current irritation, skipping saline and any attempts to remove crusties and only rinsing it in the shower & blow-drying on low heat to remove any moisture and I'm already doing the first half of that (and I probably won't get to the hair-dryer, sorry Mike 😂) so sometimes it *is* recommended to do less and leave it the hell alone
What helps me personally with keeping that saline going longer is keeping a bottle of saline spray in the shower caddy with a small mirror, where I will give my piercings a quick rinse after turning off the water, but even that isn't perfect
Also something I read/heard recently regarding inconsistency in brushing your teeth was "anything is better than nothing - spending 20 seconds brushing your teeth badly is still better than not doing any at all"
This video totally came at the right time for me! Had my bellybutton done (only my third piercing ever) and my piercer told me to leave it alone as much as possible - so I did, however it soon developed an irritation bump. Later, my jewelry snagged and one of the gem ends dislodged, causing some fluid, redness, and soreness from the bump. I cleaned it well and set my jewelry back in right. Now I'm wearing large patch bandages over my bellybutton area so it doesn't get rubbed on to avoid another bump and and inspecting the piercing for cleaning every night. I felt SO guilty about the whole ordeal that I seriously considered just taking the piercing out, but I took a step back and gave myself some grace - the piercing looks and feels FINE only a few days later, and it's only two months old, so I've got plenty of healing left to do and it wouldn't have been perfect already anyway. Advice like yours is what saves beautiful piercings, Lynn! I wouldn't have known what was normal or what to do if I wasn't so consistently engaged by your great content.
as someone with adhd healing piercings is SO HARD. even just following LITHA is barely possible for me because my hands just want to fiddle with any loose thing available. thank you for the reassurance, it means a lot
my strategy to this point has been hand in hand with my wallet: go occasionally, knowing that healing will take longer for me, and save up for nice jewelry. i go to ICON (hope to see you there when you’re next in town) and i love that i can choose to afford the beautiful pieces i see by saving up for them
I love it when you post. Can you do a piercing tour?🥰
Thanks for posting this. I have a conch piercing that I'm healing and my piercer told me basically just rinse it for two minutes in the shower and don't touch it too much, and I tried to do it like that but every time I saw it was crusty or swollen I was worried that I wasn't doing enough to care for it and became distressed over it. I will remember your advice that it's okay and it's just still healing
😂 this sounds like me.
Also.... I love your consistency with the yellow color of your hair. I wish I could get that exact same color. 😍
This helped me feel better and to help with my mental health motivation to clean my piercings
I feel like I have the opposite issue. I fixate on them too much and can’t leave them alone trying to keep them perfectly clean. Then they get irritated lol
My navel piercing was red initially, then swelling went down now it’s red again cuz I hate sleeping facing up, I’m consistent with cleaning once a day
Thank you for always being so compassionate
You're a gem Lynn! Thank you so much for this and all the content you put out!💜
Hi Lynn, great video. Where can I get the sea salt wipes you mentioned here ? Thank you !
I just want to say that some of the inconsistencies come from the piercer. In this video you talk about cleaning the piercing twice a day for the entirety of the healing eg a year for some cartilage or maybe more however when I recently got my upper ear cartilage pierced I was told to clean it until it has stopped producing loads of crust and then leave it and switch to more of a maintenance clean. I'm nearly 6 months in now and found it really unnerving to stop the cleaning so I've continued but cut down to once every couple of days. As the client, it's hard to know what to do for the best as there so much differing advice.
is there a reliable way to clean crust off of piercings without irritating it? one of my conches producing more crust than the one below it and i just recently discovered a fresh irritation bump on it today. is it possible that the saline spray is drying on the jewelry and contributing to the crust? how can i better use the spray to get rid of crust? sorry for the amount of times i've said crust lmao
edit: i spray neilmed in the mornings and let water run on it in the shower in the evenings
I -personally- love using qtips for this. You can soak them in saline and use them to gently remove and crust or debris. You can also use them to dry the area after cleaning or showering. Those pointy makeup qtips are great for this.
@@Lynn_Loheide perfect! i'll go and get some!! thank you as always!
@@Lynn_LoheideWhat do you think of silicone q-tips, like “LastSwab”? I’ve heard some people advise against cotton because the fibers can get stuck, so I’ve thought about those as an alternative. They can’t absorb the saline though. Do you think it could work? and if so, is it possibly a better alternative?
so i had a question about my anatomy for a philtrum piercing: my webbing isnt in the way of where the piercing would go, but i have like a "line" of skin going from where the webbing ends, to where the inside of my lip ends. it doesnt stand out too much, but its there and i didnt want to go thru with this piercing just for it to not be done properly. :(
Hmmmm. I would need to assess your lip in person to say. It could be fine or it could be connected through the webbing and unsafe to pierce through.
@@Lynn_Loheide Ok thank you!!! i know it probably isnt smart to use my own judgement, but is there some way i can tell if it's connected to the webbing or not?? if not thats ok. :)
@@hotdogsaredisgusting have a professional piercer assess the tissue and see. :)
@@Lynn_Loheide Ok and one last question, what would happen if i ended up being pierced thru the skin that's connected to the webbing?? (if thats what i have on my lip)
@@hotdogsaredisgusting could be fine, could not heal and have some really really vicious irritation bumps/damage your teeth and gums.
@ me next time 😂😭
You are SO ENCOURAGING. 💛🥲