How To Clean A Septum Piercing

Now that you have a septum piercing you're probably wondering how to clean it. If you listened properly to your body piercing artist, you probably got an earful on why you should clean it. I mean, it wouldn’t look good with your people if your nose started oozing puss. It would also be hard to look mysteriously cool if you were burning with a fever.

Even if you're new to body piercings, you probably know why you should keep it clean especially if it's new. Cleaning your piercing twice a day helps prevent irritation and infection. Infected piercings can be troublesome. Aside from the puss and fever, it can turn red and develop crustiness which is gross especially if you're into body modification.

Here are the steps on how to clean a septum piercing easily.

1. Wash your hands.

2. Use saline solution or 100% sea salt to clean your wounds. To prepare sea salt solution, add ¼ teaspoon sea salt to 8 ounces of distilled or boiled water that has cooled down. Stir until the salt is dissolved.

3. Soak a Q-tip with some of the solution and press the tip gently to your wound. Bathe the wound in the solution and gently remove crustiness away using the Q-tip or your fingers.

4. Once all the crustiness is gone, lift your jewelry slowly and pull away from the nose gently while holding your Q-tip to the wound. Ensure that some of the solution dribbles down to the wound and out the other side.

5. Pat dry with a clean towel or tissue. Do not rub the area.

Some people prefer to use vegetable glycerin soap on their septum piercing and nose ring to keep it clean. Vegetable glycerin soap is very gentle and ideal for use in piercings because unlike antibacterial soap, it does not contain harsh chemicals which can irritate the wound and skin. Here's how you do it.

1. Wash your hands.

2. Make a lather using the vegetable glycerin soap.

3. Work the lather around your septum to cleanse it. Remove crust build-up during this process. Moisture will soften it so it should be easier to remove.

4. Rinse the soap off gently and thoroughly.

5. Pat dry with a clean towel or tissue. Do not rub the area.

Or you can try a sea salt soak.

1. Use the instructions above to make a sea salt solution.

2. Place it in a mug.

3. Tilt the mug so that your septum is submerged in the salty water. Soak for 30 seconds, twice daily.

There is no need to remove your septum jewelry using this method.

After a piercing, the area around your septum is vulnerable to infection and bacteria. Cleaning your septum piercing frequently will speed up the healing process. it is best to use natural products that do not contain perfume and harsh chemicals which is why body modification artists usually recommend using vegetable glycerin soap, saline or salt water solutions.

For more advice and tips, check out the many different septum piercing online blogs to learn more about this kind of piercing.