Why does everyone say to clean piercings with WARM sea salt water?
oh my…. asked:
Got the earlobes pierced about 2 weeks ago.
I’ve been using ‘warm’ sea salt water to clean them, I heard it heals piercings faster, and works best.
It’s abit of a pain to always have to warm up the water. I’ve always heard WARM sea salt water.Just curious — Why should it be warm? Does it have to be warm? Is it okay if I don’t warm it up? Will it affect it differently?
January 12th, 2008 at 3:38 am
if the water isn’t warm the salt will not dissolve as well, it will mostly stick to the bottom of the glass.
January 14th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Use Peroxide. Salt water is to dry it out. But you don’t want infection in it, use peroxide.
January 15th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Sea salt helps heal and prevent infections, It is always the best to use on a piercing. The luke warm/warm water helps dissolve the sea salt better, so it is more effective.
You can if you are tired of mixing it, go check out h2ocean, some tattoo and piercing parlors sell it.
Also just cleaning with no scented anti-bacterial soap works as well.
Hope this helps.
January 18th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
The salt dissolves better in warm water.
If you don’t like having to warm up the water 2-3 times a day, you should just mix a whole bunch of the solution ahead of time.
That way you can heat it all at once, then refrigerate it until you’re ready to use it.
A cold solution will actually be good for piercings that are really fresh, the coolness will really help with the swelling.
January 21st, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Olivia’s answer is 100% correct
January 24th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
It does work best if you can keep up with it. Sea salt cleans easier and cuts back on irritation during the healing process. Warm water kills off bacteria where as cold water doesn’t. It wont affect it differently just wont work as well. If you don’t want to use that because it’s a pain get BandAid Brand Hurt Free Antiseptic wash. It’s cheap, works great, easy to use and is designed to help heal. Don’t over do anything. Not too much touching, keep product out of the holes and clean them twice a day. There are many options out there, find what works for you.
- I tried the Sea Salt wash routine but with other people in the house (live with my parents) any mixture always got thrown out so I switched the the bandaid brand and gently wiped the area with a warm clean rag before using the wash. It worked best for me and I’ve used that since my second piercing with no problems.
January 24th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
The salt dissolves better in warm water. Actually everything dissovles better in warm water lol =]
January 28th, 2008 at 3:16 am
I am an advocate of the “LITFA” method: Leave It The F*** Alone.
A piercing is basically an open wound, and your body is made to heal open wounds by itself. Your piercings will heal faster if you let them be. To be honest you should only really clean them with anything other than water when they are either bleeding (like my recent rook piercing, owch :\) or infected.
However warm salt water is pretty good, if you must use something.
I’m sorry, I just realised my answer is completely irrelevent! I am very tired.
January 30th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Warm things are soothing and draw out impurities. A warm soak is better than a cold one for cleaning, but cold soaks can be soothing at times. Think about it-ever done a hot compress to draw a develping zit or other sore to the surface? Basically the same thing as drawing any ickiness out of a piercing.
I just mix it ahead of time and microwave what I need. It takes (literally) 30 second longer than using it cold.