Make the Best Sea Salt Solution to Heal Your Piercing

How to heal your itchy, red, swollen, irritated and infected earlobes with a homemade sea salt solution.

Many people who have trouble wearing earrings have experienced the frustration of finding a new pair that seems promising, only to find that they can't get the earring in. This can be especially problematic if the piercing has closed over time, requiring the wearer to punch through a nearly-closed hole. The process can damage the skin within the piercing, causing redness, sensitivity, and even the formation of crusts made up of wound fluid. Even when using high-quality earrings made of materials like titanium or niobium, the irritation can persist. 

 

How to Heal Your Piercing

Fortunately, there is a solution to this problem that doesn't involve alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, or antibiotic ointments, which can further dry out and irritate the skin. Instead, you can create a salt water solution that will help your piercing heal properly, allowing you to wear your new earrings without discomfort. Here's how to make and use the solution:

 

Ingredients

You will need bottled flat mineral water (not the kind with bubbles) and sea salt that is iodine-free. You can find the salt in the cooking section of most supermarkets, where herbs and spices are sold. It's important to note that you should not use table salt, kosher salt, Himalayan salt, or rock salt.

 

Preparing the Solution

Before you start, make sure your hands and all kitchen items are clean. Use 500 ml (or 16 fluid ounces/2 cups) of mineral bottled water and half a teaspoon of finely crushed sea salt. If the sea salt is not crushed to a fine powder, let the solution sit for 24 hours, shaking it occasionally to help the salt dissolve. Store the solution at room temperature.

 

Using the Solution

Before touching your piercing, wash your hands with water and soap. Pour some of the solution into a clean cup that can be heated up in the microwave. Warm the solution until it feels like a warm bath, but there's no need to boil it. Cut a cotton round in half and let it soak up some of the warm water. Hold it onto your piercing with the earring in for about 5 minutes. This will make any crusts soft so you can wipe them off with the cotton round. Discard the used cotton rounds and the heated solution from the cup, and don't throw it back into the bottle.

Repeat this process at least every morning and evening until your piercing starts to feel better and looks less irritated. You can repeat it more often if you have time, but no more than 5 times a day. Your piercing needs time to dry out for the healing process to work.

 

Maintaining Your Piercing

While you're treating your piercing with the salt water solution, make sure to wear a titanium or niobium earring to prevent an allergic reaction. The earring should stay in day and night to keep the piercing open while you treat it. If you take the earring out, the piercing may close up and lock an infection inside. If your earlobe gets worse, with increased redness, inflammation, and throbbing, see a doctor rather than trying to pinch out the fluid.