*Navel piercing can take from 6 months or longer to heal. Swimming in chlorinated water will affect brand new navel piercings. Avoid lake water as the bacterial count is very high and often leads to infection. Touching the new piercing, outside of regular cleaning, is not recommended.DO NOT change jewelry for at least 4-6 months unless medically indicated and under sterile conditions. Spacer jewelry is available for medical procedures requiring the removal of metal jewelry removal (MRI, X ray, Surgery).
...Jewelry made out of Silver, a noble metal, has been common for centuries in all forms of jewelry. It has a certain luster and can also be treated to make certain areas black which gives a nice contrast. However, silver is also one of the most common reasons for nickel-allergy.
It should also never be used in new piercings or damaged piercings as blood, sweat and other body fluids as well as cleaning agents can make the silver oxidize which makes the metal black and also releases nickelsalts which can cause severe allergies and also discolor the area around the piercing, a discoloring that will last through life.
The purity of silver is measured in hundreds. The numbers stapled on silver jewelry is what indicates this. For example, 925 means 92.5% silver, and 7.5% other metals, often nickel...
...Gold is a noble metal. It is a beautiful metal for use in jewelry and has an old tradition. When using gold for piercings, a lower purity than 14 or 18 carat (58 to 75%) is not recommended. Neither should gold plated jewelry be used and even though the EU allows it, gold should never be used in healing piercings.
Gold is about as soft as lead and is easily scratched. These scratches can irritate the body, especially in new piercings. Tonguebars in gold are not recommended as chewing on the beads is common. This makes the beads full of scratches and flaws. Zircontwo is recommended instead.
For piercing, a gold alloy is used, the most common being 18k, with 24k being entirely pure. 18k gold contains 75% gold and 25% copper and silver. Traces of other metals may also be present. In lower quality gold, zinc and nickel can also be found.
As said, gold jewelry should never be used in healing piercings as body fluids tends to discolor the metal and cause it to "bleed". Allergy to gold is uncommon but it does exist, and then mostly from white gold. In some extreme cases, the copper in the jewelry can "bleed" out and cause greenish discolorings to the tissue.
18k gold can become discolored from autoclaving....
...Surgical steel is the most common body piercing material in the United States...
...This is a very common material for body jewelry. Allergic reactions, when they occur, are rarely due to the stainless steel but from other factors (most commonly from mechanical irritation or harsh cleaning products). Allergic reactions typically include itching, redness, and swelling, with a discharge of clear fluid that is not lymph. The element in stainless steel that causes allergic reactions in some people is Nickel...
...Stainless steels frequently contain Nickel. Some piercings that use “Surgical” stainless steel will develop an allergic reaction, the chance of this is reduced if the jewelry is properly polished to a mirror like luster (which results in a protective layer of chromium oxide keeping the Nickel content trapped inside)....
...316L Stainless (UNS# S31603), the “L” stands for Low Carbon. If any class of steel truly deserves to be called surgical stainless steel these "L" class derivates of 316 would be it, It never develops surface rust and is even resistant to constant salt water exposure.
316LVM Stainless, the “L” stands for Low Carbon. If any class of steel truly deserves to be called surgical stainless steel these derivatives of 316 would be it, It never develops surface rust and is even resistant to constant salt water exposure. This material is made from the 316L recipe, but made in an environment that is oxygen free resulting in less carbon in the final product (fire needs oxygen to burn which forms carbon). This appears to be the same material as 316L...
Titanium body jewelry is often manufactured in either commercially pure grades 1 to 5 or grade 23 Ti6AL4V ELI.
The grade considered suitable for piercing jewelery use is a disputed topic however the only Grade recommended for use by the association of professional piercers remains Grade 23 Titanium (ASTM F136).
(titanium is lighter than surgical steel)
Niobium is a metal resembling titanium, but it is heavier. When using niobium in a piercing jewelry it has to be as pure as possible, the threshold value being 99.9% niobium. This is sometimes referred to as "999 Niobium".
...PTFE or Teflon was invented in 1938 and is used in the medical industry as well as for frying pans.
It is biocompatible, meaning it will not cause allergies. It's a lightweight plastic, it's bendable, autoclaveable, not visible with X-Rays, not magnetic, and very stable. It's well suited for implants and piercings, specially if you want a little elasticity in the jewelry.
It's also a good material to use as retainers, when you need to take out any metal jewelry, like when in surgery or when X-rayed, so that the hole won't shrink...
On Genital Piercing for women:
H2Ocean safely removes dried discharge and lymph secretions when used every 3-4 hours on Body or Oral Piercings. H2Ocean spray helps increase the circulation to the body piercing and assist in the acceleration of the healing process. H2Ocean Piercing Spray will also help reduce lumps, scar tissue and itching. The active ingredient in H2Ocean is Lysozyme which helps kill over 650 different types of bacteria, diseases, viruses and fungi. Lysozyme exists in our bodily fluids naturally to protect us from airborne bacteria. The Coral Reef Sea Salt contains over 82 essential trace elements and minerals used to help in healthy cell regeneration.