Eyebrow Piercings

Summary

• Healing Time: 2 - 4 months
• Do not touch your piercing, or let others touch it while it is healing
• Clean your healing piercing daily with antibacterial soap
• Never use alcohol swabs, Betadine or hydrogen peroxide to clean your piercing
• Expect some bruising around the eye for the first few days
• Pain, redness and unusual discharge may be due to infection. Consult your piercer or a physician if you develop any of these symptoms
• Take vitamin C and zinc to maximise your healing
• Wait till your piercing is healed before changing jewelry yourself

Daily Care Routine

• Do not touch your piercing unless you are cleaning it. Unwashed hands carry bacteria and your piercing is a point where these bacteria can penetrate below your skin and cause an infection.
• While healing your piercing will need to be cleaned once daily - whilst showering is ideal. You will need to use an antibacterial soap that contains triclosan (e.g.Dettol Liquid Soap).

  The step-by-step procedure is:

1. Wash your hands with antibacterial soap.
2. Wet the piercing with plain water.
3. Put a few drops of antibacterial soap on the piercing and work them into a lather with a cotton bud.
4. Try to loosen any crusted discharge and float it off the jewelry and your skin with the cotton bud.
5. Leave the antibacterial soap on the piercing for two minutes while moving the jewelry back and forth, allowing the disinfectant to penetrate the piercing.
6. Rinse with water and air dry thoroughly.

Piercing Options and Jewelry Choices

• Suitable Positions
  Piercings are usually made at a right angle to the line of the eyebrow. The safe area is the outer third of the eyebrow. Piercing closer to the nose risks cutting the supr-orbital nerve which controls muscles of the face. Cutting this nerve will paralyse part of the face.
• Suitable Types
  1. Captured bead rings
     Rings are much cheaper than bar bells, but they do tend to park flat against the skin. Special pliers are usually required to remove or replace the bead.
  2. Curved bar bells
     Either choose internally threaded bar bells or, if the bar is externally threaded, be very sure that no threads are exposed.
• Suitable Sizes
  1. Gauge
     Typically 16 gauge, the range being 18 to 14 gauge.
  2. Internal Ring Diameter
     Typically 3/8" or 10mm. Larger diameter rings may be annoying if visible in the corner of your eye.
  3. Barbell length
     Typically 3/8" or 10mm.
• Suitable Materials
  Surgical Stainless Steel, 18 carat gold, titanium, niobium.
  Do not use 9 carat gold, silver (which can stain the tissues permanently).
• Changing Jewelry
  It is possible to change jewelry during the first 2 months, but this is best done by a professional piercer. Once a piercing is healed anyone can change the jewelry.

Other Issues

• Bacterial Infections
  Symptoms include increased pain, increased redness and an increase in the amount and thickness of the discharge. The infected discharge is usually thick and yellow, green or grey and may have an unusual odour. Do not remove the jewelry until you seek advice. Removing the jewelry may prevent pus draining and cause an abscess to form.
• Bruising
  Expect some bruising to form not so much at the piercing but under it, making it look like you have a "Black eye". This is natural and occurs as the bruising tracks by gravity under the skin and then appears at the eyelids where the skin is thin. It will quickly resolve.
• Cleaning Agents
  Never use alcohol swabs, Betadine, hydrogen peroxide, methylated spirit, or tea tree oil to clean your piercing. These do kill bacteria but they also destroy your healing flesh. Dead flesh then becomes easily infected.
• Exercising
  Be careful not to knock the piercing accidentally when playing sport or doing physical work.
• Lavender Oil
  This essential oil lubricates the piercing and is reputed to reduce scar tissue and prevent tightening. It must be used in its dilute form, a drop applied to each side of the piercing with a cotton bud, the excess removed, and then the jewelry moved back and forth through the piercing. The correct dilution is 10 drops lavender oil in 15mls grapeseed or sweet almond oil.
• Migration
  Eyebrow piercings are particularly prone to migration i.e the movement of piercing jewelry away from its original position, usually towards the surface of the skin. This may result in the jewelry actually "cutting" its way completely out of the skin. The risk of migration is less if:
  1. Thicker gauge jewelry is used
  2. The eyebrow ridge of the piercee is prominently angled rather than flat, allowing the jewelry to enter and leave perpendicular to the skin.
• Smoking
  
  1. Smoking slows healing by suppressing your immune system and blood circulation to the skin.
  2. If you cannot stop smoking then you should reconsider having any piercings.
• Swimming
  Swimming is not prohibited while your piercing is healing, but you should only swim for short periods in pools that are thoroughly chlorine- or ozone-treated. Do not let yourskin become wrinkly and soft. If you swim in the ocean or waterways, do not swim afterheavy rain. Storm water run-off often contains bacteria and parasites.
• Viral Infections
  Viruses such as Hepatitis A, B, and C, and HIV can penetrate a piercing that has not healed. These viruses may be present in the blood, saliva, semen, sweat and vaginal secretions of infected persons. Until your piercing has healed avoid any other person's bodily fluids contacting your piercing.
• Vitamins
  Studies have shown that vitamin C and zinc promote wound healing. Aim for about 2000-3000 mg vitamin C and 100 mg zinc daily. Note that these amounts are not available in multivitamin tablets. Ask at your pharmacist or health-food store for advice on suitable products. If you are taking any medications, ask your pharmacist to make sure there are no interactions between them and the vitamin C and zinc you intend to take. For example, vitamin C can delay the absorption of the contraceptive pill - they should be taken at different times.