Excellent post!

I would like to point out that I consider "cleaning" and "soaking" different things, with different purposes.

Soaking does have an incidental cleaning effect, but its primary purposes are to sooth and dry out the wound (piercing). Cleaning, to me, implies application of soap to the body, removing surface dirt, and improving hygiene.

So...if someone's aftercare advocates pulling the ring through to "drag the soap through", is this old, outdated info?

:/

Absolutely, according to modern piercing practices. Think of it this way- You've just had an operation- an appendix removed, say. One would not instinctively take a shower and rub soap thoroughly in the healing wound, right? Same thing. I think it's interesting- when one has a piercing, we tend to become overly obsessed with the healing. I can't ever remember wanting to wash a bad cut without fail every four hours. Thinking that way has helped calm myself out of being *overly* aware of the cleaning ritual.

Here's the meat and potatoes. What you mention is detrimental in two aspects...

One, rotating the jewelry can disturb the "skin tunnel" (also called a fistula) that is trying to form. This fistula IS the piercing. Every time you rotate jewelry, it creates minute friction against the newly forming and fragile skin cells. This actually dislodges cells, which prolongs healing time.

Two, one needs to think of what the similarities are between bacteria and skin cells. Both are one celled organisms, and both need a certain pH (acid, base or neutral) in order to flourish. Soap acts to clean germs away in many ways and one of which is by temporarily altering the pH on the skin's surface. If you drag soap into a healing wound, you are changing the pH of the area in which newly forming skin cells are trying to thrive. This sets back the healing process.

Does this make sense?

The best thing to do with most all piercings in regards to soap is to clean the skin around the piercing gently with a mild soap, avoiding the actual site of the puncture. A definition of a mild soap is bound to be suggestive, so I would recommend something without excessive fragrances or added moisturizers. A soap designed for use around wounds such as Satin is what I prefer to use. Any crusties that you may wish to remove will soften in a normal shower and can be gently removed. I actually find that a clean finger is better than anything as there have been reports of cotton fibers from q-tips (cotton buds for you Brits) getting stuck in or dragged into a piercing, irritating it.

I hope this clarifies the issue for you. I know you just got your nipples done- In your case, I would try to avoid getting rinse water from your shampoo washing directly over for a wee bit, but other than that, shower away! Sea salt soaks are also your friend, and easy to do with nipple piercings as well.

Thank you I just ordered some Satin (I've been using some mild liquid hand soap I have) and I've been doing SSS (using canned, preservative-free saline) at least three times a day, as warm as I can handle it. I love the SSS, it feels awesome, and forces me to lay down and relax, lol! Other than that I am pretty much just leaving them alone.