Can You Go Swimming in the Sea with a New Piercing? Yes, and How To Do It!
If you have had a new lobe, nose, lip, navel, or other piercing recently, you might want to know: Can I swim in the ocean with a new piercing?
Today, different types of body piercings are the trend. The basic, cool, and gentle souls just go for ear piercings, anywhere on the lobe.
The limit-pushers go for nose piercings, while the navel, nipple, and tongue piercings are for rebels and people who push boundaries! The eyebrow piercing is for a person whose second name is Aggression.
All that is good! But if you are a swimmer and you want to get your swim 3 days a week results, how soon do you take a dip after getting a new piercing? Believe me, after you do just one piercing outside the ears, it doesn’t stop there!
Back to our topic of the day: can you swim in the ocean with a new piercing? Yes, but you should not swim in the ocean or in the swimming pool for 14 to 30 days after getting a piercing, and even then, cover it with a waterproof band-aid and evaluate how well it has healed. If it still feels raw, wait a bit longer.
Can you swim in salt water with a new piercing?
Swimming in the ocean with a yeast infection might be okay. Actually, there is no harm at all when you swim with a yeast infection. So is swimming in the ocean with a herpes outbreak, as we have seen in the past in this blog.
What is not okay is to swim in saltwater or chlorine pools when you have a new piercing on your lobe or anywhere else on your body.
When it is still fresh, especially in the first week after getting it, the piercing is an open wound. Therefore, the bacteria in the open water are going to affect it.
Unlike pool water, where you can shock the pool water with Chlorine to help kill bacteria, ocean water is not treated in any way.
Every year, animal waste, fecal matter from human beings, sewage, bacteria, and germs from the bodies of swimmers and runoff water find their way into the ocean.
Therefore, ocean water is not clean at all. If exposed to open wounds, these pollutants can make it fester. This is also the reason why you should stop water going into your nose when you swim.
So, to answer the question of whether you should swim in salt water after a piercing, give it a couple of weeks, or even a month so that it heals completely.
Can you swim in the pool with a new piercing?
There is less risk when you swim in a chlorinated swimming pool with a new piercing, but still, chlorine will irritate an open wound.
Even then, you need to know for sure that you are safe and that you will not put your wound at risk of festering.
When people swim in the pool, not all of them adhere to the recommended public pool swimming regulations. Some will get into the water when they are dirty.
Also, fecal matter and bacteria from the rectum get into the water, and it can easily find its way to your ears.
To prevent any risk, it is recommended that you rinse your ears thoroughly when you get out of the water.
Even if you’re wearing a Latex or silicone swimming cap to protect your hair and ears, clean up nicely when you get out.
A belly button piercing shows your rebellious nature. If you are a swimming enthusiast and you like to enjoy the results of swimming every day for 30 days, you do not want to wait for 8 weeks for a belly button piercing to heal.
But the high saltiness in the water is good for wounds, and it helps them heal a bit faster. However, if the wound is not dry, the saltiness is going to cause pain. It is best to wait for a few weeks, or at least until the piercing has formed a healthy scab.
If you cover the piercing, can you swim? Yes, you can. You need a waterproof band-aid to cover the piercing. This is going to keep the pierced belly button from coming into contact with the saltwater.
When removing the bandage, you have to be careful so that the bandage does not pull at the jewel in the piercing. It can cause pain and may reopen the wound.
Can I swim in the ocean with a new nose piercing?
You can swim with a new piercing anywhere on your body, but it depends on how soon you can swim.
In general, the recommended time is to wait for at least two weeks. While the high salt content in the ocean might sterilize the water a bit, it still contains bacteria that may cause an open wound to fester.
Besides, while it is easy to cover an earlobe piercing, a nose one is a bit hard to cover with a waterproof bandage.
It might also be hard to stop water getting inside you when you swim, through the nose, no matter how experienced you are.
If you have an above ground pool at home, you can swim slowly to prevent splashing the water onto your nose.
Do not swim in lakes, ponds, or lagoons, as they have a high content of bacteria because of the stagnant water.
How to swim with a new piercing
After getting that piercing, you can still swim. However, just postpone your swim to about two weeks after getting pierced or longer if it has not healed considerably by then.
So, after you feel that the piercing is safe for swimming, do you swim in cold water with the piercing uncovered?
It depends. If you have your own heated swimming pool for winter, you can swim with your piercings without worrying too much.
In a public pool, it is a different matter altogether because you cannot be too sure about the swimming pool maintenance practices.
Cover the piercing with a waterproof band-aid
Do not swim with your new helix, septum, or any other piercing uncovered, even at home where you are practicing how to swim by yourself.
Even when the water is chlorinated, the bacteria and germs do not die immediately. In fact, some can survive in such conditions for several days.
Thus, swimming with an open wound of any size is not safe at all! Fortunately, a waterproof band-aid can help keep your piercing protected from all pathogens in the pool.
Even when you are swimming in the open water in the ocean, cover your pierced parts with a waterproof band-aid. Even if it is a few weeks old, you can never be too sure, and it is better to err on the side of caution.
How soon can a child swim after getting a piercing?
A piercing is a piercing, irrespective of the age of the wearer. The recommended waiting time for a child is 14 to 30 days. Why such a time range?
Well, if the piercing was done with a needle, it is going to take longer to heal. This is why needle piercings take longer to heal—30 days or even longer!
If the piercing was done with a Rowan hand-pressurized device, it could heal faster, but this also depends on the part that’s pierced. Ear lobe piercings heal faster than helix ones, and so on.
Basically, ask the doctor how soon you can swim or do certain activities after getting the piercing. Adhere to the given advice.
Also, use the recommended aftercare to treat the piercing so that it heals as fast as possible.
Most importantly, keep checking the piercing to monitor how well it is healing. Some people heal theirs faster, and some people take longer. However, the general rule of thumb for most piercings is 14 to 60 days.
If there is redness and swelling, do not swim. If there is pain after two weeks, you should seek treatment. Definitely, having pus in the piercing is not good at all.
Also note that some piercings, such as the belly button, can take many months to heal 100 percent. However, this does not mean there should be swelling or pus. If there are such developments, go back to the salon where you got the piercing and see a doctor.
Does swimming in the ocean help heal piercings?
It is not recommended to swim in the ocean with a new piercing without taking the precautions that we have set out here.
In fact, you should not swim in the saltwater before there is a healthy scab on the piercing. When it is still new, it can collect all manner of infections from the water, causing the wound to fester badly.
Ocean, river, and lake water is more likely to be polluted than swimming pool water. There is sewage, chemicals, animal waste, and other types of effluent getting into the water all the time.
Thus, before you can swim, wait for the recommended number of weeks for your piercing to heal. If you don’t want too much of the swimming season to pass you by, you should get the piercing at least two months before the start of summer.
Why is sea salt water good for piercings?
While sea salt water might be good for piercings, you shouldn’t swim in the ocean or lake with a fresh piercing. It can collect many harmful microbes from the water.
However, after waiting the advised time, you can swim in the saltwater of the sea. It can help in various ways.
First, the water is going to cleanse the piercing. Any small particles of sand, clothing, or anything else will be washed out completely, thus leaving your piercing fresh and dry.
Secondly, salt water is the oldest remedy for small cuts at home. Even in this case, it is going to help keep the wound from swelling.
Remember, by the time you are swimming in the sea with a piercing, it is already slightly healed and dry. But still, inflammation could occur easily.
Thirdly, whether the piercing is months old or not, it still needs to be flushed out so that no microbes are looking for an entry point. The ocean water can help with this.
So yes, there are many health benefits to swimming in sea salt water, especially where wounds are concerned. Just do not do it with an open wound.
Conclusion
Swimming in the ocean with a new piercing is possible, but wait for at least two weeks and cover it with a waterproof band-aid.
Ocean swimming is okay, and so is swimming pool water. However, ponds, rivers, creeks, lakes, and lagoons can have plenty of bacteria.
Stagnant water is home to more bacteria than moving water. While the ocean is not moving water, its high saltiness makes it less susceptible to germs.
Giving your body piercing the recommended aftercare is very important because it can enhance the healing process.