Piercing Care During Sports
Piercings have become a stylish and personal form of expression, but they also come with their own set of challenges, especially for sports enthusiasts. Whether you've recently gotten an ear piercing, nose piercing, belly button piercing, or an eyebrow piercing, keeping your piercings clean and protected during physical activity is essential. In this guide, we’ll walk you through some practical piercing care tips to ensure that your piercings stay safe and healthy while you work up a sweat.
How Soon Can You Work Out After Getting a Piercing?
After getting a piercing, it's important to give your body time to heal before engaging in physical activities. The healing time varies depending on the type of piercing, but generally, you should avoid intense workouts for at least a few weeks to a few months.
Piercings and Their Healing Times:
Ear Piercings: For a new ear piercing, it typically takes about 3-6 weeks to heal. During this period, it’s crucial to avoid any activities that could cause excessive movement or pressure on the piercing, such as heavy cardio or contact sports. Using earring covers for sports can help prevent your earrings from getting caught or knocked.
Belly Button Piercing: Belly button piercings usually require about 6-8 weeks to heal. Until then, avoid activities that involve bending, jumping, or excessive stretching. You can protect your piercing during sports by using a waterproof bandage for belly button piercing or other protective covers.
Nose and Eyebrow Piercings: Nose piercings and eyebrow piercings generally take about 2-3 months to fully heal. During this time, you should avoid any contact sports or activities where there’s a risk of the piercing being bumped or irritated. Piercing tape or nose piercing covers for sports are great options to keep your piercings safe and secure.
How to Protect Your Piercings During Sports
When engaging in sports, your piercing faces risks such as impact, friction, and infection. To minimize these risks, here are some effective ways to protect your piercings:
1. Use Piercing Protectors
Investing in piercing cover tape or sports piercing covers can be a lifesaver. These products are designed to shield your piercing from any friction caused by clothing, equipment, or contact during sports. Whether it’s for your ears, nose, or belly button, protective covers help ensure that your piercing stays clean and free from irritation.
2. Waterproof Bandages
For belly button piercings, using a waterproof bandage for belly button piercing ensures that sweat, water, and other environmental factors don’t interfere with the healing process. This can be particularly useful if you’re planning to engage in activities like swimming or running.
3. Avoid Excessive Movement
It’s tempting to push through a tough workout, but with a new piercing, over-exertion can cause irritation or injury. Avoid high-impact activities like basketball, football, or intense weightlifting until your piercing has healed. If you absolutely need to move, try to stick to low-impact exercises that don’t put pressure on the area.
4. Sweat and Cleanliness
Sweating is a natural part of working out, but it can be problematic when it comes to new piercings. If sweat gets into the piercing, it can lead to irritation or infection. After your workout, be sure to clean your piercing with a saline solution or an antiseptic made for piercings. If you can’t clean it immediately, consider using piercing covers to shield the area until you can properly care for it.
How to Hide Piercings While Healing
If you need to hide your piercing for work, sports, or any other reason, there are ways to discreetly cover them during the healing process.
Hiding a Nose Piercing: Use nose piercing covers for work or a bandaid over nose piercing to hide your nose piercing for work or other occasions. Clear retainers can also be used if you need to make the piercing less visible.
Hiding a Belly Button Piercing: For belly piercings, you can use waterproof belly button piercing covers or simply wear a full-coverage workout top to protect the piercing from rubbing or being exposed during physical activity.
Ear Piercings: If you want to keep your ear piercing safe during sports, consider using earring protectors for sports or taping earrings securely with athletic tape for earrings. This will prevent them from getting caught on anything during fast movements.
How to Prevent Piercings from Closing
One concern people often have is the possibility of their piercings closing up during the healing process. This is especially true for ear piercings or belly button piercings. Here are a few tips to keep your piercing open and healthy:
Keep Jewelry In: For the first few weeks or months, make sure to keep the jewelry in at all times. Removing jewelry prematurely can cause the hole to close up. If you must remove the jewelry for a short time, use a piercing retainer to prevent the piercing from closing.
Don’t Over-Clean or Touch: Excessive touching or cleaning can irritate the piercing and delay healing. Keep cleaning to a minimum—once a day is usually sufficient—using a gentle saline solution.
Conclusion
When it comes to piercings and working out, the key is patience and preparation. Depending on the type of piercing, it’s essential to give your body time to heal before jumping back into intense activities. Use protective gear like piercing covers for sports, waterproof bandages, or piercing tape to shield your piercing from potential damage. Avoid high-impact sports and excessive sweating until your piercing is fully healed. With the right care, you can continue to enjoy both your piercings and your workouts—safely and stylishly!