Naturally, any time is a good time to get pierced if you’re really feeling it but there are some times that make getting pierced a bit easier than others. Today we’re going to look at what makes it a good or less-than-optimal time to get a piercing!
Why Does It Matter
Your mileage may vary. The time of year, and even time of month can affect how your piercing experience and healing process are experienced. It can help you avoid irritation bumps and even change how much the actual piercing hurts. The seasons can change the qualities of your skin, and they certainly affect the clothing you wear and what may be making contact with your nice, fresh, healing piercing.
Seasons
Winter can lead to dry skin and tends to require more outerwear. This is a tougher time to get an ear piercing if you have to wear a hat or earmuffs. If you mask up for flu season, it can irritate piercings in the mouth area. Spring and summer are easier for clothing but tend to require sunscreen. You don’t want to get sunscreen in your nice, fresh, healing piercing. The piercing will not like it. Autumn seems like it would be ideal for an ear piercing, except that the odds of it being fully healed before Winter hats are needed are slim indeed. And remember, Spring and Summer still often are cool in the evenings. If you just got pierced, you need to remember to be careful when pulling on a sweatshirt for the night.
The Social Calendar
Do all the people in your life know about your piercings? Are they all accepting of them or do you maybe have a few family members that give you a hard time? Sometimes the easiest way to deal with unkind judgement is to simply hide your piercings with a retainer. The issue here is that you cannot insert a retainer until the piercing is fully healed. So, if you have family events for the holidays or vacations, you’ll need to make sure that your piercing is fully healed beforehand. Speaking of vacations, we mentioned swimming earlier so if your vacation is going to involve a beach, that’s another good reason to get that piercing long in advance. And it’s the same if you need to hide your piercing for school. You may not be able to switch back and forth between a retainer and regular jewelry, but you will want to be able to downsize as much as possible to render your piercing less noticeable.
Activities
Seasonal activities can definitely mess with your piercings. Snow sports like skiing or snowboarding require helmets (ear piercings) and goggles (eyebrow piercings). You don’t want clothing sitting on a new piercing. If you like to swim, you need to make sure all of your piercings are fully healed before you get your swimsuit on. Immersing a fresh piercing in water is an invitation to infection. That includes the pool, that includes the ocean. Taking a tumble while doing sports can injure navel or nipple piercings, so if you’re an athlete you may want to save getting pierced for the off-season. And while we did mention not getting sunscreen in a piercing earlier, please do not skip the sunscreen. Getting sunburned on a fresh piercing is a recipe for disaster and we all know that sunscreen is important for helping to avoid skin cancer, as well as signs of aging.
Menstruation
If you get a period, it can actually affect your piercings. You may find that getting pierced while menstruating can be more painful, as the hormonal changes can make your body more sensitive. You may also find that a happily healing piercing can flare up and get a little irritated during menstruation. So, if this applies to you, you may want to hold off getting pierced until your period has ended and be aware that your cycle can affect your healing temporarily.
Timing is a key factor for many things and getting pierced is no different. It can be very important when you get pierced, depending on how you like to spend the different seasons. If you’re a beach bunny who wants a belly piercing, consider holding off until Autumn. If you’re into winter sports and you want an ear piercing, consider doing it in Spring. A bit of patience and good timing can keep a happy, healing piercing from turning into a piercing problem. Happy piercing!
