Do you know that body piercing is attaining popularity, but the risk of complications is still there to take on with it? So, you can drink after the piercing but not right after it or without following precautions for each type of piercing. Drinking can poorly affect the piercings inside or in direct contact with the mouth. Alcohol can increase hemorrhaging and swelling, so it’s best to avoid it for four to five days after getting a piercing. Let’s sail you through the insights & consequences of drinking after the piercing.
How Drinking Affects Your Piercing
Research shows that people who have body piercings, tattoos, or both drink more frequently than those who don’t. Piercings are vulnerable to the damaging effects of alcohol. Drinking alcohol increases the risk of infection by irritating the skin around the piercing. In addition, it can cause the pricked spot to dry out, which slows healing and raises the risk of infection.
A person’s mental and bodily health can suffer from drinking. These limitations may make it more challenging to follow the recommended aftercare for a body piercing. Drinking cause the inability to maintain composure, and it increases the likelihood of injury or complications as a result of the piercing.
Alcohol is an irritant and can be taken through the skin, so it should be avoided around the piercing site to prevent redness, swelling, and inflammation. Avoiding alcohol is also recommended because it can lag your jewelry and delay the healing process.
Potential Side Effects Of Drinking After Body Piercing
While alcohol consumption may not seem to have an immediate negative impact on health, the accumulated effects over time can be devastating.
1. Delayed healing
Drinking reduces blood flow to the pierced region and washes away nutrients necessary for the skin to heal and stay healthy. Avoid alcohol for at least 24 hours after getting a piercing, as it can irritate the wound and delay the healing process. Since alcohol dehydrates the epidermis, it may be challenging to keep the wound moist and heal fast.
2. Infections
The danger of infection from dry, itchy, or cracked skin is raised when you drink after piercing without protection. Alcohol impairs a person’s capacity to keep calm, which increases the risk of injury or infections after a piercing.
3. Irritation or Pain
Alcohol intake can increase inflammation and irritate the area, leading to pain. Consuming alcoholic beverages also hinders the formation of a protective epidermis barrier over the healing tissue. This layer provides some defense against airborne germs and other potential hazards.
4. Suppressing Of The Immune System
Alcohol can suppress the immune system, making it less effective at fending off infection. It can impact the healing process of body piercing. That’s why you should avoid drinking after piercing and pay heed to safety criteria.
How Much Time Does A Drink Remain In Your Body?
After getting a piercing, wait at least 24 to 36 hours before you have a drink. To completely metabolize and eliminate alcohol from the body, the process can take up to 12 hours. Between 30 and 90 minutes after your last dose is when you’ll feel the effects of the alcohol most strongly. Alcohol can remain in your bloodstream for up to 24 hours.
The liver is limited to metabolizing alcohol, so it could take several hours to exit your system. That’s why you can still feel the effects of alcohol up to six hours after your last sip. The rate at which alcohol leaves the body varies significantly and is affected by gender, body type, weight, the presence or absence of food in the stomach, and the type of alcohol.
What Happens If You Directly Apply Alcohol To Piercings?
For the best body piercing experience, alcohol is not preferable. Alcohol’s antiseptic properties, there is still a 15% chance that an infection will develop if it isn’t treated immediately. Alcohol is a drying substance and should be kept away from the piercing to prevent it from drying, pain, scabbing, or scarring. It may lead to an infection if left untreated.
Alcohol can also remove the natural oils that serve as a barrier around the piercing.
The use of alcohol on or around a fresh or even healed piercing can harm the healing process as a whole. Some authentic stones are too fragile to be contacted with alcohol. Other jewelry can irritate if it dries out on the jewelry parts and then gets reinserted into a piercing.
Drinking Precautions After Piercing
Clinical evidence indicates body piercing is associated with unusual drinking winks and potentially problematic behavior. After piercing, you can consume alcohol, but safety measures must be taken to avoid any mishap.
- You shouldn’t accidentally or deliberately put anything acidic like citrus fruits or alcohol into a new piercing, and drink immediately.
- You shouldn’t consume alcohol for at least a few days after getting any oral piercing, such as a lip, tongue, frowny, smiley, tongue-web, madonna, medusa, cheek, etc.
- Avoid drinking for weeks in the case of cheek piercings.
- Don’t interact with someone who’s been sipping and is visibly drunk. It can risk spreading infection by transferring the alcohol residue from the jewelry to the pierced part.
- Make sure your drink is completely clean and that you don’t consume too much of it.
- It would help if you drank through a straw so that you don’t accidentally touch the piercing’s opening.
- Your drink, having come into contact with potentially infectious surfaces, should not be taken with you when you leave the area.
- Keep your mouth clean by rinsing it with water and brushing your teeth after drinking and eating.
- It would be best if you also covered the piercing with a saline solution to stop germs from getting in.
Conclusion
It’s a fair and medically proven practice to avoid drinking after ensuring your piercing is completely healed. You can drink after having a piercing so long as you avoid getting alcohol in your piercing and wash your hands thoroughly afterward. To avoid delayed healing and pain & inflammation, keep your drinks away from potentially infectious piercings and use a straw if possible. The piercing trend is still popular, and you can rock the style you love but with a little bit of care.
I am a passionate beer connoisseur with a deep appreciation for the art and science of brewing. With years of experience tasting and evaluating various beers, I love to share my opinions and insights with others and I am always eager to engage in lively discussions about my favorite beverage.
