Ocean Water & Piercings | Can I Go to the Beach With a New Piercings?

If you guys read my last post, I talked about going into pools with fresh piercings, and how it’s not recommended to go in those, or other large bodies of water such as hot tubs, lakes, and rivers when you have an open wound, such as a piercing. These bodies of water contain a lot of bacteria, and even in a pool, chlorine does not kill 100% of bacteria.

I decided to do this post separately because the ocean is a little bit different... but not really. Often piercers suggest salt water for cleaning your piercings, but for fresh piercings, it is still NOT recommended to go into the ocean because there could still be potentially hazardous things in the water, such as pollutants. Also fun fact: it is also recommended not to wear anklets in the ocean because a shark could mistake its shininess as a fish!

Back to using salt water as a cleanser, this is why H2Ocean was created; H2Ocean is a PURIFIED salt water cleanser. You still get the benefits of using salt water for cleansing your piercing, BUT it’s purified so you don’t have to worry about the risk of irritating or infecting your piercing. It is sterile from start to finish because it is in the can, so nothing can contaminate it. H2Ocean is my personal favorite when it comes to my piercings. Here is an Amazon Affiliate to H2ocean if you’re interested in getting yourself a bottle! Also, keep in mind that when you’re at the beach, there will be sand, so be careful with the sand because that can irritate your piercing as well! (And maybe some sunscreen because when I got back, I was BURNT!)

With all that being said, out of all bodies of water, swimming in the ocean presents the LEAST amount of risk due to the high salt content in the water, compared to other large bodies of water like lakes, pools, and rivers. So yes, ocean water does have natural healing properties, and often salt water is suggested for cleaning your piercings, but ocean water is iffy, so it is up to you if you want to take that risk! To be safer, you can bandage your piercing with a waterproof bandage, like the Nexcare waterproof bandages, to protect it from the water and sand. I will provide a link for those below, but you can find them in any drugstore. This may not work for some piercings, because both the entrance and exit must be covered, and depending on the piercing’s placement, that could be difficult to do.

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*Please be advised the information in this blog post does not replace the advice from a medical professional.