Well first off, I love the piercing boys of URGE, every piercing I have is fabulous and I owe it to them!
At A Glance Author viesda When Six months ago Artist Dave Studio Urge Location Victoria, BC Secondly, I would like to offer a bit of advice when it comes to mouthwash. I had my tongue pierced years ago and didn't run into any problems with it at all so about 8 months ago I got a labret piercing and figured it would be no different. Well all was going well until I developed Oral Thrush! YUCKY! I had no idea what was going on as the piercing was well on it's way to being healed and all of a sudden the burning in my mouth from the mouthwash was way worse and I couldn't stand it. I took a peek in my mouth and found that all along the bottom of my gums there was white ... stuff and if I wiped the white away it was really red and raw looking. Naturally I freaked out and figured no piercing is worth this. I did a bunch of looking around online and finally figured out what it was.
It was Oral Thrush, which is caused by a bacterial imbalance - it is actually a yeast infection in your mouth. Though I was using the proper mouthwash for piercing, no alcohol + antibacterial, I had developed Oral Thrush from the antibacterial part of the mouthwash. Basically it works similar to antibiotics where it kills all the bad bacteria but at the same time kills the good naturally occurring bacteria in your mouth. I was rinsing a lot mind you because I smoke and wanted to be sure that I didn't have poisons sitting on my fresh piercing, nonetheless I developed Oral Thrush.
I talked to one of the guys down at Urge and he said to try salt water, being sure to use bottled water so I wasn't cleaning with dirty water. I did this and found that my piercing was getting more swollen again and assumed the salt water wasn't cutting it as a mouth cleanser. I was at a loss as to what to do next but was very close to just getting rid of the labret all together. I went to my doctor to get some advice from her and she pretty much recommended the same thing, salt water. I was frustrated because everything that was supposed to work wasn't. I continued to read every article I could find online and kept up with the salt water and started to add watered down mouthwash every other rinse but it was still not doing the job.
Finally I went down to a natural health store and asked them if there was anything they could recommend if for nothing else but to get rid of the Thrush. I figured if I had to take out the piercing so be it but I really didn't want to, especially after going through all that I had at that point. The woman I spoke with recommended a mouthwash by JASON called "Healthy Mouth" as well as a bottle of Acidophilus capsules. I picked up what she had recommended and took it down to Urge to see if it met their standards. (This is the one rule I stress that everyone should adhere to, your friends are not piercers and though there may be a lot of good ideas out there always check with your piercer first.) Well, Dave said the mouthwash didn't have anything in it that would hurt and the Acidophilus was harmless as well so I gave it all a try. I used the mouthwash as normal and I actually opened the capsules of Acidophilus mixed it with a little water and put it directly on the Thrush spo ts in my mouth at bedtime and slept with it on. Everything got better within days! I stopped using the Acidophilus after about a week as the Oral Thrush was completely gone and then continued to use the JASON" Healthy Mouth" mouthwash as usual. I was so excited that I didn't have to give up on the piercing after all the pain and annoyance that I had gone through.
So I am writing this to inform all who may need this piece of information in the future. And the nice thing is this isn't just my little "good friend idea" as I checked it out with my piercer and he ok'd it. (Though to stick with the rule ask your piercer first.) The beauty of this mouthwash is that it is a natural antibacterial product with extra natural stuff in it that makes sure the good bacteria sticks around while the bad ones get the boot while at the same time it does not contain any alcohol and it doesn't taste too bad either.
The ingredients of the mouthwash are as follows for those of you who want to know:
Organic tea tree oil, aloe vera gel, clove, mint, cinnamon, water, glycerin, polysorbate 20, grapefruit seed extract, dead sea salt, calcium ascorbate, zinc ascorbate, ascorbate acid, witch hazel extract, aloe vera extract, sodium bicarbonate, perilla seed extract, neem oil, tea tree oil,clove oil, menthol, cinnamon oil, golden seal, echinacea, calendula, lemon balm, antioxidant gingko.
The Acidophilus worked like a charm on the Thrush too so I highly recommend it for the initial stages of repairing your Thrushy mouth.
So all in all this little story is for those of you who may run into the same problem I did or know anyone who does or if any piercers read this you all will know of the wonder products I found. IT REALLY SERIOUSLY SAVED MY PIERCING!