Follow your piercer's aftercare instructions until your piercing is completely healed. Wash your piercing twice daily with antibacterial or antimicrobial soap and perform regular saline soaks.
Research the appropriate jewelry for your piercing and ask your piercer to order it for you. Piercing shops have jewelry catalogs. Order from reputable suppliers that sell 18- and 22-carat gold body-piercing jewelry, often plated with palladium.
Autoclave your gold jewelry before inserting it into your body. If you purchase your jewelry from your piercer, he will autoclave it for you to sterilize it.
Wear gold beads on a surgical stainless steel or niobium bar. For jewelry such as curved barbells, labret studs and microdermal anchors, the bar and base do not show so screwing gold ends into steel bars saves you money.
Remove your gold jewelry from your piercing occasionally to clean it. Even 18-carat jewelry and above is mixed with alloys to harden the gold, which means it can tarnish. Clean your body jewelry with a soft toothbrush and unscented, dye-free antibacterial soap. Dry it with a clean, soft towel before reinserting it into your piercing.