The day has finally come when you will fulfill your dream of getting a lip piercing. However, the last thing you want is an infection causing the piercing in your lip not to heal and even the risk of having to take it out. After you only just got it.
Once you have pierced your lip, it is essential to follow the correct lip piercing aftercare. Aftercare entails being aware of hygiene and the jewelry material. Also, being aware of the food and drinks you consume and the piercer that pierces your lip will affect how your lip will heal.
There are many people with pierced lips. This particular location of piercing has been popular over many centuries. Therefore, there is no need to worry about what all can go wrong, as long as you follow the correct aftercare.
How to Take Care of a Newly Pierced lip?
As mentioned above, a few things are important when you want your new lip piercing to heal well.
First, we will talk about hygiene, as this is key when wanting your pierced lip to heal quickly without any consequences for the piercing. A lip piercing is pierced from the inside out. This means you need both the inside and the outside of your lip free from bacteria and infections. Also, the Jewellery material and food consumption can affect how your piercing heals.
Some tips are
- Mouth wash: To kill the germs that can be detrimental to your pierced lip, it is wise to wash your mouth daily with a mouth wash. Some mouthwash is better than others. Choose one with natural ingredients.
- Use clean hands: When you touch your lip piercing, always do this with clean hands. Try not to touch the piercing too often with your hands, only when rotating it carefully once to twice a day, to avoid skin growing over the piercing.
- Rinse your mouth after eating: Once you have finished a nice meal, it is not uncommon that some leftovers get left behind in your mouth. For example, when you have jewelry on your lip, food can stick to it. Rinsing your mouth with mouth water will get rid of the leftovers.
- Gargle with saltwater: Most piercers will recommend you to gargle with salt water at least twice a day. Saltwater is a great way to clean the piercing on the inside of your mouth. If you want to have the best result, it is also gets recommended to buy a spray that consists of a saltwater solution to spray on the outside of your lip.
- Jewelry material: Everyone’s skin is different. Some skin types are more sensitive than others. There is jewelry made of hypoallergenic material. This gets recommended to ensure that your skin can handle the material that gets pierced through it.
- Use a Soft Toothbrush: When brushing your teeth, it is best to use a soft toothbrush. If your brush is stiff and rubbed against the jewelry and your lip, this can cause irritation.
- Be aware of your food consumption: Most people aren’t aware of this, but the food you eat will influence the way your freshly pierced lip will heal. It’s best to not drink alcohol or eat spicy food the first days or a week after getting a lip piercing. Alcohol works as a blood thinner, and spicy food can irritate the skin around the pierced area.
- Choose your piercer wisely: Our final tip is to choose your piercer wisely. Make sure the piercer is a professional that knows what he is doing. Be aware that the piercer uses clean and sterile material when it pierces your lip. If the needle doesn’t come out of a sealed wrapper, going to a different piercer could be wise.
How Long Does a lip Piercing Take to Heal?
There are many different ways to pierce your lip. The time that it takes for a piercing to heal depends on where the lip gets pierced. Below we name the 5 most common lip piercing types and their healing duration.
- Ashley Piercing: This is a stud in the middle of your bottom lip. When you decide to get an Ashley piercing, the healing duration will be about 2 to 4 months
- Cyber Bites Piercing: When you get a cyber bite lip piercing, you have a stud in the middle just underneath your bottom lip and above your upper lip. The healing duration time is about 6 to 8 weeks.
- Monroe piercing: When there is a stud situated just above the upper left part of the lip, this is called a Monroe piercing. This piercing got its name from Marilyn Monroe’s famous beauty spot. The healing duration time is about 6 to 12 weeks.
- Vertical Labret Piercing: A vertical labret piercing is a lip piercing where the bottom of the lip gets vertically pierced. This means that a piercing gets pierced through the top and bottom of the lower lip. The healing duration time is about 6 to 8 weeks.
- Spider Bite Piercing: A spider bite piercing is a piercing that has two wholes. You can choose either the left or right side of your lower lip. Often people that have their lips pierced in this way wear hoops. The healing duration time is around 1 to 3 months.
If you would like to know all the different ways of how you can get your lip pierced, check out the following article for different types of lip piercings:
What is the Best After Care Product for Your lip Piercing and how do you apply it?
The best aftercare product is a saltwater solution. For the best result, use non-iodized sea salt and make your own solution. Sea salt has many benefits that decrease the risk of getting an infection. You can buy sea salt at your local shops. If you want to use a solution that is already ready to go, you can buy this at pharmacies or your piercing shop.
How to treat your pierced lip with sea salt water solution?
- Mix the salt with water: Use about 1/2 spoon salt with 8 ounces of water.
- Heat up the mixture: To dissolve salt in water, it is best to warm up the water slightly. You can do this either on a stove or in a microwave.
- Let it cool off: You don’t want to apply the mixture straight away when it is too hot. This can burn the inside and outside of your lip.
- Apply with a Q-tip: It’s best to apply the sea salt solution with a Q-tip. First, use a clean Q-tip should. Next, dip the Q-tip in the solution and carefully press it onto your lip piercing. Finally, carefully rotate the piercing with both hands. *Make sure your hands are clean*.
Some last thoughts
In conclusion, after reading this article, you now know what proper lip piercing aftercare entails. There are some things that your pierced lip will benefit from, and some things it won’t. Sea salt solution can really help when you want your lip to heal quickly without any infection. We strongly recommend picking your piercer wisely. Someone that is a professional and that uses sterile materials. Getting your lip piercing should be a fun experience, and you should be able to enjoy the piercing without any pain.