Whether you get just a simple lip piercing, a Monroe or even cheek piercings, an oral piercing can be a beautiful addition to someone’s esthetic.
Most oral piercings will pass from the outside of the facial tissue into the mouth, excluding the tongue piercing of course. This allows us to pierce the entire area around the mouth utilizing different placements for different piercing combinations.
These different combinations have numerous trendy names like “Angel bites”, “Snakebites” or “Dalias”, essentially they are all lip piercings, usually done in multiples. An individual’s anatomy isn’t as big of a concern when performing oral piercings as most people are fine to have any of these done.
There are a few exceptions when it comes to a Medusa, the piercing located directly above your upper lip just below your nose, too large of a frenulum can pose a problem here.
Like any oral piercing, the procedure is quick and relatively painless; usually performed by clamping the tissue with forceps, piercing then following through with the jewelry.
The initial week or so is generally the worst part of this experience as oral piercings tend to swell significantly for the first part of your healing. Your first concern is to take care of your swelling, if the tissue swells too much and swallows your jewelry it is not a fun experience.
There are some ways to help reduce swelling; sucking on ice cubes made from natural anti-inflammatories like chamomile tea or pineapple juices is one, drinking lots of water, taking Vit C and Zinc and getting the proper amount of sleep will help significantly. Please visit our Aftercare page for full instructions.
To accommodate for swelling we will always pierce you will jewelry that is long enough to avoid the jewelry embedding into the tissue. How much you swell really depends on how well you take care of it, some people are lucky and swelling isn’t much of an issue, others swell significantly; excessive irritation or not following aftercare instructions properly will contribute to the problem.
Once your initial swelling has gone down, we highly recommend coming in for a downsize on your jewelry. This means we remove the barbell or labret you were pierced with and replace the longer piece with something smaller that will give you a snugger fit. We find most of our clients prefer the smaller size as it is more comfortable and the chance of causing any tooth or gum damage is significantly reduced.
Please keep in mind, if you have reached the recommended time to come in for your downsize but, you’re not healing properly and/or have no wiggle room on your jewelry we cannot downsize it for you.
If you are uncertain whether your piercing is ready, feel free to send photos of it to dee@tribalexpression.com, we can take a look from there and hopefully determine whether or not you should book an appointment.
Your piercer will let you know the recommended time to come see us for downsizing.
