A lip piercing is a type of body piercing that penetrates the

lip The lips are a horizontal pair of soft appendages attached to the jaws and are the most visible part of the mouth of many animals, including humans. Mammal lips are soft, movable and serve to facilitate the ingestion of food (e.g. sucklin ...

s or the area surrounding the lips, which can be pierced in a variety of ways.

Procedure and healing

Approximate healing time for most lip piercings is between 1 and 3 months; however, there is a possibility of serious infection if the piercing is not properly taken care of. After healing is complete, other jewelry may be used. After this time, some

scar tissue "Scar Tissue" is the first single from American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers' seventh studio album, ''Californication'' (1999). Released on May 25, 1999, the song spent a then-record 16 consecutive weeks atop the US ''Billboard'' Hot Modern R ...

may be present, but the

fistula In anatomy, a fistula (: fistulas or fistulae ; from Latin ''fistula'', "tube, pipe") is an abnormal connection (i.e. tube) joining two hollow spaces (technically, two epithelialized surfaces), such as blood vessels, intestines, or other h ...

is normally fully developed and mostly healed. Aftercare consists of hot saline soaks two to three times daily. Soaking the wound for three to five minutes with a weak saline solution softens any blood and

lymph Lymph () is the fluid that flows through the lymphatic system, a system composed of lymph vessels (channels) and intervening lymph nodes whose function, like the venous system, is to return fluid from the tissues to be recirculated. At the ori ...

discharge attached to the jewelry. Afterwards, taking a hot shower and using clean hands and a small amount of a mild soap such as castile soap removes excess matter from the site. Turning or otherwise moving jewelry on a fresh piercing is not advised, as it can irritate and lengthen swelling and healing time. Diluted mouthwash or salt water solution can also be used after meals along with toothbrushing to help remove debris and flush the piercing and is recommended by practitioners. Initial jewelry is usually a

labret A labret is a form of body piercing. Taken literally, it is any type of adornment that is attached to the lip (labrum). However, the term usually refers to a piercing that is below the bottom lip, above the chin. It is sometimes referred to as a ...

stud or a

captive bead ring A captive bead ring (CBR), ball closure ring (BCR), captive hoop, or captive ball ring is a common example of body piercing jewelry. The captive bead or ball fits into a small opening in the circle of the ring. The bead is slightly larger than thi ...

, manufactured from implant-grade

titanium Titanium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...

or similar lightweight and inert metal. No matter which type of jewelry is used, the jewelry's diameter and length will be intentionally oversized to allow room for initial swelling. After healing, the jewelry can be replaced with a closer-fitting piece. A home-made

saline solution Saline (also known as saline solution) is a mixture of sodium chloride (salt) and water. It has a number of uses in medicine including cleaning wounds, removal and storage of contact lenses, and help with dry eyes. By injection into a vein, i ...

made from non-iodized sea salt and hot distilled or filtered water is a common way to heal a lip piercing and avoid infection. This solution can be used to rinse out the mouth after eating (or the mouth can be rinsed with non-alcoholic, non-antimicrobial mouth wash) and to soak the outside of the piercing. Anything with alcohol, peroxide, iodine, or any strong soaps should be avoided because they may irritate the fresh piercing, and cause additional swelling and trauma during the healing process. Using peroxide, iodine, teatree oil, conventional antibacterial soap, or dish soap can damage or kill the skin in and around the piercing, extending the healing process. The use of Hydrogen peroxide can damage the piercing site more, resulting in irritation of the piercing. The ornament should be periodically cleansed to prevent bacterial plaque accumulation.

Types

Lip piercings can be placed anywhere around the mouth, but the surface of the lip is not typically pierced itself, except for horizontal lip piercings and canine bites. Piercings in specific positions have certain names.

Monroe piercing A Monroe piercing is a lip piercing placed off-center, above the upper lip on the left-hand side and is meant to resemble Marilyn Monroe's beauty spot, although Monroe's beauty spot was on her cheek, not her lip. The Madonna piercing is similar b ...

s, for example, are labret studs worn on the upper lip where

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

had her famous beauty mark. Medusa piercings go through the center of the upper lip (the

philtrum The philtrum (, from Ancient Greek , lit. 'love charm') or medial cleft is a vertical indentation in the middle area of the upper lip, common to therian mammals, extending in humans from the nasal septum to the tubercle of the upper lip. Toget ...

), perpendicular to the tissue. Labret piercings are pierced with a labret stud and can pierced in the center or off-center. A variation of this is the lowbret, a lower labret. Vertical labret piercings go through the center of the bottom lip, parallel to the tissue. The variation is called the vertical lowbret, which starts inside the mouth between the lower lip and the teeth and travels straight down, exiting on the lower edge of the jawline. Horizontal lip piercings are very rare, and include a horizontal bar on the lower lip that goes through the lip surface. Another variation of the labret is known as the dahlia piercing. The piercings, placed at or very near the corners of the mouth, are named in reference to the murder of

Black Dahlia Elizabeth Short (July 29, 1924 – , 1947), posthumously known as the Black Dahlia, was an American woman found murdered in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on January 15, 1947. Her case became highly publicized owin ...

, in which the victim's mouth was cut along the same horizontal line along which these piercings are placed. (See

Glasgow smile A Glasgow smile (also known as a Chelsea grin/smile, or a Glasgow, Smiley, Huyton, A buck 50, forced smile or Cheshire grin) is a wound caused by making a cut from the corners of a victim's mouth up to the ears, leaving a scar in the shape o ...

History and culture

Precolumbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European c ...

cultures of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

historically used lip piercing called

Tembetá A tembetá (Guaraní language: ''tembe'': lip, ''ita'': stone.) or barbote (Argentina) is a metal or stone rod placed in lower lip piercings by members of some indigenous peoples in South America. It has been used since the Neolithic period by di ...

. Lip piercing continues to be practiced by many people, the most well-known of which are certain African tribes, who wear large decorative lip plates or discs, usually in the lower lip. In contemporary society, lip piercings are relatively common. In a study among

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i young-adults, 4.3% had present or past body piercing (not included earlobe, lip or intra-oral piercing), and 5.7%, 6.2% and 15.7% had present or past lip piercing, body tattooing and intra-oral piercing, respectively.

Health risks and complications

Studies have found people with lip piercings to have 4 to 7 times higher risk of

gingival recession Gingival recession, also known as gum recession and receding gums, is the exposure in the roots of the teeth caused by a loss of gum tissue or retraction of the gingival margin from the crown of the teeth.dental trauma Dental trauma refers to trauma (injury) to the teeth and/or periodontium (gums, periodontal ligament, alveolar bone), and nearby soft tissues such as the lips, tongue, etc. The study of dental trauma is called dental traumatology.''Textbook a ...

in people with lip piercings.

References

External links