Irritating Medusa

«« emla cream    Problem with labret piercing »»

Saturday November 3rd, 2007 @ 12:54 AM

Filed under: Lip/Cheek

I’ve had my medusa (aka upper middle lip) for about 2 years now and it has refused to heal. I get a small infection every now and then to one side of the hole. This just involves a small pustule forming under the skin, more often than not it’ll leak out on its own accord but I’m left with a swollen lip and goop coming out. I also experience a lot of crusties. I salt soak it twice a day and I’ve been putting vitamin e cream around the area (I have very dehydrated skin). I’ve also changed the jewelry to a different metal twice but that didn’t help. When I take the jewelry out I notice a patch of very different textured skin on that side…that may or may not be scar tissue. I’m reluctant to remove and heal it for some stupid reason, but if that is my only option I’ll take it. It’s just really annoying and I know that putting up with it for 2 years seems really absurd. Any suggestions as to what is causing it and how I can fix it?

I’d be willing to bet a body part (although not one I need for piercing) that the problems you are having are related to how the jewelry is sitting in your piercing. After 2 years of never fully healing, the most likely problem is that your jewelry is causing continual irritation/pressure to the piercing, which is preventing it from healing full and is causing the recurring bump/”pustule”.

No amount of salt soaking or anything else you put on the piercing will help if you’re suffering from a mechanical irritation. Think of it like this: if you have a cut on your arm and you constantly poke it, play with it and pick the scab, your body is going to have a very hard time healing it. Your piercing is also a wound your body has to heal, and if it’s constantly irritated, your body has a very hard time doing that. Until you relieve the irritation, everything else you try is really just treating the symptom and not the problem.

While i think that jewelry causing irritation is the likely culprit, it is also possible your body simply doesn’t like the placement of the piercing. Perhaps your upper lip webbing is thicker and the piercing going through that connective tissue is causing the irritation.

Either way, it may be necessary to remove the piercing to get everything to calm down. However, a trip to a reputable piercer in your area is probably in order. Being able to see and feel your piercing will go a long ways in figuring out how to proceed. Best of luck.

Posted by Derek Lowe | Permalink | Leave a comment | Trackback