Abscess? Infection? Derp?
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Sunday February 17th, 2008 @ 5:45 PM
Filed under: Lip/Cheek
About a three week old lip piercing, there is no pain or discomfort and it feels quit comfortable, I thought I might of been in the clear after the area was no longer tender.
Then today when I brush my teeth I notice this, it is raised about a centimeter above the surrounding tissue and is hard to the touch. I thought it might be an abscess and I am wondering of the appropriate course of action.
An abscess would typically be much bigger and MUCH more painful, as an abscess is a pocket of trapped infection fluid.
What you have appears to be nothing more than some excess scar tissue. At three weeks, this sort of thing wouldn’t be all that uncommon with a lip a piercing. The scar tissue tends to show up for a variety of reasons:
1) Too much movement of the jewelry, just from natural things such as talking or eating; but more commonly from playing with the jewelry too much
2) The diameter of the ring is too small, which therefore irritates the piercing significantly and your body forms excess scar tissue as a way to protect itself from the source of the irritation.If the jewelry fits too tightly, it’s not uncommon for the inside of the lip to “tear” slightly, as the body moves the jewelry into a position it can cope with.
If you’re concerned that the jewelry might be too tight, you should consult with your piercer.
Other than general aftercare, and avoiding playing with it, there isn’t probably much to be done about the scar tissue. In most cases it will simply go away on it’s own after the piercing heals a bit more an toughens up.
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7 Responses to “Abscess? Infection? Derp?”
This was done a while back, correct? I was wondering if you can leave a comment onto how you removed, cured the white area. I just got mine done last week, and I’m worried it might be infected.
Matty on April 21st, 2009 at 11:25 amdude i had mine just like that after 3 weeks was soo upset
all i did was take my hoops out and put studs in, mouth washed like a mofo and it was gone within 2 days!!
it really works!
all 3 cleared up that way
Fills on June 2nd, 2009 at 12:52 pm(i originally just had the middle of my lip done, then did the snakes bites as well and i had to do it for all of them)
Thanks! that was very helpful. I had the scar tissue thing, and i just switched to a bar, and so far it seems to be a lot better. I dont play with the bar nearly as much as i did with the ring.
Lauren on September 22nd, 2009 at 11:32 amHad mine done 2 weeks ago and the same things happened to me, no pain at all, not much swelling but the inside looks a tiny bit ripped with the same white skin around the bar. Guess this is just normal though =D
Tony on February 1st, 2010 at 12:42 pmHi there
I got my librette done in June it healed in 3 weeks and have had no problems with it.
Now all of a sudden it has flaired up gone red and over night swelled into a hand ball, it is extremely sore to touch or eat. It is pussing and crusting.
I am rinsing with antiseptic listerine a few times a day and using the antiseptic cleaner from the piercer for the outside.
When should i be concerned and go to a doc?
Any advice would be great thanks.
Charl on September 18th, 2010 at 12:49 amHey,
Luis on October 6th, 2010 at 1:49 pmI got my piercing about a month ago and had the exact same thing. I cleaned it out and used a saline solution and that did the trick for the inside of the mouth. The outside however, theres a hard white circle surronding the piercing, i was wondering what i had to do to take that off? can anyone help?
Hello,
Wilbert on January 8th, 2011 at 2:04 amI got my lip piecing about a month ago but when i take it off i touch the hole and i can feel a big ball i think it can be infected but i dont know can u help me. I will love that thanks
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