Sunday November 15th, 2009 @ 4:19 PM
I’m 13 and I want to get my lip pierced. My older brother told me to go on here and as questions about consequences for getting my lip pierced, infections, it closing up, allergic reactions. I wanna know if it would be smart to get it done being so young or if its not a good thing to do? Ive wanted to do it for a long time now and I think im finally ready to. My cousin did hers herself and its healing nicely. Would it be smart if i did the same? What are consequences of doing it yourself? What would happen if it got infected? What kind of metal should i get? tons of questions sorry
I usually don’t do oral piercings under 16 at my shop.
That being said, I’ve made exceptions for seemingly intelligent minors before. Despite your young age which many piercers are uncomfortable piercing, you’re off to a great start asking relivent questions. Nicely done, smart kid! 
My biggest concern piercing people at an age I’ve personally decided is “too young” is that piercings are a lot of work. You’ve got to look after your body as well as a fresh piercing and it’s quite a big responsibility.
Oral piercings are almost like two piercings in one as far as aftercare goes - an oral piercing as well as a body surface piercing. They both require different aftercare regimes at different times.
It’s also pretty common for younger kids who want piercings to be more concerned about how rad they’re gonna look in the end, how much it hurts (it hurts, btw) than the actual issues that need to be discussed before opening the skin up and taking care of a fresh wound.
To address some of your questions:
Infection comes from introduction of foreign bacteria to the piercing. Contrary to popular belief, piercings don’t just become “infected” for no reason. They have been touched, kept unclean, played with, etc. Infection is also much more likely if you pierce yourself and don’t know what you’re doing as far as keeping everything clean during and after the procedure. Should the piercing become infected it would become quite swollen and sore. At this time, I suggest my clients seek medical attention for the best course of action which can sometimes include a dose of antibiotics.
Irritation is much more common and can happen to anyone who may not be wearing properly sized jewelry or jewelry made of implantable materials. It can also be caused by improper placement.
Allergic reactions can occur from wearing low-quality jewelry. Many people have nickel allergies and nickel is used to harden most metal jewelry. If you don’t have a nickel allergy now, chances are with prolonged exposure to it you will develop one over time.
You can prevent this from happening by wearing implant grade steel or titanium. This is different than “Surgical” grade steel or titanium. A reputable piercer will be able to provide you with the appropriate jewelry for your piercing.
If you remove the piercing later on, it is very likely to grow over and heal up so that you may not put jewelry back into it. Another concern of mine as far as piercing younger people go is that facial piercings can leave a pretty good scar. Nothing too significant, but not unlike a large pore or pockmark. This may be a factor in deciding to pierce yourself that you may not care about now, but may regret later on. Not all people appreciate the scars they inflicted on themselves when they were younger.
I hope that helps answer some of your concerns. I think it’s pretty rad that you’re asking the right questions before going ahead with the piercings without some thought.
Do I think you’re too young? I don’t think that really matters.
Do I think you appear to have the mental capacity to make an informed decision? Absolutely.
I hope you’ll be able to find a piercer in your area you can talk to firsthand who will be able to help you make a final decision.
Good luck to ya!
+23 / 23 votes 
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Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | Comments
Monday October 19th, 2009 @ 3:48 PM
I want to get my bottom lip pierced, but I have this bad habit of biting the inside of my bottom lip. I guess my question is, whether or not this will be a problem? If I continue to bite my lip will it bother my piercing, or like mess it up? Can it get infected from it? I want to be sure that I do the right thing and not hurt my lip even more.
Compusively biting on your lip will be a negative thing to a healing piercing. If you get in the habit of chewing the actual jewelry, it will wreak havoc on your teeth.
+9 / 9 votes
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Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | 2 Comments
Monday October 19th, 2009 @ 3:27 PM
I am interested in getting a horizontal lip piercing, so I’ve been looking at all the pictures in the BME gallery and reading everything on it in the BME encyclopedia. I will be doing the legwork to find a good piercer with experience doing these, since I don’t like being a guinea pig, and no one in my local area seems to have any experience with it. While I’m trying to find that perfect piercer, though, I had a few questions.
What is the “ideal” jewelry to use in this type of piercing? I’ve read that it is often done with flexible jewelry, which I’m not very comfortable with. I really prefer to have only top-quality stainless steel or titanium in my new piercings, and I’ve heard bad things about flexible jewelry breaking down in the body over long periods of time.
Is a curved barbell ok? Or would a surface bar with the 90 degree angles be a better choice? I want to be able to put the flat disks on mine, so that they don’t interfere as much with eating/drinking/kissing/etc., and I think the flat disks only come on the surface bars, right?
And here’s my stupid question - can surface bars be changed out, or do you just change the disks/balls/jewels on the ends? I’m a little worried at the thought of getting a piece of metal that I can’t just yank out if I really need to. I’m also concerned about getting a good fit with this piercing - since that is an area that stretches a bit when smiling or laughing, is it possible to get a nice snug fit on the jewelry, without it pulling/tearing if you smile really big?
Wow, I had more questions than I realized. Thanks in advance! 
The first horizontal lip piercings done that were recognised by BME were done out of my shop several years ago. We did tonnes of them. We used curved barbells, 90 degree bent surface bars and regular surface bars.
Over time, all the the lip piercings rejected and for the most part, people had more trouble with than didn’t.
Because the lip stretches out and contracts so drastically ever couple seconds it’s my opinion that they just arent’ great piercings to have.
Surface bars CAN be changed out, they just shouldn’t be. But with horizontal lip piercings and knowing how much oral tissue swells when pierced, extra length needs to be left to accommodate the inital inflammation. Afterwards, a downsize is needed. Which more often than not, irritates the hell out of the piercing and causes some swelling again.
+6 / 6 votes
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Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | Comments
Monday October 19th, 2009 @ 3:20 PM
ive always wondered if getting your cheeks pierced has the same effect without dimples as it does with, and if they are removed what kind of scarring remains?
Cheeks can be pierced with or without natural dimples.
Some people find that the scars that remain after removal of cheek piercings can leave very significant dimpling in the cheeks as well as a small hole where the jewelry was.
+2 / 2 votes
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Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | 2 Comments
Monday October 19th, 2009 @ 3:11 PM
Hi…recently i’ve found that there’s a raised tissue nearby the flat disc on my left labret. My piercer told me that it’s because of over accumulation of discharge & dead cells due to bed very late at night. I’ve been taking early bed for a week plus since the bump raised & gargle with warm sea salt water as usual but it seems like doesn’t reduce at all. I’m so worry about it & hope to have some advise on this problem. Thanks a lot & peace
Lip piercings can develop this kind of inflammation for a few different reasons.
Firstly, it could be that your piercing has been placed at a wonky angle and it’s irritating the piercing or that it’s being subject to trauma (chewing the jewelry, catching on teeth, oral contact with others…)
Secondly, it could be the quality of jewelry you’re wearing and your body is reacting to it - although by the picture, that doesn’t seem as likely.
My first guess is that it’s being irritated chemically somehow. Sea salt rinses are great to flush out oral piercings for aftercare. That being said, if you’re using a commercial mouthwash (Scope, Oral B, Listerine, etc) dumping booze or caffeine all into it or using a whitening toothpaste, that can seriously bother the inside of a fresh oral piercing
+4 / 4 votes
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Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | 4 Comments
Sunday October 18th, 2009 @ 3:25 PM
Hey, I had my lip pierced (16 gague) in early July and as I’m looking at new jewellry to buy, I’ve noticed that most of what I want is in 14 gague. I keep reading references to stretching the piercing, but nothing that says anything specific on HOW. Is there a page I’m missing, or what?
This is my first ever piercing (other than my ears) so if I’m asking something completely stupid here, please let me know. =]
–Tori
The size difference between a 16g and a 14g is only about half a milimeter, but can be tough to stretch depending on the jewelry you’re using.
A piercer would be able to gently slide a long insertion taper which will very gradually spread the piercing open to slide in a 14g instead of forcing a blunt 14g post straight through.
It’s quite easy to stretch and probably won’t cause you much, if any, discomfort.
0 / 0 votes 
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Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | Comments
Sunday October 18th, 2009 @ 2:34 PM
My question is in regards to my getting a piercing over, or else close by enough to cover, two diagonal beauty marks I have near my cheek/lip (picture attached).
First of all, I am not planning on getting this done ANYTIME soon: I’m too young to be making decisions like that right away. But, I am interested in maybe getting it done in the future.
I assume that they would have to be microdermals because of the location. I wanted to know if this would be completely out of the question, or if not, if there are any other options aside from microdermals.
Any advice or comments you may have are appreciated.
By the looks of it, you wouldn’t be able to have straight-through piercings like a monroe in those areas based on the oral anatomy alone.
I also don’t like surface anchors in place or oral piercings whatsoever. Too much movement, in my opinion and they end up leaving nice scars when they reject out.
Another issue is piercing through those beauty marks. As a rule, I don’t pierce through any abnomal tissue like moles. I’d double check with your doctor about the idea of piercing through them. If he/she doesn’t think it’s a great idea, there are other options for mole removal and laser treatment.
+3 / 3 votes
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Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | Comments
Saturday October 17th, 2009 @ 4:59 PM
I have two microdermals in my sternum right now and they’ve healed perfectly fine no problems at all :] but I’ve been wanting my cheeks done forever and have decided on getting them with dermals instead of bars. Since I can’t have them for work I was going to get them done without ends/tops. Is it possible to heal them this way ? Or will the skin grow back over the stem ?
Thanks !
First of all, I don’t like surface anchors instead of barbells for cheek piercings at ALL. I suggest you don’t do this.
Secondly, no. You won’t be able to have the anchors heal without ends. The ends on surface bars and surface anchors prevent the jewelery from sinking into the piercing wound and the tissue healing over them.
0 / 0 votes
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Posted by Lexci Million | Permalink | Comments
Monday October 5th, 2009 @ 8:48 PM
I got my lip pierced about, 4 days ago. I had a stud put in because I was going back home and if I showed up with a ring I knew I would never stop hearing about it from my parents. Everything has been going fine, except that the inside of my lip seems to be growing around the back plate of the stud. Also, when I push it inward there is a sore red circle on the inside where the plate is sitting. I’ve been using salt soaks about 3-4 times a day and washing the outside of the piercing with a anti-bacterial soap. There is no weird discharge, smells or heat coming from the piercing so I don’t think it’s infected. However, my lip is still a little swollen and if I run my tongue along the inside of it, there is stinging (obviously). I’m trying not to get paranoid but I’ve never had a piercing react like this. (I have my tongue and eyebrow also pierced.) Any idea what’s going on?
The obvious answer is that the bar is too short. In my opinion, it shouldn’t have been pierced with a ring to start with but faffing around with jewellery in a four day piercing is going to create excess swelling and irritation. If you keep it up, you will have the gnarliest piercing ever which will be certain to attract attention from your parents. Go to a piercer, have them fit an oversized labret stud in it, leave it in situ for a couple of weeks, go back to the piercer and have them switch it for a shorter, sterile stud and then give it another three to four months before fitting the ring.
+2 / 2 votes
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Posted by Tiff Badhairdo | Permalink | 4 Comments
Monday October 5th, 2009 @ 10:21 AM
i’ve had my monroe pierced for nearly 2.5 months now and it has healed well.
when i wear a short or long bar flat-back labret, all is well and perfectly normal.
but, after a day of comfort wearing a circular barbell instead, it hurts a loooot and it feels hard inside the fistula.
if i switch back to a labret, in under an hour it goes back to normal and all pain in gone.
i’ve worn this barbell in other piercings and have never had any sort of reaction to it.
why does this happen? i really want to be able to wear the barbell, i love the look of it.
Your piercing is not well enough healed to be switching jewellery. Leave the labret stud in for a good four months from the date of the initial piercing to give it time to heal adequately and then make sure you have the piercing measured to ensure you wear the correct size cirular barbell.
+2 / 2 votes
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Posted by Tiff Badhairdo | Permalink | Comments
