Oral Piercing Aftercare
The approximate Healing Times for Oral Piercings vary.
- Tongue piercings take from 3 weeks to 3 months to completely heal.
- Lip and Labret piercings take 3 to 6 months to heal completely.
Lip/Labret/Monroe:
Place 2-3 drops of Gly-Oxide on the inside opening of the piercing. Let the solution remain in the
mouth for 2 to 3 minutes and then spit it out. While the inside is being cleaned with the Gly-
Oxide, use the Ear Care Solution with a Q-Tip to gently swab the outside opening. Crusted matter
may not wash off easily but do not worry; it will eventually work its way off. Never pick at
“crusties” with your fingernails! You need to clean both the inside and the outside of your
piercing 2-3 times daily. Always remember not to move or remove the jewelry. Your piercing will
heal best if left to move naturally.
Important Tips:
Ice To Keep Swelling Down
To bring down swelling and soothe aching, become best friends with an ice cube! Lots of cold
stuff: popsicles, slushies, ice cream, ect. can greatly reduce swelling and help with soreness and
aches. Swelling with oral piercings lasts 1-2 weeks. During this time you should be applying cold
as much as possible. (Like anything that swells, cold is good and heat is bad.) Products with
Ibuprofen such as Advil or Aleve can also be used in this area as well.
Leave Your Piercing Alone
Piercings do best if you leave them alone! Let your piercing move naturally and never play with
it.
Keep Your Hands Clean
Always wash your hands with a liquid antibacterial soap (like Dial) before and after you clean or
touch your piercing. Never let anyone else touch it!
Never Trade Jewelry
Sharing of bodily fluids can be dangerous and that is exactly what you are doing if you share
body jewelry.
Be Patient
Everyone heals at a different rate.
Important Note:
Smoking can significantly increase your healing time. You should try to at least cut back during
the initial healing of your new oral piercing.
Do I Have an Infection?
Infections are caused by contact with bacteria, fungi or other living pathogens. Piercing
infections can usually be traced to one of the following activities:
- Oral contact with the piercing
- The piercing is touched by unwashed hands
- Allowing body fluids to contact the piercing
I Might Have an Infection. What Should I Do?
While it’s never inappropriate to see your piercing-friendly physician, a call or visit to your
piercer may save you a trip. If possible, visit your piercer and show him or her the piercing. Also
tell him or her about any circumstances which may have led to the possible infection.
Important: Please don’t remove the jewelry! This may aggravate the problem by closing off the
drainage for the matter.
Estimated Initial Healing Times
Everyone heals at a different rate. Listed below are the average times for which you should clean
regularly with Gly-Oxide and treat it like new, healing tissue. Remember that even after the
initial healing period, your piercing will still need up to a full year to completely heal (toughen
up). Always treat your piercing with care and gentleness.
- Tongue: 2-3 months
- Lip/Lebret/Monroe: 3-6 months
Your piercing was preformed professionally and appropriately. Follow these simple suggestions,
and your healing period should go smoothly. Although not physicians, piercers are available
whenever you have questions about aftercare. Please call us anytime!
Oral Aftercare
Did you know that the mouth is one of the most vascular areas of the body? Due to the
tremendous amount of blood flow to the mucous membrane tissue, oral piercings tend to have a
quick healing time. To properly take care of your new oral piercing, read on:
Healing Process
The moment you are pierced, your body naturally sends white blood cells to the area through
your blood stream. Once the blood cells arrive, they begin to sew up the damage and create new
tissue. Their goal is to solidify the passageway around the jewelry. As this goes on, the cells and
tissue destroyed during the piercing are discarded from the body. Taking this into consideration,
a new piercing may:
- Be red and swollen around the area
- Itch (but don’t scratch)
- Bleed slightly for several days
- Secrete a whitish-yellow fluid which may form a crust on the jewelry. (This is mostly plasma and dead cells, it’s not puss, don’t pick at it.)
- Swell the tongue or lip. This will be the most uncomfortable for the first 3-5 days.
Now that you know what to expect from your new oral piercing, you must learn how to properly
care for it. The key to a successful piercing is making sure that you don’t interrupt the healing
process. If you follow these simple instructions, your piercing will look best, feel best and heal
best.
What I Need to Clean My Oral Piercing
Gly-Oxide. This is an oral antiseptic used to clean tissue in the mouth. It does not contain
alcohol. Using products that contain alcohol such as Listerine or other popular mouthwashes is
not acceptable as these products are much too harsh on your piercing. The new cells try to heal
your piercing are burned away when using products containing alcohol which will irritate your
piercing as well as making it take longer to heal. Carbamide Peroxide, which is the main
ingredient in Gly-Oxide, is more of a cleanser than a killer. This will help with healthy tissue
regeneration.
Important:
Gly-Oxide is not meant to be confused with Hydrogen Peroxide. Hydrogen Peroxide is not meant
for oral use! Using Hydrogen Peroxide can lead to big trouble when used to heal a piercing.
Oral piercings such as the Labret, Lip and Monroe involve not only cleaning the wet inner tissue
but cleaning of the outer “dry” tissue as well. For this we suggest Ear Car Solution (Benzalkonium
Chloride). Ear Car Solution comes with your piercing and the Gly-Oxide can be purchased at
Kaleidoscope for an additional $5.
How To Clean & Care for My New Oral Piercing
Tongue: 2-3 times daily place several drops of Gly-Oxide on both the top and bottom openings of
your piercing. Allow the Gly-Oxide to gently fizz up in your mouth around the piercing for about
2 to 3 minutes and then spit it out. DO NOT SWALLOW!
