How can lip filler affect your piercings?
If you already have lip piercings and are looking into getting lip filler:
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Do your homework - The person doing the injections should be experienced in doing them on people with lip piercings. If the filler is injected without care for the piercings, it can cause your piercings to sit crookedly or migrate. It can even cause rejection. Nobody wants that! The injector should take care to assess where the filler is going and take careful measurements beforehand. (Much like a trustworthy piercer!)
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Be ready for removal - You’re going to have to take your jewelry out to get the injections. Make sure you are prepared to do that. It sounds obvious and silly to say but almost everyone has experienced a stuck ball end or a segment ring that will not open. You don’t want to arrive at your appointment and discover your jewelry will not budge.
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Be ready for re-insertion - Obviously, your lips are going to be fuller after the injections. This can actually alter what size jewelry your piercing requires. You’ll want to be prepared with longer (for straight jewelry) or larger diameter (for circular jewelry) for your piercing to accommodate your new, fuller pout.
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Make sure you’re healed - Since you are taking out your jewelry for the procedure, you’ll want to be sure that your piercing is not going to close while the jewelry is out. Be sure that your piercing is entirely healed and then give it as much extra time as you possibly can to ensure that your piercing is still there when the procedure is finished.
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Pretend it’s fresh! - After your injections, you should treat your lip piercing like it’s fresh for a month afterwards. This means resuming the aftercare you used post-piercing. Sterile saline wound wash and alcohol-free mouthwash. You know the drill.
If you already have lip filler and are looking into getting a lip piercing:
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Mind your cycle - Lip fillers are performed in a cycle as they are injected and absorbed. You will want to wait until your fillers are fully absorbed….and then you’ll want to wait another three months or so before getting pierced. This means there will be an interruption in your normal injection schedule.
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Don’t risk migration - If you rush the process of allowing your filler to be re-absorbed, you run the risk of having your piercing migrate, or of having the filler migrate. The filler can migrate into areas where it doesn’t belong, which is unsightly, and the process of having it dissolved can be costly. Don’t rush perfection. If nothing else, you can use the time while you’re waiting for your filler to be re-absorbed to shop for cool jewelry to wear after your piercing heals.
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Tell the truth - Make sure your piercer knows you get lip fillers. This is something that can affect how your piercing sits, and your piercer should definitely know this before they pierce you. Don’t be embarrassed and don’t forget to tell them in case they need to adjust the positioning of your piercing accordingly.
