Odd Body Piercings: A Look at Lip Piercings - Essay Example

Allergic reactions to the skin type from the foreign elements could breed life-threatening infections (Palmer, 2011). When any body piercings becomes a fashion trend among the youth, the craze is so high that such risks as physical injuries can not deter them from going with the trend. The ideal way is to publicize the precautions so that loss to that body part such as lip in the form of infection, excessive scarring or possibility of things going wrong could be avoided. Selection of the piercer is the first step in the right direction.

There are licensing and regulatory norms for practicing piercing, which differ from state to state (Palmer, 2011). Responsibility of the customer plays a greater role in safe lip piercing. An experienced lip piercer having wide experience in oral piercings poses negligible risk as procedures are safe and there is no risk of infection. The piercing function is performed by them telling the details of the procedure to the customer so that the procedure is relaxing for the customer. Lip is a very sensuous and delicate part of the body.

Any inefficient handling of the piercing process can become an image issue, as you cannot be presentable to the environment you are in like Amy’s friend who had to spend two days in hospital after lip piercing because of developing infection. All those undergoing lip piercing or any odd body part piercing cannot be wise like Amy who had seen the bad case example of her friend and was quite conscious of her professional looks in the office environment. If a piercer is unable to answer your queries and is charging very less, it is better to try another more experienced outer body piercer who knows the job well and performs the lip-piercing function by using instruments from pre-sealed sterile packages (Palmer, 2011).

Allergic reactions, infections, injuries or scars, all show symptoms afterwards, so care is very important after lip piercing, as it minimizes the risk of infection or piercing rejection. Lip can become swollen, sore and a bit wounded after piercing procedure. It is advisable to clean the pierced area with an alcohol-free anti-bacterial or anti-microbial mouth rinse at least twice or thrice a day. Piercers also suggest some cleaning home formulas such as rinsing with a mild solution of sea salt to kill germs.

It is very important to rinse the area of lip piercing after each meal with water or anti-bacterial solution. A new tooth brush can also help in reducing the risk of bacteria from the old tooth brush. It can help in soothing of swollen lips if clean ice chips are taken for some days. Prohibited things after lip piercing are chewing gum, smoking, chewing any thing, kissing or making oral sexual contact until recovery from the after-effects of lip piercing is total and complete. Jewelry needs to be discarded until the healing is complete.

It is best not to touch the pierced area of the lip (Palmer, 2011). Injury can also happen from the jewelry worn after the lip piercing. If the right type of jewelry metal is not selected, it can delay the healing process. Initial piercing is made with surgical stainless steel jewelry, as per the American Family Physician. It is a safe material and chances of allergic reaction are very few in those people who are sensitive to stainless steel. Other jewelry also helps in healing the pierced area.

If stainless steel j