Located between the lower lip and the chin, labret piercings take roughly six to eight weeks to heal. The healthier you are, the faster your labret piercing will heal. Sleeping for at least eight hours the night before the piercing, abstaining from alcohol and eating a healthy meal before arriving at the piercing shop will help make your labret piercing a pleasant experience.
Cleaning and Marking
The area for a labret piercing--the chin, lower lip and inside of the mouth--need cleaning before proceeding with the piercing. Antiseptic mouthwash cleans the inside of the mouth while the piercer cleans the outside skin with an antimicrobial soap and sterile gauze. A sterile marking pen or a sterile toothpick dipped in gentian violet--which works as a temporary dye--marks the location on the outside of the chin, under the lower lip. Some piercers mark the inside of the lip also, but an experienced piercer does not find this step necessary.
Piercing
There are three ways to perform a labret piercing. Depending on the piercer's skill level and technique preference, the piercer executes the piercing freehand or with forceps. When piercing a labret freehand, a piercer grips the lower lip with one hand and inserts the needle with the other. When using forceps for the piercing, the piercer inserts the needle from the outside or the inside of the mouth. Regardless of technique, the jewelry insertion follows the needle during the piercing. You may feel a small pinch as the piercer tightens the ball on a flat back labret piece of jewelry or while the piercer inserts a bead into a captive bead ring.
Aftercare Speech
As the piercer cleans any blood from the fresh labret piercing, the piercer explains to you how to clean and troubleshoot your new piercing. Cleaning the labret piercing consists of rinsing your mouth with an alcohol free mouthwash each time you smoke, eat or drink and washing the outside of the labret piercing with a mild soap and warm water once a day. If you are drinking water, there is no need to rinse. The piercer will inform you to avoid hot, spicy or crunchy foods, deep kissing and oral sex during the healing process. If your doctor allows it, the piercer will recommend taking ibuprofen for discomfort and swelling during the healing of the labret piercing.
Clean Up
The piercer deposits the needle into a biohazard sharps container immediately after the piercing. Gauze and marking tools are disposables and thrown away into a biohazard trash receptacle. Forceps undergo a cleaning process in an ultrasonic, scrubbed with soap and sterilized in an autoclave. Spraying a hospital level germicidal spray on the piercer's workstation and chair is necessary to reduce the possibility of blood borne pathogen transmission.
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