I had my labret pierced just about 2 weeks ago. I make sure to brush after I eat and get all the food out of my teeth. Everything looks ok, it doesn't hurt, it's not swollen, it's not hot.
If I push on it from the inside lightly you can tell it's all red around it. Right around it is regular skin color like it's healing but at the very edge of the hole, it is red.
It doesn't puss or anything and it was definitely pierced with a 14g and a long enough post.
Any suggestions as to why it's still so red? or is that normal?
Other than brush your teeth, do you do any other aftercare? If so, what do you do and how often? What products do you use?
At this point, you should really not be cleaning this piercing anymore. Overcleaning dries out this piercing as you describe it. As well as, it is also part of healing. If you get a cut on your finger, after a few days, do you not notice a thin redness around the injury. This is not an infection but the body doing its job of healing.
Since you state that the piercing is not causing you any other problems, we believe that you do not have any problems.
We do recommend to STOP ALL CLEANING and leave the piercing alone. At this point, regular dental hygiene is needed. Do not over stimulate your mouth.
I have stopped cleaning it. If there are crusties I just let the shower water rinse them away.
The past few days it still is discharging a tiny tiny amount, but I'm assuming that is just normal for my body healing.
I called my piercer and he said as long as the red around it doesn't get bigger than a dime he doesn't think I have a problem.
We are very happy that you have stopped cleaning the piercing. A small amount of discharge is not bad as long as the colour is clear to whitish. If it gets green and smells foul, then please seek medical attention.
The redness should never get the size of a dime, as that is definitely a major problem and again we would recommend seeking medical attention if this happened.
The redness should start to calm down and the tissues around the piercing should start to return to normal colour. The barbell may start to show more as the swelling dissipates and at about 4-6 weeks, you should think about getting a shorter shaft.
