Can You Have a Medusa and a Smiley Piercing?
As oral piercings grow in popularity, more unique pairings pop up. Two popular types are medusas (also known as philtrum piercings) and smileys (also known as frenulum or tongue webbing piercings). A medusa piercing goes through the philtrum of the upper lip, which is the little divot in the cupid’s bow of your lip. A smiley piercing goes through the frenulum of the upper lip. Because they are so close together, you may wonder if you can reasonably have both piercings. The answer is that it all depends.
You Need to Have the Right Anatomy
Both a medusa and smiley piercings are anatomy-dependent, meaning you need to have the right anatomy in order to get them pierced. For a medusa, or philtrum piercing, having the proper anatomy is quite common. In order to get one, your piercer just needs to make sure you don’t have a very large webbing that connects your gums to your upper lip, as this can get in the way of the piercing.
For smiley piercings, you need a thick enough frenulum, or webbing that connects your upper lip to your gums. However, your teeth must also be angled properly to avoid extensive tooth or gum damage. If the angle of your bite is straight down, then you’re suitable for a smiley piercing. If the angle of your bite comes inward or outward, the jewelry of a smiley piercing will rub against your teeth and gums; thus, you don’t have the proper anatomy for the piercing.
For some people, having the right anatomy for a smiley piercing may make them ineligible for a medusa piercing.
To have both piercings simultaneously, you need to have enough space for the jewelry to fit comfortably and not interfere with each other. Some people have this space, but others do not. It’s important to seek guidance from a professional piercer who can tell you whether you have suitable anatomy for both or not.
Some Piercers Won’t Perform Smiley Piercings
Even if you have the right anatomy for both piercings, many professional piercers have stopped offering smiley piercing services. This is because even if you have the proper anatomy for one, it still comes with a great oral health risk. Having jewelry that comes into contact with your teeth and gums, like smiley piercing jewelry, will eventually lead to severe gum and enamel erosion, which cannot be reversed once it starts. It only worsens the longer you have the piercing and wear the jewelry. Due to the detrimental nature of the piercing to oral hygiene, many piercers find performing this piercing simply unethical.
Therefore, finding a professional piercer who will perform a smiley piercing may be difficult, even if you have the anatomy for both.
They Need to Be Done Separately
If you have the proper anatomy for both piercings and decide to get both, you must do them separately. Healing two oral piercings in the same area simultaneously can compound swelling and cause irritation. As stated in our smiley piercing aftercare guide, the piercing takes only a month or two to heal fully. A medusa piercing takes three to five months to heal fully. It doesn’t matter in what order you get the two piercings in, but tell your piercer you plan to get both so they can place the first piercing you decide to get accordingly.
One thing to note is that smiley piercings can and will still swell up even after fully healing. If you eat something spicy or irritate the area when brushing and flossing your teeth, your frenulum (where the smiley piercing goes through) will swell up. This can cause the two piercings to interfere because of the area’s limited space. Therefore, it’s not the safest idea to get them both because they can easily interfere with each other due to swelling.
Limited Jewelry Options
People get smiley piercings because they’re visible when you smile, hence their name. Circular barbells, or horseshoes, are the most common jewelry worn in smiley piercings. However, these are not recommended for wear as they can cause the most damage to your teeth and gums. Instead, the recommended jewelry after healing the piercing is a seamless ring, clicker, or fixed bead ring where the bead has a flat back and is affixed to the ring permanently.
A common reason why people get medusa piercings is the variety of jewelry options. While you can only wear a labret stud in a philtrum piercing, you can select anywhere from a tiny, dainty bead as your end to a sizeable teardrop-shaped gemstone accentuating the curvature of your lip where the cupid’s bow is.
However, if you decide to get a smiley and a medusa piercing, your jewelry options are much more limited. You need to ensure the jewelry won’t get caught or snag on each other. This means you may not be able to have such a grand philtrum piece, as you need the room available for the smiley piercing jewelry. Additionally, smiley piercings can tear or rip easily. If the jewelry gets caught on your medusa piercing jewelry, it could cause irreparable damage to the point where you won’t be able to have a smiley piercing anymore.
Safer Alternative
The truth of the matter is that all oral piercings have the potential to cause gum and teeth damage. However, some options can cause less damage than others. Some safer alternatives to getting a smiley and a medusa piercing are to get a jestrum, also known as a vertical philtrum piercing. This piercing goes through the center of the top lip vertically, meaning the jewelry doesn’t come into contact with your gums, making it a much safer option. It looks similar to a smiley and medusa combo because the jewelry rests in the center of the upper lip and shows at the bottom of the upper lip too.
It All Depends
Overall, it all depends on whether you have the proper anatomy and space for a combination of a smiley and medusa piercing. If you do and you decide to get both, knowing the risks of oral damage, be sure to read up on our guide for caring for a medusa piercing and smiley, as proper aftercare can help minimize the risk.