Vertical Labret Piercing Information & Aftercare Guide

If you’ve been wary of a lip piercing because of the potential for gum and teeth damage, you’re in luck. A vertical labret is a lip piercing with less tooth and gum damage risk than traditional labret piercings. It’s also unique in that it allows you to select two ends, so you can play around with many jewelry combinations to match your specific aesthetic.

What Is a Vertical Labret Piercing?

The word labret comes from the Latin word labrum, which means lip. A vertical labret piercing is a lip piercing that goes vertically, entering at the vermillion border of the lower lip and exiting near the top. It can be placed anywhere along the bottom lip, from the center to the sides.

Vertical Labret Piercing Anatomy

Like many other piercings, this one is anatomy-dependent. You need to have enough lip tissue to grab ahold of and pierce through. Having a subtle pout shape on your bottom lip also helps.

If your bottom lip is too thin, the piercing will likely migrate or reject because there’s insufficient tissue to keep it stable. To ensure you have the proper tissue amount to get this piercing, visit an experienced piercer; they can tell you whether your lips are too thin.

How Much Does It Hurt?

A vertical labret is relatively low on the pain scale. It hurts for a second as the needle pierces through the bottom and top of the lip, but it doesn’t hurt much outside of that. On a scale from one to ten, it comes in at around a three or four.

How Long Does It Take To Heal?

Because the mouth heals relatively quickly, a vertical labret only takes six to eight weeks to heal fully.

How Much Does It Cost to Get Pierced?

There’s no set price for vertical labret piercings; the cost will differ from shop to shop and piercer to piercer. On average, you can expect to pay anywhere from $30 to $100, not including jewelry. Jewelry will range anywhere from $30 and up, depending on the material it’s made from and the ends you select. Lastly, it’s customary to tip 20%.

Vertical Labret Piercing Jewelry

The only jewelry suitable for a vertical labret piercing is a curved barbell. When you’re first pierced, the barbell will be longer than necessary to account for the swelling after being pierced. You’ll be able to downsize once the swelling subsides.

Vertical labrets are pierced at either 16 or 14 gauge. It depends on your piercer’s preference (and your preference!); some piercers prefer to pierce at a 14 gauge because the thicker jewelry provides more stability.

Aftercare

The vertical labret piercing is known to swell quite a bit, more than a traditional labret piercing. To help with the swelling, you can take an anti-inflammatory and use ice to help the swelling go down. For ice, you can use an ice pack, a popsicle on your lip, or even soak your lip in a glass of ice water.

Another thing to note is that your lips may get very chapped during the healing process. However, you cannot use chapstick or lipstick while your new piercing heals. To help prevent chapped lips, you must stay as hydrated as possible. Drink a lot of water.

Speaking of drinking, you want to avoid straws or any sucking, as the movement can be irritating to the new piercing as it heals. Stick to drinking from glasses during the healing period.

Smoking can also make your mouth extra dry and contribute to chapped lips, so avoid smoking during the healing process. Similarly, you don’t want to engage in excessive kissing or oral play, which can introduce unwanted bacteria into the healing wound. And, of course, if something you eat causes the piercing to sting, avoid that kind of food for the duration of the healing process. Spicy foods tend not to be good matches for healing oral wounds. You’ll want to avoid alcohol as it is too harsh for the piercing.

To keep the piercing clean, you can use saline spray on a Q-tip to remove crusties on the outside of your mouth. You can also use non-alcoholic mouthwash to cleanse the inside of your

FAQ

What’s the difference between a labret piercing and a vertical labret piercing?

A labret piercing goes through the vermillion border and is pierced perpendicularly through the lip. There is only one puncture point in the lip. A vertical labret has two puncture points in the lip: near the vermillion border and out through the top of the bottom lip.

What’s the difference between a vertical labret piercing and an Ashley piercing?

An Ashley piercing is an inverse vertical labret, with only one visible point in the center of the bottom lip. A vertical labret has two visible points (through the bottom and top of the lower lip).

Can you get a vertical labret piercing if you have braces?

It’s best to wait until your braces are removed to get a vertical labret piercing. The top end can get caught in the wires and brackets of the braces, causing unnecessary strain on the piercing.