Before your appointment
- If you are prone to fever blisters or cold sores, please continue using your cold sore script medication until lips have fully healed.
- Even if you haven’t had a fever blister in years (you may have even had one as a child) the virus does not go away, but lays dormant in your body, usually suppressed by your immune system. During the process of a lip procedure, needles will be breaking the delicate lip skin and can actually cause the virus to “wake up” causing an outbreak. If you know or suspect that you have had a cold sore in the past, ask your doctor for a prescription of anti-cold sore medications such as Acyclovir / Cyclivex tablets and start taking them 3 days before the appointment.
- Over-the-counter options include L‑Lysine tablets and Zovirax cream. NOTE: these are not as effective as prescription tablets.
- Exfoliate lips daily for a few days leading up to your appointment – you can use your toothbrush to gently exfoliate.
- Apply extra moisture to lips daily for one week prior to your appointment – use a balm such as Eucerin / Aquaphor.
After your appointment
- Wipe lips gently with a damp cotton pad every half an hour for the next 2 hours after your appointment. Then start applying the supplied cream. Keep lips well moisturised for 7 days (apply cream hourly if necessary). Clean lips morning and evening with a damp cotton pad (bottled or boiled and cooled water).
- As healing progresses, lips may appear chapped – keep them hydrated with the supplied cream.
- Be sure not to pick or pull any loose skin off the epithelial crust – it is VERY IMPORTANT that any flaking exfoliates of its own accord.
- By pulling or picking at the epithelial crust, you will be forcing it and will pull the colour from the skin, thus defeating the purpose of the procedure and it could cause scarring.
- After about a week to ten days, the light crust will have peeled off and you may think there is no colour remaining.
- Immediately after the procedure, the colour is at its brightest – do not panic. As the area heals the colour will soften and become much lighter as your body attempts to “clean out” the pigment and the lips exfoliate. You will always need a touch up appointment. It takes up to six weeks after each appointment for the colour to mature to the final healed colour.
- Rinse mouth after meals in order to remove all traces of food, salt and acidity.
- If you smoke, cleanse your mouth after each cigarette but ideally avoid smoking altogether to avoid infection.
