Kayla Young
You’ve taken the plunge and traded in your favorite lipstick for a lip-blushing treatment. You’ve probably seen all the videos all over Insta and TikTok posted by influencers and their followers, who are raving about this rising-star lip treatment.
However, instead of being able to enjoy the results that you were dreaming of, you’re now suffering from an outbreak of cold sores that are painful and look horrible!
How did this happen? Is it normal? Yes, lip blushing can go wrong sometimes, and cold sores can occur. If you haven’t yet had your lip blushing treatment and you frequently get cold sores, be sure to inform your lip blushing artist before the procedure!
In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at how you can get a cold sore after lip blushing, and what to do when it happens.
Contents
Cold Sore After Lip Blushing
The lips are among the most sensitive areas of skin on our bodies, with the exception of our eyelids and private parts. That’s because this type of skin is the thinnest on our bodies and has a lot of blood flowing to it.
The lips are among the most sensitive areas of skin on our bodies, with the exception of our eyelids and private parts. That’s because this type of skin is the thinnest on our bodies and has a lot of blood flowing to it.
Also known as a mucous membrane, the skin on your lips need to stay moist at all times, which makes them more vulnerable to any kind of blunt trauma that may occur to them.
And any kind of trauma that happens to this skin can lead you to develop cold sores, even if you’ve never suffered from them before!
Because the lip blushing procedure is a semi-permanent tattoo process that enhances the shape and color of your lips to make them appear more natural and fuller, the pigment used is deposited into this delicate skin using microneedles.
These needles go under the skin in order to make the ink more permanent, and the process often requires certification to do.
Overall, even though it is considered a safe procedure, lip blushing can cause such a traumatic shock to your lips that you can develop a cold sore or three after you’ve had the treatment done.
Understanding how cold sores can manifest will help you to decide whether or not lip blushing is right for you, so let’s take a closer look at them.
Cold Sores 101
Cold sores, which are also called fever blisters by some, are a viral infection caused by the herpes simplex virus. They can be spread easily from one person to another when they are infectious and have both visible and active blisters and sores.
The herpes simplex virus is often triggered by an illness, such as a cold, flu, fever, allergy, or infection. However, some can also have an outbreak due to stress, or even a sunburn.
Over 90% of the world population carries the virus and can develop an active infection due to a triggering reaction, and spreading can happen through close contact like kissing or other skin-to-skin contacts – sometimes even by simply touching an open sore.
Though viral shedding, an infected person without visible sores can still pass the virus on.
If you have a weakened immune system or share objects like creams or needles with others who have herpes, this can trigger you to have an outbreak. Mothers can even pass on herpes to their babies during childbirth.
This all means that a lip blushing treatment isn’t necessarily the cause of a cold sore that manifests after blushing. It’s likely that you have been living with the virus inside of you and may not have even known it.
This all means that a lip blushing treatment isn’t necessarily the cause of a cold sore that manifests after blushing. It’s likely that you have been living with the virus inside of you and may not have even known it.
Healing A Cold Sore After Lip Blushing
It is entirely possible for you to heal a cold sore after a lip-blushing procedure. But you need to know that because it developed from a suppressed immune system response, it will take a while to heal. And unfortunately, you may be disappointed with the final result of your treatment.
This is because developing a cold sore can result in a loss of pigment in that area. You may need to have another lip blushing done to fill in any spots on your lips that fade. And this can bring on another infection cycle if your immune system is still compromised, requiring even more time for healing.
Developing a cold sore can result in a loss of pigment in that area. You may need to have another lip blushing done to fill in any spots on your lips that fade. And this can bring on another infection cycle if your immune system is still compromised, requiring even more time for healing.
Of course, if you’re having a severe cold sore outbreak, then you can visit your doctor to get a prescription for an antiviral medicine.
Also, if you have a history of cold sores, you can get medication before your lip blushing treatment so that you can avoid an outbreak while your lips are healing.
Following the after-treatment instructions given to you by your lip blushing technician will also help you to heal your lips faster (they probably look like what we’ve put together here).
Take Photos!
We strongly suggest that for the first week at least, you take photos of your lips and send them over to your lip blushing technician. This way, they can review the progress of your healing and address any issues that come up.
We strongly suggest that for the first week at least, you take photos of your lips and send them over to your lip blushing technician. This way, they can review the progress of your healing and address any issues that come up.
Other Tips
You will need to not touch or rub the area, which can add more trauma to the lips. And when the natural flaking and scabbing occurs at the beginning of the healing process, you’ll have to avoid peeling and picking them off, no matter how tempting that might be.
Let your lips heal for several days before you kiss your partner, and you should avoid smoking (for many reasons!).
And if you already have active cold sores, then it goes without saying that you’ll need to wait a while for them to fully heal before you have a lip-blushing treatment. You should also let your lip-blushing technician know beforehand that you have had an outbreak before you book your appointment.
Lip Service
If you are considering lip blushing, know that anything that causes puncturing of your skin has risks associated with it.
And in this case, that includes having an outbreak of herpes, which is the virus that causes cold sores.
Of course, not everyone will get a cold sore after having this semi-permanent tattoo treatment done.
But if you do develop a cold sore after lip blushing, then make sure that you follow the care instructions given to you by your technician to the letter, and be prepared to have a second lip blushing session to make sure the pigments are even.
If things get out of hand, you can visit your doctor for medication to help you along with the healing process.
