Nothing says pubescent teenager more than a few wispy hairs floating on your top lip. A phantom moustache, lingering like a subtle mist of smoke, may have suited the cast of Napoleon Dynamite, but for those of us looking for a more gentlemanly look sharpen our razors and hold our breath.
Getting a close shave in those hard to reach places always comes with the risk of a cut. While shaving on the face, cutting the lip is one of the most irritating accidents of all. Understanding how to heal a lip cut after shaving can help you to make this inconvenience a thing of the past.
For most of us, our lips are mostly on the move. Careers, relationships, eating, and drinking all require the use of our most expressive orifice, so a tiny cut can end up making a big dent in your routine. A simple cut lip shaving can lead to a seemingly unstoppable flow of blood, as the highly vascular skin around our mouth expands and contracts as we go about our day.
In this article, we’re going to explain what to do first after there is blood on lips, and how to stop shaving bleeding and infection in a cut lip. We’ll cover the tools and tips that you need to ensure your morning routine doesn’t resemble a scene from “Psycho”.
How to get rid of lip bleeding
The number one way to stop a lip from bleeding after shaving is to use a styptic pencil. These portable blocks of antihemorrhagic agent are a quick and and easy way to stem the flow of blood from small cuts.
When applied to the wound, the styptic causes the blood vessels in the surrounding tissue to contract, so that blood flow is reduced substantially. This is enough to allow a clot to form, helping to stop your bleeding lip from ruining your day.
Can a cut on lips result in infection?
Our mouths are always exposed to the elements, which means they are a breeding ground for a myriad of bacteria. Mostly this poses no problem, but with an open wound on the lips, you run the risk of infection.
Imagine how often you lick your lips. That’s a cocktail of bacteria, living and feeding on your saliva, spreading into your wound. This can lead to infection.
Using a styptic pencil encourages a clot to form, which provides the most effective natural barrier for wounds. Your cut will be covered, and you can safely salivate without the fear of waking up with painful swelling around your mouth.
What if I don’t have a styptic pencil in hand?
Well, styptic pencils are available online, and are inexpensive and effective, so you would be crazy not to have one! However, we understand that everyone suffers from moments of insanity, and your shaving kit may not be as slick as ours.
In desperate times, people have been known to apply ice to small cuts. This causes some vasoconstriction when applied to the wound, but don’t hold it onto bare skin for too long as it can cause pain.
Alternatively, you can opt for a band-aid, although finding the right size can be tough. In our experience, the sheer awkwardness of cuts on the lips while shaving make a piece of tissue paper more effective.
Simply apply pressure to the nick, and hold the tissue there until bleeding stops. Unfortunately the skin around your mouth has a high concentration of blood vessels, so these tiny cuts can be stubborn. You may need to walk around with tissue on your face, but stick with it and it will eventually stop.