Snake Bites, and the Other Paired Lip Piercings

Snake Bites, and the Other Paired Lip Piercings

Snake bites are two piercings placed either side of the lower lip, evenly spaced from the centre, so they sit roughly where a snake's fangs would land. It is one of the most recognisable lip looks there is and one of the most commonly asked for by nickname rather than by description.

The nicknames are where most of the confusion starts, so here is the whole family in one place.

The Names, Sorted Out

Snake bites. Two piercings, one either side of the lower lip, symmetrical.

Spider bites, sometimes called viper bites. Two piercings close together on one side of the lower lip.

Angel bites. Two piercings on the upper lip, one either side. A Monroe and a Madonna together.

Cyber bites. A philtrum in the centre above the upper lip, combined with a labret in the centre below the lower one.

Dolphin bites. Two piercings close together in the centre below the lower lip.

Shark bites. Four piercings, two on each side of the lower lip.

Canine bites. Angel bites and snake bites together, so four piercings across both lips.

Nothing about the piercing itself changes with the name. They are all lip piercings and the name describes the arrangement.

Why Symmetry is the Hard Part

A single lip piercing has to look right. A pair has to look right and match each other, on a face that is not symmetrical to begin with. Almost nobody's is.

That is the actual skill in this piercing. A piercer marking snake bites is not measuring from the centre with a ruler, or rather is not only doing that. They are looking at where your lip line sits on each side, how your mouth moves when you smile and speak, and whether measuring from the centre or matching the visual balance of your face gives the better result. Those two answers are frequently different, and on a face with a noticeable asymmetry, mathematically even placement can look wrong.

Ask to see the marks relaxed, smiling and talking. Then look again. Then ask them to adjust. Any piercer worth the money will expect that and will not be irritated by it.

Both at Once, or One at a Time? 

This is the real decision and there is a genuine case on each side.

Both at once means they are marked together, on the same face, in the same session, which is the best possible circumstance for getting them to match. It also means they heal together and are done together.

One at a time means half the swelling, half the discomfort, and an easier fortnight. It also means the second one is marked against a healed first one, which is a harder job than marking two at once, because the first has settled into its final position and the second has to be matched to it.

Our honest view is that if you want them symmetrical, get them done together. Symmetry is the whole point of the piercing and it is far easier to achieve in one sitting. If you want an easier recovery more than you want perfect matching, go one at a time and accept that the pair may be very slightly off.

What we would not recommend is deciding halfway. Getting one, waiting a year, and then adding the second is the version most likely to end up looking unintentional.

The Teeth Conversation, Doubled

Snake bites are fitted with labret studs, which means a flat disc inside your mouth resting against the gum below your lower teeth. Two of them.

Jewellery in constant contact with a gum line is associated over years with recession at that spot, and contact against enamel can wear it. With a pair, that applies in two places at once, which is why this piercing deserves more care about hardware than a single one does.

The things that manage it are specific and they are worth insisting on.

Flat discs, never balls. A ball concentrates the pressure on one point. A flat disc spreads it.

Downsizing once the swelling settles. A post with slack moves and presses in different places every time you talk. On a pair, that is two posts doing it.

Implant-grade titanium, partly for biocompatibility and partly because it is light, and weight against gum tissue over years is the mechanism.

A dentist who knows they are there and looks at both spots at each check up. Recession is visible long before it is a problem, and at that stage the answer is usually a jewellery change.

Plenty of people wear snake bites for years without trouble. The ones who run into it are overwhelmingly wearing ball backed studs or bars that were never downsized.

When You Can Switch To a Ring

Rings through snake bites are a common look and they should not be the jewellery you heal in.

A ring moves. It rotates, swings and gets caught on everything, and a healing lip channel does not survive being dragged at. Heal in labret studs, and move to rings once both piercings have been completely quiet for several weeks.

When you do, expect to be sized in person. Ring diameter on a lip is unforgiving. Too small and it presses into the lip, too large and it hangs and catches.

Healing two at once

Lip piercings heal reasonably quickly, usually six to ten weeks, because the tissue has an excellent blood supply. Two at once heal in about the same time as one, they are simply more uncomfortable while they do it.

Swelling peaks around day two or three and is the main obstacle. Two swollen openings in one lip makes eating genuinely awkward for a few days. You will be fitted with longer posts to allow for it. Cold helps, and sleeping propped up for the first couple of nights helps more than people expect.

Eating means small bites and nothing that needs a wide mouth for the first week.

Talking is odd for a few days and then is not.

Kissing and anything mouth to mouth waits until healed. With two open channels, that matters twice as much.

Smoking slows healing for anything with an opening inside the mouth.

Talking, Eating and the First Week, in More Detail

The first week with two fresh lip piercings is the part people ask about most and the part most articles skip.

Day one is mostly numb and slightly odd. The piercings feel present rather than painful.

Days two and three are the peak. Both sides of your lower lip swell, and the swelling is what makes everything else awkward rather than the piercings themselves. Speech is a little thick. Eating requires thought.

By day five most people are through the worst and eating fairly normally, with care.

By two weeks it is largely a non-event, and what remains is a routine rather than a recovery.

What helps, in order of how much difference it makes. Cold, taken in short spells rather than constantly. Sleeping propped up for the first two or three nights. Soft food that does not need a wide mouth. Rinsing after everything you eat. And leaving them alone, which is free and the hardest of the five.

What does not help is any of the strong products people reach for. Alcohol, peroxide and antiseptic washes all damage the tissue you are relying on to heal.

Aftercare

Both piercings have an outside and an inside, so both need both routines.

Outside, sterile saline twice a day. Not alcohol, not peroxide, not tea tree oil, not ointment. Our article on aftercare products explains what each of those does to healing tissue and why the cheapest option is also the correct one.

Inside, rinse with saline or an alcohol free mouthwash after eating, rather than constantly.

Do not play with them with your tongue. With two of them the temptation roughly doubles, and it is the single most common reason a pair takes longer to settle than it should.

Whether Your Anatomy Suits It

There has to be room. Two piercings either side of the lower lip need enough width to sit apart from each other and enough tissue depth at both points.

The position of your lower gum line matters, since two discs will be resting against it. So does the way your lip everts when you talk.

If the answer is that there is not room for a symmetrical pair, a piercer should say so. Spider bites on one side, or a single centred labret, may give you something that suits your face better. Our guide to facial and oral piercings covers the full set of options.

Migration, and What to Watch For

Lip piercings are well anchored compared with true surface piercings, and the causes of trouble are mechanical. Posts left long after the swelling has gone. Constant fiddling. Rings worn too early.

With a pair there is one extra thing to watch, which is the two piercings drifting relative to each other. If one starts to sit differently from the other, that is worth having looked at early, because a small correction at three months is much easier than a decision at a year. Our article on why piercings reject and migrate covers what is happening underneath.

Spider Bites, and When One Side is The Better Answer

Two piercings close together on one side of the lower lip, and it is worth knowing this option exists because for some faces it is genuinely the better one.

A symmetrical pair needs width, tissue at both points, and a face balanced enough that even placement reads as even. Where any of those is marginal, a pair can end up looking almost right, which is worse than looking deliberate.

Spider bites sidestep the whole problem. There is no symmetry to achieve, because the arrangement is asymmetric on purpose. They also put both discs on one side of your gum line rather than two, which concentrates the contact but makes it easier to monitor.

If a piercer looks at your lip and hesitates about a symmetrical pair, ask them about this rather than assuming the answer is no piercing at all.

Four piercings, and Whether Shark Bites are Realistic

Shark bites are two pairs, four piercings across the lower lip. Canine bites add the upper lip as well, making four across both.

They are done, they can look excellent, and they are not a first project.

Four openings in one lip is a great deal of tissue healing at once, four discs against your gum line, and four chances for something to sit slightly wrong. The sensible route is to build up. Get a pair, let them heal properly, live with them for a few months, and then add the second pair marked against the first.

Doing all four at once is possible and most piercers will advise against it, not out of caution for its own sake but because eating and talking for the first week becomes genuinely miserable and because the odds of all four sitting perfectly go down with each one added.

Retiring a Pair

If you take snake bites out, the openings usually close on their own, and quickly. Lip piercings shrink noticeably within a day or two of the jewellery being out and can close within a week, particularly in the first year.

That has a practical consequence. If you need them out temporarily, for a scan, a job or a sport, ask about retainers rather than removing them and hoping. Retainers are inexpensive and being re-pierced is not.

Permanently, you are usually left with two small marks that fade over months and often remain faintly visible. On a lower lip they are less prominent than a Monroe scar, and they are not nothing. Worth knowing before rather than after.

At Perfect Image

Our piercers will mark both, hand you a mirror, and let you look relaxed, smiling and talking before anything happens. They will tell you honestly whether your anatomy supports a symmetrical pair, and if it does not, they will say so rather than take the booking.

Everything is fitted with implant-grade titanium and flat discs, and downsizing is included rather than charged as an extra.

Bottom line

Snake bites are two piercings that live or die on symmetry, so get them marked together, take your time with the mirror, and get them done in one sitting if matching matters to you. Heal in flat backed studs rather than rings, downsize on time, and tell your dentist they are there.

FAQ

What are snake bites?

Two lip piercings, one either side of the lower lip, evenly spaced from the centre.

Should I get both at the same time?

If you want them to match, yes. Marking two at once on the same face is far more likely to produce a symmetrical pair than adding the second later.

How much do they hurt?

A sharp pinch each, over quickly. Lips have plenty of nerve endings and a good blood supply.

How long do they take to heal?

Usually six to ten weeks. Two heal in about the same time as one, they are just less comfortable.

Can I wear rings in them?

Once fully healed, yes. Heal in labret studs, because a ring moves and drags at a healing channel.

Will they damage my teeth?

They can over years, and with a pair it applies in two places. Flat discs rather than balls, downsizing on time, titanium, and a dentist who checks both spots.

What is the difference between snake bites and spider bites?

Snake bites are one either side of the lower lip. Spider bites are two close together on the same side.

What if my face is not symmetrical?

Almost nobody's is. A good piercer will balance the placement to how your face actually looks rather than measuring from the centre, and will show you before piercing.