As you head out the door of your provider’s office, the numbing cream is wearing off and you can finally feel your lips again — your newly plumped lips, that is. After getting lip fillers, you’re probably feeling pretty excited to see the final results. But first, you’ve got to let them heal.

Here we cover what you need to know about lip filler aftercare, including what activities to avoid (spoiler: there aren’t many) and how to keep bruising to a minimum.

Post Lip Filler Do’s 

After your lip filler procedure, you’re likely to notice a little discomfort. Your lips could feel tender, sore or swollen, and you may experience some redness and/or bruising.

This should all be short-lived, and soon, you’ll be able to enjoy an amped-up pout. In the meantime, here’s how to handle your healing.

Apply An Ice Pack

Apply a cold pack to your lips for a few minutes at a time to help with those immediate post procedure effects. Be sure to wrap your cold pack in a washcloth first, rather than applying it directly to your skin.

Take Acetaminophen 

You can take a dose of acetaminophen (Tylenol®) to help with any pain or discomfort right after getting lip fillers. It’s important to note that acetaminophen doesn’t thin the blood, the way other oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) drugs do, so it will not increase bruising after fillers.

Drink Plenty Of Water

Among its many benefits, hydration helps with healing and after you’ve gotten lip fillers, it’s a good idea to increase your water consumption and limit consumption of caffeine and alcohol.

Lip Filler Don’ts

Take Precautions But Don’t Go Overboard 

If you arrived here frantically Googling something like, “Can I wear lip gloss after lip fillers?” or “Can I use a straw after lip fillers?” or even “When can I kiss someone again after getting lip fillers?”

Take a breath. We’ve got answers for you. And you can get back to everyday life a lot sooner than you might expect.

There are no restrictions on activities like wearing lip balm, eating, drinking, using a straw or kissing after getting lip fillers however, you may want to temporarily modify these behaviors based on the degree of discomfort you’re feeling afterward. But rest assured doing them will not affect the outcome of the procedure.

While your lips are likely to be a little sore or swollen, you don’t need to worry that you’ll somehow mess up your provider’s handiwork if you do. That said, you may want to wait to pucker up to your partner or slurp from a straw for a few days as you wait for your lips feel normal again.

Take It Easy When Exercising

Want to get in a brisk walk or do a little light yoga in the days after you’ve gotten lip fillers? No problem. But it’s best to hold off on going too hard during your workouts.

We typically advise that people avoid vigorous exercise for several days afterward as it can make swelling and bruising worse, not to mention the stress it causes on the body can delay the healing process by inducing damage to the muscle tissue forcing the body to heal additional tissue.

After you’ve gotten lip fillers, light bruising can appear in the spots where your provider used a thin needle to inject filler. Intense exercise can increase blood flow to the site of an injury, which may make bruising worse.