I wanted to share my labret piercing experience with you. I hope you find it informative, entertaining and encouraging for anyone considering the piercing.
At A Glance Author Fraser Contact FraserGHorne@aol.com Artist Mark Studio Presents Location Aberdeen, Scotland, UK I was 17 at the time. My heart had been set on a labret spike for sometime and the only thing holding me back were my lack of finances. Then I moved to a new city, with a job. It wasn't long before I found a really cool alternative lifestyle store. It is called Presents and they have a body piercing and tattoo studio upstairs.
For about a week before I went ahead with it (labret), I spent every night reading all the horror stories of this type of piercing on BME. This didn't dissuade me as much as I had expected. This would be my third piercing and the fact that the first two had got infected didn't help my inhibitions much either. But, I thought, fuck it; this is what I want.
So I was in town one day and spur of the moment went into Presents and headed up to the studio. First impressions were that it looked clean and sterile but not clinical and cold. It was quite a comfortable environment and I had heard good things about the piercer, Mark. I was fairly relaxed.
There was a guy on the chair who was getting jewellery put in his newly made eyebrow piercing. After he had been briefed on aftercare he got up and regrouped with a couple of his mates who were standing close by. The chair was empty and it was my turn.
I told Mark that I wanted a centred labret and he penned a dot on my chin. After checking in the mirror I told him the placement was perfect. He then asked if I wanted to proceed. Hell, yeah! So I sat down the chair. From the position I was in I had some interesting stuff to look at. Above me on the roof was stuck a picture of a PA'd dick surrounded by sausages and in front of me, an open window which gave a great view of the cemetery just across the road.
Mark placed a squeeze bean bag thing in each of my hands and then the clamps went on. At this point a group of four young girls entered the studio (must've all been about 13-14ish) asking about naval jewlry. Mark asked them to wait until he was done with me. So now I had a captive audience of seven. One of the girls were like, "Oh my God he's getting his lip pierced!" Now the pressure was on. I was determined to remain my cool exterior in front of these young girls and the guys who were all older than me. I wasn't gonna allow myself to twitch or make a sound. Like my entire masculinity was on the line here. Fucking ridiculous really.
Next the needle pierced the skin and passed through the layers of tissue and emerge from the other side. The needle was quickly replace by the straw thing. The girls took it much wores than I did, which brought me great satisfaction. I was feeling quite chilled and having fun.
In the only glitch in the procedure , I had to sit with this straw poking through my lip for about 15 minutes while the jewelry was was getting sterilised in the machine. This didn't bother me that much as the novelty of breathing through my mouth with my lips sealed strangely amusing. Simple thing for simple minds and all that. Maybe.
Anyway all the spectators seemed to lose interest and wondered away. T-Rex was playing on the stereo and I was just talking to Mark. I soon had the bar in and the ball on. the only time it bled was when the jewelry was getting put in and I found this the most painful part. I was given a bottle of antiseptic solution and Mark advised me to buy some mouthwash. He said I could come back in a couple of weeks if I wanted him to check things were OK. Smoked lots and drank a Lucozade on leaving.
I washed it everyday in the shower, applied the stuff he gave me about five times a day for a few weeks and rinsed loads with mouthwash. Now (about 8-9 weeks down the line) It has healed completely fine. To start with eating and smoking was quite hard. Catching the stud on your teeth when eating is not a very nice experience. I have tighter jewelry in now and finally have my spike. Which I love to bits. I've been back to the studio and had two more piercings done by Mark. I totally trust him to pierce me.
So anyone reading this who is thinking about getting this done, I would recommend you go for it. I think it looks great on guys and girls, and with all the ring, stud and stretching options there is tons of cool stuff to try out. Which I intend on doing. Next I want a bridge or industrial piercing done.
Thanks for reading and hope you have fun,
Fraser Horne (17)