Once upon a time, when I was young I once read this publication called "National Geographic", perhaps some of you have read this too. I used to get very turned on by the Body Modification I would see, even though I was very young, and very impressionable.
At A Glance Author sCabbOy Contact thescabboy@yahoo.com IAM ScabBoy When Six months ago Artist Jakk Cook/Scabboy/selfdone Studio Express Yourself Body Piercing Studio Location Lackawanna,NY I ended up being pierced at a VERY young age. (ears at 8, nostril at 11, nipples at 13) Even at that young age I always knew I wanted to be in the field. Back then it was tattoos, because piercers were almost non-existent. Anyways, one of the Body Mods that always intrigued me, whether it be out of curiosity (how the fuck did they do that!?!) or out of shock (how the fuck did they get it that big!?!) was the enlarged Labret/lip.
I did my own Labret on my 21st birtday,because I was about to go see KMFDM live, and I had to look sharp. it was my birtday, you know? That was the calm before the storm of what happened about 5 years after.
>From the point when I pierced my Labret at 14g to the point that I was about to scalpel it was about 5 years. The piercing was now at 4g, and stretching it had become very painful and knowing how the jump from 4g to 2g can be.. I decided to cheat and cut it from 4g to 0g.
When I got the guts to do this, I made sure I had the jewelry ready, autoclaved, and all the tools I may or may not need. I picked out a #11 scalpel, and a #15 scalpel, just incase,a pair of sponge head forceps,a 0g insertion taper, opened up a sterile packet containing gauze, a marking toothpick, a rubber band, and various other odds and ends... I was ready.
I removed my 4g Labret stud and studied the area. I contemplated my path with the scalpel, contemplated the angle I wanted it cut on, and then I carefully marked the outside, then the inside.
When I was absolutely happy with the marks I made, I decided it was time to go for it.. all or nothing.
I unwrapped the forceps, scalpels, and taper and put them under the barrier on my sterile packet, and changed gloves...
I clamped my lip as hard as I could do it comfortably, and without doing harm to the tissue and lined up the scalpel on the angle I desired..
I started at the top of the line with the end of the scalpel and puched, hard and slow.. IT HURT.. BAD.. and it was partially numbed. I was thinking "what the fuck am I doing?" then I remembered how much I loved the looks of this and how much I wanted it and I cut deeper and eventually all the way through my lip. I was 1/2 done. I ende dup having to nick the back a bit to clean the incision up.
I then inserted the taper, which was a bit tight and painful to pass through my lip, meanwhile blood was covering my hazmat suit that I wore just for this. The blood was making it very hard to keep my hands tightly on the taper while I was inserting the jewelry, but I did it. I was pleased with myself.. I was honored to have such a beautful mod.
I then cleaned up, sanitized the area with SaniclothHB, and disposed of my mess,locked up the shop, and went home...
And I went home with a rather bloody face and a look in my eye like I was just jumped my 20 people.I came in the house and then took a shower. It was such a relief to have water massaging my now VERY sore lip. I popped some Advil, then went to sleep.
The next 3 days were awful, I got alot of overnight swelling and now the 0g plug was kinda tight, nothing too bad, I just removed the one O-ring, and it pretty much corrected itself.Working was bad, having to talk to customers was almsot not happening..
The next 2 weeks was nothing but Advil, Sea Salt soaks/rinses, heat compresses, and crusting. Some days I was in alot of discomfort, and I dreaded sleeping. I got ALOT of overnight swelling and I usually woke up with a pounding lip. I really felt bad for my girlfriend Abby who had to put up with my moaning and groaning. After 3-4 weeks the thing was almost entirely healed.I begin to wear different jewelry in it, and even wore wood for the first time.
I have since stretched it to 1/2" and I am planning on going MUCH bigger.To this date it is the one mod I love the most, and would never want to get rid of.. and it's all thanks to that bright yellow magazine that opened my world up as a kid.