I had been thinking about getting my lip pierced since I was very young, but I never actually got it done until I was 12. In December 2002, after a half year of research, I was finally inside Tattoo Lou's with my mom, sister, and notarized form, signing my name and such things on the disclaimer. I picked out the ring I wanted, paid the guy, and then waited for about 15 minutes. Then I was sent to the back. My piercer's name was Danielle, I belive, and she was really nice! She made me very calm and asked me if I really wanted to go through with it many times. Yes, of course! She brought me over to her corner and I sat in the dentist chair while she put on some latex gloves and readied her tools and took my ring out of the autoclave. She talked with me the whole time about casual things, like how I was, how school was going, and she also told me about herself, so that made me more at ease with the situation.
At A Glance Author RiotingPacifist Contact RiotingPacifist@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist Danielle (I think) Studio Tattoo Lou's Location Selden, NY, USA
Danielle put on new gloves, then asked me where on my lip I wanted to be pierced, which was about 2cm from the left corner of my mouth. I showed her and she placed a dot there with a marker, and showed it to me in a mirror. It was exactly where I wanted it! She then gave me some Listerine to wash my mouth out with, and she started the procedure.
I was shaking a little. I was NOT going back then. I knew I wanted to get it done, but I was kind of afraid of the pain. I swallowed hard as Danielle clamped my lip and rubbed the area around the dot with iodine. I told her I was nervous and she said there was nothing to worry about, that she would make it go as quick as possible. She put on a new pair of gloves, then she picked up the needle and placed it over the dot. She told me to take 3 deep breaths, and as I exhaled on the last one, she would push the needle through. I breathed in as slow as possible.
One...two...three..and I felt a little prick going through my lip. What? That's IT?? Danielle told me not to move my mouth and she reached over and got the jewelry. She gently but quickly pulled the needle out and put the ring in right after it, and closed it with a small pair of pliers. The procedure was done, and it went better than I could have ever hoped.
Danielle disposed of her gloves and gave me another capful of Listerine, except this one was diluted with water, and after I rinsed she gave me the mirror again. It was perfect! I thanked her and gave back the mirror. She told me to wait a second and she went in the back and got an after-care sheet. She gave me detailed directions on how to take care of it, what to do, what not to do, what I could expect as it healed and that if I had any questions while or after it healed I could give them a call. I thanked her about 10 more times, gave her a $15 tip and walked out to the front, smiling.
My mom saw it first and smiled, and my sister just cried and said I wasn't Sarah anymore. I hugged her and told my mom about how it went. We went to the store and got Bactine, Listerine and Glyoxide, which I would need while the piercing healed, and then went home.
That night, it didn't hurt and wasn't swollen at all. The next day however was very different. My lip was very swollen and I had a dull, achy pain. The outside was a little crusty too, bleh. I cleaned the ring and hole with Bactine, brushed my teeth and rinsed with Listerine and then put Glyoxide on the inside hole. After all that the swelling had gone down a lot, and my lip was almost normal sized again. I repeated the process 4 times a day, and after I ate anything. That went on for about 4.5 weeks, and for the first week or two it got kind of crusty, but the cleaning got rid of and helped prevent that. By the middle of the second week, my lip wouldn't swell very much anymore, and I was totally in love with it. I had a small white patch around and on the inside hole, and that worried me, so I called Tattoo Lou's and asked Danielle about it. She said it was nothing to worry about unless it got much bigger, it was most likely white blood cells all grouped together. A s luck would have it she was right, and it went away by the third week.
Now it's completely healed, and is my favorite piercing out of 8. It was the first one that started knocking down the "walls" I "built" as a child and made me open up and start to open up and feel comfortable with myself like I do now. All the stuff I went through as a little kid that made me want to curl up and tell the world to fuck off started to dissolve, and for once I felt like myself, I felt complete. If you're thinking about getting anything pierced or tattooed, I HIGHLY recommend Tattoo Lou's. They did this piercing, and my right eyebrow 4 months later. They're very professional, experienced and friendly and wouldn't do something to you unless you were totally and completely sure you wanted to do it. I hope this experience was helpful to somebody!