I'd wanted my labret done for years, unlike my other piercing which were all done on the spur of the moment. My labret I planned and planned for months prior to actually getting it done. Initially I had wanted a ring however I have a rather large bottom lip, and after looking at pictures on BME and talking to friends with their lips done I decided my labret was the way to go.
At A Glance Author Xx-Aimsley-xX Contact Xx-Aimsley-xX@bme.anon IAM Xx-Aimsley-xX When Three months ago Artist Acker Studio Acker's Location Leigh, manchester I only decided to definitely get it done the day before I actually got it done, I asked my mum and well like most mothers she said no, but nevermind, her views have never stopped me before. So I phoned my dad and he said at least I wasn't "shacked up with a drug dealer" (I don't exactly know why that is relevant but he's a strange strange person) It was a Thursday morning and I'd be back in college on the Tuesday I figured this was plenty time for any swelling and the like to go away before people would see me, so my dad turned up at lunch time and drove me the 10 minutes into Leigh, we parked up and walked to Acker's. Luckily no one was waiting so I just went straight in. By this time I was really nervous and when his assistant asked how old I was I for some reason said 16, when I'm actually 17. I'm an idiot.
I went into the piercing room and sat on the dentist looking chair, signed the consent form, which I never actually read due to nerves (I do suggest people actually read things before they sign them thou) and paid the £35. Acker asked me where I wanted the piercing to be, this was the problem, I still wasn't sure, he suggested I got it about a centimetre under my bottom lip so it wouldn't point downwards. I figured he knew best so said ok. Apparently if I had it done much higher it would bleed a whole lot due to the thickness of my lip, and well I was nervous as it was blood would not have helped. So he drew a dot on my chin/lip which looked good and told me to rinse out my mouth with an odd tasting pink mouthwash, then he told sprayed an aesthetic onto the inside of my lip and we chatting randomly for about 5 mins, then he froze the outside of my lip and closed the clamp-y things on it. None of this was at all painful. Then he told me to take a deep breath and he pushed the needle through. When I try to remember the pain I can't, I just remember an irresistible urge to say "ouch" even though I don't recall it hurting. Then he put in the bar and closed the ball on the front. At this time I was in awe that I'd actually gone through with it after all my time wanting it. I was so happy. He went through the cleaning instructions and gave me some leaflets and told me to tighten the ball on the front when I got home (I should have listened to this) he gave me some tissues because it was bleeding somewhat.
I walked out of the piercing room with a huge smile on my face and blood running down my chin (attractive I'm sure) my dad looked vaguely horrified that I'd actually done it, but after we left he gave me the Ribena I'd asked him to go get me while I was getting pierced and said it honestly looked pretty good, he was shocked. On the drive home I kept tonguing the back surprised that it wasn't hurting and still totally in love with my new hole. When I got home my mum just looked at me with her patented "I'm so disgusted with you" look on her face, then shrugged and said she hoped my lip fell off.
About an hour later I decided I just try and clean the blood from around the bar, so I wiped it and the ball fell off. I freaked out, but managed to get the ball back on, however tightening it was impossible as it hurt badly, and the pressure was causing it to bleed again, so I left it loose. But managed to get all the blood off when cleaning it after.
It's almost three months now since I got it pierced, and I've not really had any trouble with the piercing, no swelling, no bleeding after the losing the ball incident so it's all good. However about a month back I noticed the back of the bar was rubbing my gums, and causing them to recess. I went back to Acker but he said the bar was the right length and nothing bar taking it out could be done. So right now I'm stuck in the predicament of whether or not to remove it, it's become my favourite piercing and I can't imagine it not being there. Maybe I'll just get it re-done higher so that it's not rubbing my gums, maybe I'll just leave it – who needs gums anyway??
So all in all my labret experience was a good one, I love it, even if it hate me and wants my gums to suffer. Everyone that's sat around considering getting this done, should, although do definitely consider how much you like having gums, as you may not a few months later.