My pierced friend Katie told me that once I got my nose pierced, I would want more and more holes in my face (or elsewhere). You can't just have one, like potato chips, right? I insisted that she was wrong – The nose piercing was enough. Besides, I reasoned that once I started teaching, I wouldn't be allowed to have any piercings except for my ears. As sad as that is, I tried to resign myself to the fact that schools change a lot slower than other institutions and that by the time they got with the program, I'd probably be too old to care about piercings anyway.....
At A Glance Author frank Contact anniewhaley@yahoo.com When Three months ago Artist Elvis Studio Acme Body Piercing Location Cincinnati, OH Well, a few months into the summer, Katie's prophecy came true, and I found myself thinking wistfully about being pierced again. I got on BME frequently and checked out all of the crazy ear piercings. I figured that this would be more socially acceptable for a teacher and would be easier to hide with my hair. But I kept browsing through the lip/cheek pages – The lip rings were calling my name. Not the CBRs but the U-shaped barbell. It looked like a lip ring, but also different from one. I felt conflicted. It would be silly for me to get one and then have to take it out in a few months to teach in my field experience. It would be a waste of money. I gave myself a tentative waiting period to think about it....
In the meantime, I moved to Cincinnati, OH to go to grad school – my first real experience living in a city. I got a job at the campus bookstore, where I helped lots of cool-looking customers, with all of these wonderful piercings. They were everywhere. I couldn't escape it! My boyfriend Chris came up to spend one weekend with me, and I told him, "Maybe I should go get something pierced tomorrow to celebrate my first week in school." I claimed it was going to be a little barbell at the top of my ear. But when I woke up in the morning, I went straight to the computer to get some pictures of lip rings.....
I went into Acme that afternoon armed with my photos and list of questions. How long will it be until I can take it out and put in a spacer? Can you pierce it with the U-shaped barbell? Can I put a labret stud in it later? As it turns out, the piercing would be healed in 2-3 months, before I had to go into the public schools, and I'd be able to get a spacer for it. It was be fairly easy to hide. And then I could put it back in on the weekends when I wasn't in school. I said, "I want to do it." And Elvis said, "Right now?" Elvis also pierced my nose and adjusted it a few times, so I was more than happy to have him pierce my lip. (I think his real name is Cannon, but I just always call him Elvis to myself because he looks like Elvis Costello).
Getting a lip piercing is a piece of cake. It hurts much less than a nose piercing does because the tissue in your lip is so soft. The needle just slides right through. They make you swish with mouthwash first to disinfect your mouth, as well as clean the outside when the hole will come through. It took a few seconds, and then I was the owner of a sweet new lip ring. I could tell that Chris thought it looked cute, and I checked it out in the little mirror that Elvis handed me. It totally looked like it belonged on my face. Ah, I love it. I was really pleased that it looked so clean. No redness, no goo or blood. Of course, later on my lip swelled quite a bit, which made is fairly uncomfortable for the first week.
Eating is a pain for the first couple of weeks, and my lip swelled a lot, so it was uncomfortable for awhile. But you get used to having it around until you can't really feel it anymore. Cleaning is also pretty extensive. You're supposed to rinse out your mouth with saline every time you eat or drink something that isn't water (It's really hard to forget to do) and you're not supposed to touch it (which is also hard). But once the swelling goes down and you learn how to eat without looking like a cow, having a lip piercing is so fun. After your lip settles down, you can go back to your piercer and have them adjust the jewelry to make it fit closer to your lip. Now my metal hugs my lip close. Isn't that cute?