Just under two years ago I decided that I wanted a Monroe piercing. I did not know much about piercing. I had seen the Monroe for the first time on television and instantly fell in love with it. I then proceeded to find a ride to the city as soon as possible. I went in and had the piercing done in no time at all. I had chosen a simple labret and the piercing was done in a 14-gauge. I was happy, it healed well for the first while and I was content.
At A Glance Author Sari Farquharson Contact Sari Farquharson@bme.anon When Two years ago Studio Pitbull Piercings and Tatoos Location St. John, New Brunswick, Canada Eventually I noticed a growth around the piercing on the inside of lip. I am still not sure exactly what the growth was. I went under the presumption that it was a keloid, but they don't just go away. Not sure what to do I continued to chew the growth off. I eventually made a trip to the piercing parlor and asked about it. I was told to order some sort of chemical from the US that is not available in Canada. I looked into it but put it off. Instead I applied tea tree oil to the growth and after a few weeks it disappeared. This was great. But the growth had caused damage as it pushed the back of my jewelry out more causing the back of my labret to rub against my tooth.
About 7-8 months after I had the piercing done my canine tooth began to become sensitive. I ignored the sensitivity in my tooth for a month or two since I had found no new jewelry that I liked. Eventually I knew I had to do something about the labret after reading online about the risk of loosing my tooth. I decided to switch the jewelry to a smaller 16-gauge spike. The sensitivity in my tooth decreased and I barely noticed the new jewelry.
This went on for well over a year and I was very happy with my piercing – absolutely loved it. It was my favorite and I gladly showed it off and answered questions about it when people asked. Then approaching midterms in October the sensitivity returned. Being in a small rural area and now attending university, I had no way to make it to a piercing parlor any time soon. I tried to wait for the day that I could make it to the city but my tooth began to bother me all the time. The piercing caused me so much discomfort on my tooth at this point that I was constantly applying pressure on it by pulling it away from the tooth, trying to make the back of the labret sink into my lip some. After a few weeks of this I gave up and removed the piercing. Determined to remove it everyday and then replace it at night when I wore my retainer to protect my teeth. I plotted to do this until the day I could make it to the city. Unfortunately by the time night came my lip was already begi nning to heal over. With tears of frustration, because I was torn between pushing the jewelry back in or to leave it out, I decided to replace the jewelry. I pushed in back through with some discomfort and continued to ignore the pain in my tooth for a few more days. Again I caved and removed the jewelry. This time I was prepared and had found a nose pin in a local store. I placed the nose pin in and placed a band-aid over the piercing to make sure that it did not fall out while the hole shrunk some. I hoped that the nose pin would be long enough to go through the lip. Unfortunately it was not and my lip healed around the ball so that it was inside my lip. To me this lasted for a while as it remained in for the most part (sometimes I had to push the piercing back in as would begin to get loose after awhile).
This lasted for about a month, but eventually my lip became sore and I was on my last nerve with my Monroe. I removed it and cried a little, because it was always my favorite piercing. Even now, a month or so later I miss it and wish that I could have found some way to keep it. The sensitivity on the gum line of my tooth is still there all the time. I have also noticed that the piercing caused my tooth to drift some - pushing it in towards my tongue. I am left with a scar on my upper lip. This is not a bad thing in my opinion. This way I will always have a bit of my Monroe with me and to me it kind of looks neat. It also taught me to plan for a piercing for the rest of my life and to take into careful consideration that it will leave a scar for forever. I kept this in mind and soon after got my lower lip pierced in the center where I know that the scar will be covered by the overhang of my lip. I can only hope that someday it will be possible for me to have my Monro e re-pierced.