First off, I'm a huge fan of body mods. My first experience was gauging my ears. I did it on an impulse and within two days I had my ears stretched to 00. The majority of my other mods have been fairly impulsive as well, and I've yet to regret a single one. My very first piercing was getting a sweet little hoop in my nostril. Immediately after that I wanted the other side done, but since I was under 18 my parents said one was enough. So as soon as I hit 18 I went down to the local Tattoo shop and got my lip pierced and about two weeks later I went and got my tongue pierced just for something to do. After that I couldn't think of anything else I wanted pierced. Often I'd find myself browsing BME looking for something really neat. Which brings me to my most recent piercing. My Monroe.
At A Glance Author carley Contact carley@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Mark Studio Under Your Skin Tattoos Location Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada I'm not sure what made me want to get a Monroe but as soon as I decided on it I phoned my tattoo shop and asked if I could get in as soon as possible. Within two days I was standing in Under Your Skin Tattoos with my mother. [She comes with me every time I get something pierced. She even held the clamps when I got my tongue done]. So now I'll give you a background on the shop. Pristine would be a perfect word for it. Mark, the tattoo artist/piercer actually phoned the Health Inspector to come down and check him out when he first opened, which in my books is a big plus. Not to mention he's a family friend and he's done all my other piercings so I trust him. Which is very important when you're letting someone poke needles into you. And now onto the actual piercing.
Mark gave me a cup of Listerine to rinse my mouth out with and he had me sit in his chair while he made sure everything was clean and ready to go. While I was waiting my dad showed up and of course tried to scare me out of getting it done. Finally Mark was ready. We spent quite a bit of time trying to get it in the exact spot. I wanted it super low but where I wanted it was a bad placement, so we opted for a little higher up, at first I was disappointed but when I realized Mark was right about the placement I figured it would be okay. Next Mark had me recline in his chair, handed my dad the clamps and got to work.
The actual piercing was not at all painful. I sort of new what to expect since I have my lip pierced, in fact, I even opened my eyes just in time to see the needle coming through my lip. Normally I keep my eyes shut because I'm a baby about seeing the needle but this time I was feeling really confidant about it. Overall the worst part was when my dad squeezed the clamps as the needle was going through, that hurt more than the actual piercing. And then within what seemed like a minute I was done. There was a bit of blood but there was no swelling. I absolutely loved my new piecing, my parents on the other hand weren't so fond of it, but that's beside the point. So I paid Mark and went my merry way.
Later that night however I was very bad. I went to a punk show with some friends and did a lot of talking and smiling, which is bad for mouth piercings as it encourages swelling. However I wasn't too worried about that but then I had to get into the mosh pit. My mom even told me to stay out of it but I couldn't resist. My new piercing definitely didn't appreciate that, by the end of the night my upper lip had swollen right up. When I finally got home I cleaned it and rinsed my mouth out with Listerine again, there was a little blood but nothing significant.
The next morning when I woke up my lip was still fairly swollen. Since I felt bad about how I mistreated it the previous night I was extra careful with it. Ever since however, the swelling hasn't gone down. I've been cleaning the piercing regularly and icing it but it's still swollen. At this point I'm not overly concerned as it's barely a week old and when I had my tongue pierced it took about a week before I could even talk properly. But I know with some tender love and care my lip will go back to normal and I'll be left with the loveliest piercing ever.
I would definitely recommend this piercing to everyone, male or female. In my opinion it just radiates class and it's a really nice addition to any face. This is a quick and relatively painless piercing and the end results are great! So go now and make an appointment with your local piercer and get this done post haste!