I had my cheeks pierced about 4 1/2 months ago, and I took them out for various reasons. (story here: http://www.bmezine.com/pierce/05-lips/A40406/lipprett.html) I took them out a few days after I got them and I knew I would be getting them re-pierced.
At A Glance Author Alicia Contact converge_exhale@yahoo.com When Three months ago Artist Jason Lund Studio Central Florida Piercing Location Longwood, FL I left Saturday afternoon around 3:00 (since at that time, hardly anyone is there) with my mom. I had wanted to get them placed in a different area on my cheeks, instead of having them on the dimples, like they were before, because there's a lot of scar tissue and it had only been three days since I took them out.
We got there around 3:15 and walked to the shop from the parking lot. There was one person getting his tongue done (all his friends were there) so it looked like a ton of people were getting piercings, so I was expecting to wait forever. The guy went in the back and we watched him get his tongue pierced...I had never seen it before, suprisingly.
Jason had custom made 3/8" barbells for me. He took a straight bar, with a ball on the end of course, took another ball and put it where a flat piece would be if it were a flat back. He filed down half of the ball to where it turned out to be flat, and he made it unscrewable so I could put it on new barbells if I had wanted to. I chose pink gems from a bellybutton barbell that I thought were cute to put on the outside.
I was suprised to go back so quickly, thinking all of these guy's friends, at the least six people, were going before me.
Jason brought me to the back and told me to sit down on his little dentist chair thing. We made some small talk, about what I wanted to do as a career, blah blah blah. My mom and him talked a lot, and I knew that would happen, which stalled him a little bit.
He gave me a little cup of Cepacol and I rinsed. After I finished, he looked at the lines leading from the edge of my nostrils down near the corner of my lips. He thought they would be placed perfectly there. He took the purple marker and he marked the bottom of the lines, where my old piercings were. They looked great...even better than having them on my dimples. They ended up being less painful, too. :)
He put this disgusting green numbing gel on the inside of my mouth, and I sat there, with the dumbest look on my face with my mouth wide open. He told me to close my mouth, so it would sink it better. Duh, I knew that. I just didn't remember.
He put gloves on and took the needles and clamps out of the autoclave machine and opened the packages. He changed his gloves again and took out the clamps and both of the needles. He placed the clamp on my left cheek, perfectly over the mark. He told me "okay, this may hurt a little more since there's some scar tissue there..." and did the whole "deep breath in, out on three" and I was so nervous. He pushed the needle through and I made a sort of "eep!" noise. It hurt. It wasn't really painful, but it sure did hurt. There was a little drop of blood and I couldn't help but smile, I smile all the time. He slipped the jewelry in, a little bit of a pinch. I looked in the mirror and I was so happy. It WAS a better place to put the piercing.
He changed his gloves, once again, and put the new clamp on the right side of my mouth. He told me to take a deep breath and out on three. The needle went through and I didn't feel this one at all. It wasn't even that one second pain, I felt nothing. He put the jewelry in...again, no pain. I smiled hysterically and I looked in the mirror again...they looked awesome. My mom had that look on her face that was like "I love you a lot, but why did you have to do this?" At least she understands why I like them. :)
As I was leaving, my best friend, Joe, was coming in. He was getting his lip pierced in the center. I was invited to the back with his other friend, Dion, and I got to watch. That's not my story though, so I won't go into it.
The left side of my cheek has a little bump under the bar on the outside, it did end up going through some scar tissue from the previous piercing and from me chewing on the side. My doctor and Jason both said it's nothing I need to worry about...it's just like getting a normal scar and it's not harmful to me.
I would recommend cheek piercings for somebody who's looking to get something a little "different." It does hurt, but it's only for a few minutes...you'll get over it quickly. :)