I had wanted to get my lip pierced for a while, but it was taking some convincing on the parental unit side. I am only fifteen and piercing rules can be pretty rigid, so I needed a parent to go in with me. Finally, my father gave it an okay (very grudgingly, although he claimed he was simply worried about tooth decay and gum disease.) and I was off to my local piercer to get a new hole in my face. This was my first facial piercing, so admittedly I was a tad bit nervous.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When A month ago Studio blank generation Location victoria bc My friend and I ate before hand; because I was worried I wouldn't be able to chew anything for a while. We gorged on vegan Chinese food and then headed over to our destination.
The place where we decided to get it done had been scouted out earlier. The guy who worked there seemed very nice and experiences, and we had interrogated him on all of the sanitary procedures. (Make sure your piercer is using piercing NEEDLES and not guns, and that they are CLEAN so you don't get hepatitis or something equally horrible)
We were actually going to get my friends mom to portend to be mine, because my father didn't have the time to drive me over to the piercing place, so we ended up putting this large act on that involved "so honey, are you suuuure you want to do this?" and so on. We weren't doing anything bad though, because she had talked to my father and gotten his permission the night before.
My friend was getting her noise done, so I got to watch as the piercer clamped it and then jabbed the needle through. I nervously asked her if she was in any pain and she grinned and claimed it didn't hurt at all. She chose a ring so the piercer-man put one in the new hole and she was allowed to get up and inspect it. She was very pleased with the effect.
Finally, it was my turn. I was instructed to lie down on the piercing bed, where I had my lip swabbed with disinfectant. He then placed the lip ring, and gave me a chance to look to make sure if was centered enough according to me. I said fine. Then came the fun part. My lip was clamped, a fresh needle was taken out, and he told me to take a few deep breaths and let him know when I was ready. I found myself amazingly calm (I had been stressing all the night before) and nodded my head. I breathed in and the needle was pushed through my lip. Ta da! It hurt a lot less then I though it would. I guess I could only compare it to getting a needle at the clinic. Not that bad. In fact, I admit to kind of masochistically enjoying it. It bled, but only a little bit. I felt very calm and gave my friend a thumbs up as the ring was put in and I looked in the mirror. I was ecstatic! I love it allot.
I am really happy with the professional way if was done, and the fact that the procedure was all very sanitary. I was told to clean it with saline solution of the outside and diluted (alcohol free) mouthwash on the inside twice a day for at least two months. No smoking, alcohol or well... making out for awhile (ha ha, my piercer was actually quoted later on saying to my friends, "I knew she couldn't stay away from the boys!" when they told him I wasn't exactly staying loyal to my regulations. I felt insulted. Now my piercer thinks I'm promiscuous... which I'm not!!),
The hardest part of the piercing, I think was showing to my grandmother (I thought she would have a heart attack!) but she took it well, for which I'm glad. I was worried about disownment from a few of my relatives, but I am still in everybody's will, so it's all good. Admittedly, drinking from a cup was interesting for a few days, I would try to drink tea and end up with more on my chin then in my mouth, and my lip did swell a bit (I had this celebrity collagen look going) but now I have no problem. I just have to remember to STOP playing with it, which is really hard! It's so tempting.
I want to get a new bead for my ring it once my lip heals, or substitute it with a spike. If you are worried about gum decay though, as I was (I did a lot of research) stick to the ring. Mine doesn't touch my gums at all! So I don't think it will have a negative long-term effect. My advice is, if you want a piercing, go for it, because they're fun and non-permanent. I have no regrets and now im thinking about going for an anti-eyebrow.