At A Glance
Author	aniorange
Contact	aniorange@bme.anon
IAM	aniorange
When	Two years ago
Artist	Jason
Studio	23rd Street Body Piercing
Location	Oklahoma City, OK

My piercing life was started to get back on track. I was rebuilding my collection so to speak. One thing I had never ventured to get was a lip ring. I have had a labret piercing, but no longer wore it. I had always wanted a pair of lip rings, one on each side. I wanted what some call venom piercings.

I had started talking online with a body pierced and tattoo apprentice in Texas. We met online and before long we where sharing late night phone conversations. I shared with her that I was going to get my lip pierced. She told me flat out that it was going to hurt. She told me that a lot of people find lip piercings quite painful. I told her that I had my labret pierced before and it was no big deal. She informed me that it was different. That shook me up a little, even though I have been though this sort of thing time and time again. I got a little psyched out.

One of my local friends wanted to go with me to get pierced. This was the same young lady that went with me last time. I did not mind this at all and actually liked the idea. Her boyfriend was not able to get his nipple pierced on our last trip, but had done one of them later. I do not remember which side. He was also to accompany us and get his other nipple done. A day and time was set. On the day of the piercings some phone calls where exchanged to make sure plans where still on. I waited around my apartment for them to tell me when they where heading that way. Instead they called me when they got there and waited about fifteen minutes for me to arrive.

I was met with a little friendly grumbling about my tardiness. I went over and told the ladies behind the counter today's reason for visiting. I wanted to get two lip rings in one setting but after asking prices I opted for just one today. Living paycheck by paycheck is tough on a body mod fan like myself. Now the question was which side. Oh, life is full of little decisions. I opted for the left side, paid and sat down to wait. My friends and I chatted a bit and before we knew it, it was time to head back.

I yielded the option to go first. I let Anthony (the guy with one nipple piercing) go first. I tried to watch but there is this thing about watching others get hurt. I can hardly stand it. You can pierce me all day, but to watch someone else get pierced is practically unbearable. The nipple piercing seemed to go by rather quickly and it was my turn

I hopped up on the table/bed thing. I reaffirmed the piercer my ultimate plan and that I was to just get one piercing today. After changing gloves he made a mark on my lip and asked me to check out the alignment. I liked what I saw. I informed the piercer and sat back down. He had me to lay back and began his procedures. I had not shared with anyone what was going though my mind. In my mind echoed the idea that this was going to hurt. My mind was made out however and I was not going to chicken out. If it was to hurt it was to hurt. I would only know by doing. I just laid back, closed my eyes and relaxed. We began the usual breathing exercises. After a couple of deep breathes the needle was pushed though. I barely felt a thing. Jewelry insertion was even less noticeable. The relief was so great that I started to laugh. Combine that with the rush of getting pierced and the excitement is nearly uncontrollable.

After the jewelry was in and the ball snapped in place I hopped up to check out my new metal. It looked great. I was excited to be that much closer to where I saw myself in my mind. I smiled from excitement and laughed from relief. I informed everyone about how I was psyched into believing that I was in for a lot of pain. I do not really thing anyone totally understood, but that was ok. We tipped and said out thanks and headed out the door. Sadly the party was over as soon as it began. They all jumped back in their car and I jumped into mine.

I used usual procedures for healing. I washed my mouth out with non-alcoholic mouth was after eating and kept the outside clean with saline soaks and provon. Eating the first few days was an eye opening experience. It was a little tough to bite into things on the left side of my mouth but that passed rather quickly. In just a few days I was mostly back to normal. I could not help but to play with the ring way too much. It did was healing up nicely nonetheless.

A couple of weeks after getting pierced I decided to go see the Dropkick Murphys play at a local club. I do not remember the opening bands name, but I do remember they where definitely punk. I went alone. I had hopes to meet a friend there, but we never ran into each other. After a few minutes of powerful and loud music, I had the bright idea to jump into the mosh pit. I did not stay in long at all. However as I excited the circle some one else entered and started their little dance. Their little dance included an elbow coming back rather sharply straight into my new lip ring. I immediately felt something loose in my mouth. My first reaction was a broken tooth. I slid back to a somewhat safer distance and spit whatever it was into my hand. Turns out it was the bead of my captive bead ring. I made my way to the bathroom to see the damage. I could feel that I was bleeding.

Going to the bathroom of a small club is something I try to avoid. I have never known them to be clean. I was not disappointed. I carried on and checked myself out in the mirror. My lip ring was barely hanging on. I had a small stream of blood going down my chin and my lip was already swelling. I fidgeted with the ring for quite some time before I could get all of it back though its swelled and damaged hole. I made a couple of attempts to snap the ball back into place but this was totally hopeless. My lip was swelled up to where I could barely hold the ring at all; forget about having enough room to snap the ball in.

I ended up keeping the bead in my pocket and checking on it regularly. I also kept a check on my lip ring to make sure the ring did not start to slide out. I stayed around for the rest of the show and headed straight home afterwards. I went straight to the bathroom to further doctor my injury. I had some small forceps and used them to hold the ring still as I snapped the ball back in. It took a few tries but I was successful. I then tended to cleaning up and soaking my wounds.

I did not realize it at the time but the inside of my lip was ripped the angle of the piercing was changed. At the time I thought I managed to get my healing back on track and after three or four days I was healing fine. I was thankful that more damage did not occur. I was already anxiously awaiting the time and mostly money to get a matching ring on the other side.

The next time I talked with my friend in Texas, I told her how everything went. I also let her know how wrong it was for her to psych me out like she did. She acted as if she did not know what I was talking about.

Those of you looking for a moral of the story I guess its be careful with your new piercings. Try not to take part in activities that will bring them undue harm. Those of you not expecting a moral forget about this paragraph.