I have been a piercing fan since I was 15. I got my ears pierced at 7, pierced my tongue myself when I was 15, got 2 cartilage piercings at 16, tragus at 17, both nipples at 17, and my navel at 18. My parents made me take my tongue piercing, which I did myself and healed perfectly, out as they disapproved of any type of body modification. I consoled myself with a small tattoo on the nape of my neck at 17, and had my tongue professionally redone when I turned 18. Unfortunately, I was forced to take my tongue piercing out, as the ball fell out in Kauai and it closed up. I thought about doing it again, but didn't like the idea of waiting for it to heal again. I went for a while without any new piercings, and flew to New Zealand to snowboard. Since I've been here, the idea of a new piercing has been really strong in my mind. I debated for a while whether I wanted an eyebrow or a lip piercing. An eyebrow piercing seemed cool, but a few of my friends who had it and took it out ended up with pretty visible scars. Also, my snowboarding goggles would rub on it and it wouldn't be able to heal. I was down to a lip piercing, which I thought would look awesome.
At A Glance Author kitty Contact kitty@bme.anon When It just happened Artist not sure Studio Queenstown Tattoo and Piercing Studio Location Queenstown, NZ I really liked the look of a lip ring off to the side, but was worried about it healing while I snowboarded. My friend had gotten a labret piercing, but fell on his face during a run down the back bowls. It bled everywhere and he had to take it out. This made me a bit wary of piercings and snowboarding. Finally, after a month of wondering, I decided to just go ahead and do it. I chose a small studio called Queenstown Tattoo and Piercing. It was extremely clean, well lit, and had glass cases showcasing a beautiful selection of jewelry. I spoke to a professional looking older woman about healing time, jewelry, and when I could change it. She said the swelling would last about 3 days, the best option for the initial piercing would be a stud, and I could change it to a ring in 2 weeks. I asked if she could pierce it with a horseshoe or a ring, but everything she said the ring would have to be quite large to accommodate swelling, and the horseshoes she had were either too large in gauge or diameter. I t hanked her and chose to think about it for a couple of days, or look in other studios. Queenstown is relatively small, and theres only 2 piercing places. The other one looked questionable, so a few days later I went back to the first studio. I looked at the jewelry options again and I finally decided on a 16 gauge stud. I had to sign a waiver releasing the studio from liability and all that. It was standard stuff that I had seen before and I scanned and signed it quickly. Then it was time to get pierced.
She had me lay down on a padded table under a fluorescent light and made a mark on the left side of my lower lip. I asked her if she could pierce a little bit more to the left, and she said okay. She clamped my lip and pushed the needle through. Then she put in the stud and secured the ball on tight. It took all of 10 minutes and was almost painless. The piercing didn't hurt...it actually felt kind of good. It felt like someone biting your lip really hard, which didn't bother me at all. My lip didn't really bleed, and only swelled a little bit. The piercer gave me a bottle of cleaner to clean the piercing with (twice a day), and told me to gargle with mouthwash or salt water after I ate. I really like the look of the piercing, and can't wait to get a ring in two weeks. The next day, my lip was a little more swollen, but not too bad. The ball fell off once, but I didn't have too much trouble putting it back on. I made sure to screw it on super tight this time. It has been 3 days now, and I haven' t encountered many problems. Its kind of har to eat chewy foods, and I can't really smile or laugh properly yet. The back of the stud sometimes gets stuck on my teeth and pulls, but its not too bad. I've been doing my rinses and cleaning it regularly. All in all, it is a really easy piercing to get and take care of, and it looks fantastic. I would advise those who are thinking about it to go for it...it really is worth it.