E The title has nothing to do with me. I'm not a go go dancer, I just needed something snappy for the title so there you go.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When Six months ago Artist Brian Studio Immortal Ink Location Flemington, NJ Where to begin. It was November of 2005 and I was home from college for thanksgiving break or something like that. I had already had both of my ears pierced and as soon as I left I knew I'd be back for more. I had wanted a lip ring for a long time and figured what the hell. I really wanted a tattoo also, but I did not feel like going through the hassle of meeting with the person, discussing, basically all the waiting involved. So I decided, on a whim, to go get my lip pierced. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am.
So I went to Immortal Ink, paid the money and got a hole put in my face. Don't forget to tip. Anyway, the piercing itself did not hurt much. Obviously, there is going to be some pain involved when someone shoves a needle through your lip, but I thought that it was a minimal amount of pain for the area. I figured it would hurt a lot more. I pierced my ears at a 12g and I thought they hurt quite a bit more than the lip did.
When I left I went to the pharmacy and got some alcohol free mouth wash and antibacterial soap. Then the cleaning began. I think it was every time I ate, drank, or smoked I needed to wash out with mouthwash. Plus cleaning it inside and out with soap between two and three times a day. It's not bad. I didn't swallow any soap either so I didn't mind. Plus the piercing is in an extremely easy area to access so you don't have to get your whole head wet to clean it. Eating was kind of a pain in the ass for a while. You can forget about eating anything really big because it will push the ring around and it'll hurt. Once it's healed you can tug on it all you want and it won't be painful, but until then you should probably steer clear of the big sandwiches and stuff like that. Another thing is you have to keep the ring toward the center or 'train it toward the center' because when it heals, the ring will naturally want to go to one side, and the center looks better than the corner of your mouth. The worst part was e ating with it. My lip got swollen too so I had to ice it for a while to get it to go down. But the swelling went away after not too long, maybe a week give or take.
One thing I had not anticipated before I got it done is that a lot of people are curious about it, particularly the opposite sex. If nothing else, they're at least curious about what it would be like to kiss someone with a lip ring and you just may be that person. The piercing isn't going to do all the work, but it helps. Just be careful because kissing too hard will push the ring around and make things pretty painful.. unless you're into that sort of thing.
Anyway, I really like the way it looks. As far as other people are concerned, for the people who like it and think it's cool, there are those who think the piercing is gross and stupid. Those people are usually gross and stupid themselves, so don't mind them. Getting this piercing also made me realize how stupid some people are. Like people who go to church and stuff like that, then when you get your lip pierced they treat you like the devil or something. Idiots.
Also I've developed somewhat of an oral fixation with my lip ring. I'm constantly flicking it with my tongue or moving the ball from front to back or moving it around in some way. It's also a pretty handy place to put your pen when you're not using it. Or you can just use it to creep people out.
All things considered it was definitely worth the pain and swelling. I'm gonna cry when I have to take it out when I get out of college.. fucking job market. I'd say if you're thinking about doing it, go for it. Just make sure you go to a clean place where you trust the piercer and know there is a minimal chance for things to go wrong. I don't know what an infected lip ring looks like but I can't imagine it's too attractive. It probably feels like hell too. Just like with any piercing, vigilance is the key. You have to clean it. Period. If you don't you're life is going to get a whole lot more complicated.