***NOTE: The following experience contains a detailed description of a non-professional piercing. It is not intended to be a guide, nor an endorsement for you to pierce yourself or have a relatively inexperienced friend pierce you; if you choose to do your own piercing(s) or have a friend do them, you are accepting all responsibility. You know the dangers, and it's your decision.***
At A Glance Author wren Contact paradamus@hotmail.com IAM wren When Two years ago Artist A friend Studio Her house Location Central VA A few years ago, I decided to get my lip pierced, for no real reason. It would be my bottom lip, in the middle (as in in line with my nose, not the middle of my lip); the eventual plan was to put a ring in it, but I was intelligent enough to wait until after it was done healing before I put a ring in...but more on all that later. Most of my piercings have been things that I've wanted for awhile, thought about extensively, then finally did, but this one wasn't; I just randomly decided I wanted one, and asked my then-girlfriend if she wanted to do it (I was trying to think of some way to get us into S/M without being direct about it, as I was still a little uncomfortable with my masochism at the time; I figured it'd be a good double-purpose thing to try). She'd pierced her own nose about a year previous (and had done a very good job, too), but had no other experience. Still, she was eager (so eager that I figured my secondary motive might make some headway too), so I ordered the jewelry and a 12g needle.
I wasn't sure what exactly to do about the jewelry. I had decided that I wanted to have it heal with a barbell, but I couldn't find a 12g labret barbell, so I just bought a normal 1/2" 12g curved barbell. I then thought better of it, thinking of my inexperienced piercer, so I bought a 12g claw taper, figuring that it would be easier for her to put in. After a few days, I figured, I'd put the 12g curved barbell in. Looking back, it was a really stupid idea. Fortunately, it didn't end up happening.
I was only with that girlfriend for another few weeks, and we didn't do the piercing during that time; she was really nervous and uncomfortable about it, and I didn't push her. After we broke up (and it was far from a nasty breakup), I asked her if she wanted to do the piercing, and she said no. That same night, a little while later and a bottle of wine and a little pot later, she said, "Let's do it!" (meaning the piercing ;) ), but I definitely had decided that if she hadn't felt comfortable doing it yet, I'd ask someone else, and I certainly wasn't about to let her after she'd drunk most of the wine.
When I'd first asked that ex to do the piercing, I'd also asked an old friend as a backup. This old friend was far from a professional, but she'd pierced a bunch of mutual friends' ears, as well as my eyebrow. I'd asked her (the old friend, not the ex-girlfriend; to prevent confusion, any "her" or "she" from here on out is the old friend) if she'd be comfortable piercing me if my then-girlfriend backed out. She said that it wouldn't be a problem. After determining that the ex couldn't/wouldn't do it, I called the friend that next Monday. She told me to come by her house the next day, and she'd do it. No big deal.
I told my mom about it, and she said that she wanted to come, so after picking her up, I headed over to the friend's house. I was tired as hell; that whole year, I had really hellish insomnia, and I was getting (reliably) less than 30 hours of sleep a week. That may work for some people, but it definitely didn't work for me. I'd been a zombie for the past few months, and that day was waaay worse than others for some reason; I was so tired I felt like I was underwater and dreaming (you'll know what I'm talking about if you've ever been that tired, which you probably have). I arrived at my friend's successfully without falling asleep at the wheel, which was very good, and headed on in. I rarely knock going over there, as her dog makes so much noise whenever there's someone outside that knocking is pretty pointless. My friend and her fiancé were lying on the couch; they had just finished a movie (the credits were rolling), and my friend was asleep. After greeting her fiancé (quietly, although it was probably pointless as her dog hadn't woken her seconds before), we woke her up, laughed at her at her expense, and then I gave her the 12g curved barbell and needle, and she went off to the bathroom to "wake up" and get rubbing alcohol to sterilize the jewelry. I settled down into a reclining chair in her living room and talked with her fiancé for a little while; my mom settled down on the couch, and we talked and waited. I wasn't nervous until I handed the jewelry over, then my stomach started twisting itself into knots. It already felt like it was taking forever, and I just wanted to get it over with.
After too long (probably less than 3 minutes), my friend came back and, seeing me relaxed (or seeming relaxed) in the reclining chair, asked me if I just wanted to do it there. I shrugged, and said that it'd be fine if she was comfortable doing it there. She went and got a little end table and put that next to the chair, then got a clean plate with the needle and the barbell on it, and put that on the table. I told her about the claw taper, showed it to her (I'd brought it), and told her that if for some reason she couldn't get the barbell in, the taper would be an option. She held it up to my lip, and said that she'd use it if she couldn't get the barbell in, but that she didn't think that it would be comfortable or functional, so she didn't want to use it unless she absolutely had to. I agreed and put it back in my pocket.
Then we tried to unscrew the bars on the barbell, and it just wasn't possible. After a good 5 or 10 minutes, her fiancé managed to get one of the balls off (this is, by the way, the same barbell in my "Self-pierced, then stretched inverse navel" experience). After this, my friend went to go sterilize the barbell again. Again, it felt like time was crawling, and I felt really odd because I had that combination of nervous excitement and that pre-piercing rush of adrenaline, but I was also tired as fuck, and could have very easily sat back in the reclining chair and been out in seconds. Finally, she came back with the jewelry clean, and I pulled the lever on the recliner and laid back.
She opened the needle, and as she did, her fiancé and my mom crowded around to watch. I closed my eyes, opened my mouth (I felt a little like I was at a dentist), began taking deep, slow, even breaths, and waited. I felt like I was about to fall asleep, but I willed myself to stay awake. At the same time, though, I was completely adrenalized, heart pumping, etc. It really felt strange.
I felt her feeling my lip, getting a gauge on the inside, etc. She told me that she was going to pierce from the outside in. I asked her not to hit anything inside my mouth, and she laughed (it was kind of derived from an old inside joke). She asked if I was ready, and I said yes. It felt like my heart rate tripled, and she reached for the needle. (I didn't think about it until weeks later, but she didn't mark anything at all. Still, it turned out fine.)
I started breathing deeply again (apparently I'd stopped) and waited. I felt her lightly grab my lip to steady it, and then I felt the needle begin to enter my lip. I continued breathing deeply, and immediately "fell" (for lack of a better word) into the needle; my entire universe was that needle and the spot that it was entering. Sounds very silly and Zen (not in a good way) I know, but that's the best way I can describe it. The pain was very intense, but it was also very tolerable and transcendable (apparently that's not a word, but I'm going to use it anyway).
She stopped about halfway through to pull my lip back a little and get a better grip on the needle; my universe ceased to be the end of the needle, but then she started again, and as she started pushing, she twisted the needle very slightly. When she twisted the needle, I felt like I had been grabbed in the solar plexus/stomach area; I heard a very intense but simultaneously very faint "whoosh", and the next thing I knew, I was above my body, looking down on it. I could see the outline of my friend bending over me, but she it was very, very faint. I could only see the chair and myself clearly; aside from that, and the faint outline of my friend, the room was empty: no houseplants, no TV, no couch, etc. It was bizarre. I hovered there for what felt like around a minute or two, slowly and peacefully, looking at myself. The next thing I knew, I was back in my body (having a head again felt very strange; I was suddenly very aware of the fact that I had ears, and that I could only hear very directionally); my friend was saying, "OK, done, and I didn't stab you in the mouth. Let me get the barbell." After a little difficulty (her dropping one of the balls in my mouth), she got the barbell in and that was it. I felt wide awake and completely rejuvenated. I felt great. The piercing didn't hurt at all, and although it seemed like the length and end of the barbell would get in the way, it didn't at all; I never had a problem with it. I went home and felt great. Also (and this is a little strange), the piercing cured my insomnia for a little while (I think until the end of that summer). It was great.
The healing process was pretty simple. I took good care of it: I never touched it, I did sea salt soaks in my mouth all the time (at least once or twice a day), and I sprayed it with H2Ocean a minimum of two times a day. It was doing great: after a week, I could turn the barbell 360 degrees with my tongue and it didn't hurt; after two weeks, it seemed completely healed. I bought a captive bead ring, put it in, then took it out. It immediately flared up a little, but the next day it was fine. I waited another week and a half or two weeks, then put the ring in it. It's been totally healed since then; I've put the barbell back in on occasion, when I know I'm gonna be really bored and I'll want something to fiddle with/fidget with without being too conspicuous (I'm a very fidgety person), and I also have a couple straight 12g tapers (spikes) that I wear occasionally (like in the picture I currently have up as my main on my IAM). It was a very simple process, and by far my most painless and simple to heal. I took good care of it (much better than any other piercing I've had) and it paid off. I like it very much, despite its complicated history and (relative) spur-of-the-moment decision to get. I still need to find a 12g labret barbell, but I'm not terribly concerned about that right now; I haven't looked in awhile. That was a little off-topic, but I'm done writing. If there's anything I forgot/anything you want to ask, feel free to email. :)