Back in the beginning of grade 6, I first found an interest in piercings, specifically the lip ring. I understand that it was a very young age to first wish for a facial piercing. I was in grade 8 the first time I ever mentioned this wish to my parents, who immediately said never. My mother was not very fond of piercings, while my father –as far as I can comprehend- mainly disapproves because he doesn't want us (my brother and myself) to be judged by others. My brother had gotten his tongue pierced, and this opened the doors to getting my tongue pierced without my parents killing me because of it. The tongue was supposed to be a compromise because I knew getting a job with my lip piercing would be a lot more difficult.
At A Glance Author weretigress56 Contact weretigress56@bme.anon When It just happened Artist unknown Studio Immaculate Concept Location Calgary Well three months after my tongue piercing, I started to really contemplate getting another piercing, the first thought was that maybe I should get another helix piercing, but while reading through risks, I began to recall an issue I had while my first helix piercing was in the process of healing. So my mind had wandered once more to that lip ring I had wanted for 6 years. The final cementing factor that led me to getting my lip piercing was the two weeks prior to getting it done. At the age of 7 I had been diagnosed with depression, and even while on medication I will go through down periods, I won't go through the details of it (that's not really important to the experience) I will say, this piercing became a physical representation; "Life is worth living".
After telling my parents about the strong meaning this piercing had to me, they told me they would hope I wouldn't get it done, at least not while I still lived in their house. My father who generally seems much more opposed to piercings then my mother seemed to understand how important this had become to me. The original plan was to go Monday after school with my boyfriend, but homework dictated that Monday wasn't the day. So when Thursday came around, my boyfriend and I walked from the school to Immaculate Concept. The hour long walk was well worth it, as we walked in, we were greeted by the woman at the counter (who also happens to be the piercer). This was the second piercing I had gotten from her, but she doesn't seem to ever introduce herself. Even without a name, she is definitely a friendly person, before getting started I actually ended up telling her how to delete songs from an iPod.
When everything was ready, and she had changed the barbell in my tongue piercing, she marked my lip and had me check if I liked the location. I can't recall the exact feeling of the needle going through my lip, but I do know it was a shocking feeling. I have always thought of myself as a wimp when it comes to pain, but when I consider the fact that I never really felt any pain from this, I think I may have a slightly higher pain tolerance then I thought. When she turned to grab the CBR to put in my new lip hole, my boyfriend gave me a weird look because I had the big long needle sticking through my lip. Having a history of fainting from needles, I had brought along two bottles of Gatorade, one which I had downed before the piercing, the other after. Amazingly, I pulled off my second piercing without fainting. My piercer gave me the sheet on care instructions, explained everything to me about keeping my new lip hole healthy, and I was happily on my way!
The day after, I had some minor swelling, but for a few hours there was a very vibrant multi-coloured bruise on the inside of my lip. Having not had any bruising from my tongue piercing, I contemplated calling Immaculate Concept to ask if this bruising should be of any concern, but within a few short hours, the bruising was almost gone completely. It only hurt when I rotated it in the cleaning process, and all in all it has been a very positive experience.
After getting the piercing, my lips seemed to become so much more chapped then usual, I have heard people say not to put anything on your lips with a new piercing, but I have been sucking back the water as much as possible, and it seems that I just can't hydrate myself enough to prevent the chapped lips. I settled on using simple blistex, which really has helped a fair amount.
There's just something comforting about feeling the ring against my lip, it's like a little hug that doesn't leave. After 6 years, I am proud to say I now have a ring in the right side of my bottom lip!