Prior to my monroe, the only facial piercing I had was my septum. I like my septum, but I only wear my jewelry in it once in a while. Even though I have a pretty cool boss, I didn't think wearing my septum ring would be acceptable in my workplace. I decided that I wanted to get a piercing that I would actually be able to wear in ALL the time. Also, another girl at my work has hers done, and there were absolutely no issues about her not being able to keep it in. Because of that, I knew I'd be safe and I wouldn't have the risk of having to take the piercing out.
At A Glance Author Steph Contact Steph@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Seth Cameron Studio Progress Body Piercing Location Raleigh, NC I've been to a couple piercers in the Triangle area (and even dated one) and while they've all been okay, I haven't really stoked on any of them. I met Seth months before when I went into his shop to look at large gauge jewelry for my lobes. I had gotten my stomach tattooed a few weeks ago right next door, at Tattoo Devil, which is now Phoenix Tattoo. He was extremely helpful, friendly, and super sanitary. I was pretty impressed. He ended up talking to my boyfriend and me for about 2 hours that day. That's when I decided that I wanted him to do my piercings from then on.
I called one day, asking him what the standard gauge for a monroe would be. He talked to me about different options for 5 minutes and told me that if I came into the shop that he'd be more than happy to discuss it further.
I went into the shop the next day and approached him about getting my monroe pierced. He recognized me and we started discussing different piercing options. He was a lot more open-minded about these options than most of the piercers I've gone to before. He pretty much told me I could get it done at any gauge I wanted, but discussed the pro's and con's of different jewelry, scarring, aesthetics, and etc. I reached my decision pretty fast: I wanted a 20g citrine gem titanium fishtail on the left! Minimal scarring sounded pretty good to me.
The piercing went very smooth. Seth had soft music playing in the piercing room, and explained everything in a very detailed manner. He even spoke in a soothing voice, which was helpful. He sanitized my lip, and then I swished my mouth out with an antiseptic rinse. He marked the inside and outside of my lip with a little ink and a toothpick of where he thought it would be the most flattering. I okayed it. I laid down and he started talking me through more of the process. He made me take deep breaths and penetrated the needle through my lip when I JUST started to exhale. Perfect timing and all. He did it all free-hand, which I understand causes less swelling than using clamps. It really didn't hurt much. It was a pinch. I had no swelling
I sat up and immediately checked out the mirror. I loved it! As he talked to me about aftercare, I kept looking back at the mirror and back at him. He seemed much more knowledgeable about aftercare than some of the other piercers I've gone to. Some piercers are all gung-ho about rinsing out your mouth with antiseptic every hour. They tell you to use bactine. And they'll instruct you to wash your piercings with anti-bacterial/microbial soap. No No No. Those are the reasons I had such a hard time healing some of my other piercings. Your body will heal itself, but you do need to take some precautions. Anti-bacterial soap goes on HANDS, NOT piercings. Too much antiseptic will irritate your piercing. Bactine will smother and keep your piercing from breathing.
My aftercare regimen: Wash hands before handling piercing. Brush teeth with mild toothpaste (with no peroxide, baking soda, or whiteners) after every meal and before I go to sleep. Squirt of saline solution a couple times a day. Pat dry with toilet paper, NOT TOWEL. Towel = bacteria.
Unfortunately, my jewelry fell out in my sleep that night. I tried putting the jewelry in properly, but I couldn't fit it through the back opening. I was pretty upset about it, and I called Seth first thing when the shop opened. He just told me to come in and he'll look at it, ASAP.
I got the shop a few hours later and he took a look and invited me back into the piercing room. It didn't look too bad and he tried to taper it a little, but he could tell the discomfort I was feeling. He ended up just repiercing it, he said that stretching it would be more painful and traumatic. I thought that it would hurt more the second time around, especially because it was in the same place. Surprisingly, it wasn't worse than the first. Afterwards I took a clear squishy backing off of a dangly hook earring and slipped it on the end of my fishtail.
I took some sodium naproxen to keep swelling down just to be safe. Unfortunately it swelled a bit more anyways AND I got an allergic reaction to the painkiller. Slight, but still uncomfortable. Feverish, dry mouth, and achy. However, that's passing by now and I'm super happy with my new piercing! If you live in the Triangle, I definitely recommend Seth.