At A Glance Author Han Contact Han@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Dr. Michael Welsh. Location Tasmania, Australia. My lip piercing was the first piercing I've had done that wasn't on my ears.
I'd had my helix done in the past, but had taken it out, so I was really quite un-pierced when I headed to my appointment. I had wanted a lip piercing for a year or so; but being so young, it took a lot of persuading to convince my parents to let me get it done. Before I made the decision, I researched the piercing on the internet, and discussed with my piercer exactly what was going to happen – I recommend that anyone considering this piercing, or any other, does this first. That way we were both clear about what the other expected to happen and I wasn't all that nervous, because I knew about the risks and all the necessary after care etc.
The guy doing my piercing was a doctor; Dr Welsh. That also helped with my nerves, because he's well known for piercing here, and knows what he's doing. There aren't really any decent piercing studios around where I live, and Dr Welsh is by far the best. On the day of my piercing, I took my dad with me, and we purchased the correct jewellery – after discussing it with the shop owner, I decided upon a 14 gage x 13 millimetre surgical steel stud, to leave room for swelling, and reduce the risk of irritation. This kind of stud has a flat back, attached to the part that goes through your lip. The ball that is visible screws onto the post that is through your lip.
I took the jewellery into the surgery, and the receptionist took it and put it in their steriliser for ½ an hour, so I was able to leave for a while, and they would call me when it was ready. By that stage I was feeling a little nervous, so a walk did me good, and I was feeling pretty calm by the time the call came.
I got back to the surgery and met Dr Welsh for the first time. He made everything seem very relaxed, and told me that he had done lots of lip piercings before. He then gave me an anaesthetic in my lip. While this isn't a good thing to do with any piercing, as it makes the healing process more difficult, after discussing it before hand with him, I had decided to go ahead with the anaesthetic anyway, as I tend to be quite sensitive and paranoid about pain. Five minutes later, he returned with my jewellery, and it all went very quickly. Because of the anaesthetic, I didn't feel a thing, and came out feeling fine.
During the first week of healing, I experienced no pain whatsoever, and no trouble with leaking. My lip never became swollen, so as the stud was so long, it made eating quite difficult for a week and a half or so until I got used to it. For the first two weeks, I used an antiseptic mouthwash (Colgate Savacol) and salt water with cotton tips after every meal, and every morning and every night. During the second week, there was a small amount of fluid leaking from my lip, but that soon cleared up. The only trouble I had was that around the piercing was quite dry, and a little flaky, so that was quite painful, as I was unable to moisturise it. But that cleared up by the third week, and since then everything has been fine. The piercing is nearly five weeks old now, and is clearing up well.
As for the anaesthetic, it really didn't seem to cause any problems for me. I would imagine that this would be different for everyone, and I don't suggest that you have one if you can avoid it, because even though it made things easier for me, it would have been an awful shame to lose my piercing to infection. I don't regret having the anaesthetic, as it made things a lot less painful, but I don't suggest having one unless you really are worried about pain.
For the first 2 weeks, I had trouble eating solid food, mainly because every time I tried to bite something, I would bite the back of the stud. I stuck with soups, yoghurt, and ice cream, but eventually got used to it.
After two weeks, I changed the stud from a 13 ml down to an 8 ml, which was a huge relief. I also bought a stud with rubber backing, to protect my teeth. I have had a little trouble with my jewellery; the ball from the front of the stud comes unscrewed, and I lose it. I have had to spend a whole day at school holding the stud in with my tongue, until I got home. That was incredibly frustrating, but once I mastered the technique of screwing it on securely, I've had little trouble.
To anyone considering this piercing, I'd say that it has been really quite easy to look after, and I would definitely recommend it if you're interested. My only real advice would be to make sure that you have researched the piercing enough, and have discussed exactly what your piercer plans to do with him/her. All in all, I haven't had any trouble, and I really love the way it looks!