I was approaching that ominous few month point when I hadn't had a new piercing in quite some time. Nobody really understands the piercing addiction until they have experienced it themselves. It's a dangerous one though, haha. I did some browsing and contemplating, and finally decided upon the good ol' vertical labret. It was a toss up between that and my smiley, but I have a small face and a septum ring, so I thought it might make my face look too cramped. I hadn't seen the vertical labret on many people at the time, (although this city is rather conservative, and I don't tend to see an abundance of any type of piercing), and I thought it was quite striking and would adequately replace the center lip ring that had then healed over for good. So, without much hesitation, I made the appointment with the same dude who had pierced my bridge a few months previously and waited anxiously for the moment of truth to arrive.
At A Glance Author Lindsey! When Six months ago Artist Ben Studio the Ink Spot Location Ottawa I got to the studio, quite punctually, actually. I was filled with that wild-eyed mixture of anxiety/excitement that always seems to accompany such an experience. Luckily, Ben is totally the type of guy who makes you feel comfortable as all hell, and any preconceived notion of me potentially backing down just sort of slid down the sewer drain. He's also pretty cute which is definitely a bonus. He took me to the back where he performs all of his piercing magic and got me to take a seat up on that big, black thing that kind of reminds me of a dentist's chair, but isn't. He chatted me up a bit, and got all of the jazz prepared, and got me to rinse my mouth with a wondrous blend of minty fresh mouthwash. He then got me to expectorate. Next came the tedious alignment of the dots. It took a couple of tries before they were perfect and we were both ready to go. In mere moments, I was clamped like a champ, and the needle was shoved through my lip with incredible ease. Yes, ease in the sense that a sharp, metal object slides through flesh, so smooth and easy but not even close to painlessly. It honestly killed, I was shocked at how much it hurt, especially compared to my other piercings. I had had my lip pierced twice previously and I don't remember it hurting very much at all, but this was completely different. I sucked it up like the tough woman that I am, and he quickly and gently put in the jewelry and had me looking in the mirror at my new addition. Not to brag, but it looked effing sexy. Especially taking into account the fact that my lower lip had swelled up to about thrice its usual size. It was honestly amazing. Who needs collagen injections??? Not I!
I was delirious with happiness when I paid and left, I barely even remember being given the aftercare instructions, but it didn't matter, I was a brand new woman , haha. I walked home which took about thirty minutes and then went straight for the bathroom mirror to investigate the situation. My lip was throbbing wildly, and not feeling at all very nice. Not only was my lip a raging blimp of roaring blood, it bruised up purple like you would not believe. It seriously looked as though I had been punched in the mouth. I just told myself that it would make me look even more hardcore haha. It was almost disgusting to look at for a while, if it wasn't for the fact that the piercing just looked so damn sweet.
I applied ice for a while, but it got really annoying so I took some ibuprofen hoping it would easy the swelling to a certain extent. Much to my chagrin, it didn't really help, but I knew that it was only temporary after all. I was diligent with the aftercare as I usually am, and it actually bled off and on over the next few days, which had me mildly alarmed until I called Ben and he said it's quite normal for that sort of thing to occur. I kept up with the sea salt soaks and mouthwash, and before I knew it, it was totally healed up and good to go.
It's been many months now since I got it pierced and I have had no problems with it all. I got the jewelry changed just a couple of months ago to a shorter curved barbell and it looks a lot nicer without the excess of metal sticking out. Aside from the fact that it was the most painful piercing I've experienced thus far, it's totally frigging worth it and I'm pretty sure that I love it more than anything. It makes me feel like a bit of a wimp though to complain about a measly lip piercing when there are people who do the crazy suspension and all that jazz. Go figure. Maybe I'll work my way up to that...Maybe.