Sometimes when crappy things happen in your love life, you self-medicate. One of the ways I medicate, is by getting piercings. Here are my three outlets... Piercings, Barnes and Nobles, and World of Warcraft. Not the best, but definitely not the worst!
At A Glance Author Lynne Contact Lynne@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Rye Studio Just Another Hole Location Broken Arrow, Oklahoma About two days ago, I decided I wanted snakebites. I really don't think I've ever seen anyone who had this done and it didn't look good on them.
Firstly, I am the biggest chicken when it comes to needles. I can get tattooed all day but as soon as I see them whip out that needle, I usually wuss out for a good 20 minutes. I'm not sure if it was the heartache, or just getting older, but today I wasn't bothered.
It took a long time for Rye (my piercer) to be satisfied with my line-up. He told me my bottom lip was somewhat off-centered and he had to figure out how to work around it. We ended up just spacing them a little more apart. The gauge he chose for me was 16.
When I saw the needles, I felt that familiar wave of panic set in and wanted to get up and run. If you're like me and not a big fan of needles, I can tell you that it's much easier to just suck it up and go for it than prolonging it. I would constantly do the "Wait, no...I'm not ready" and it would just torment me even more. No matter how freaked out you are, trust yourself and go with it, it's so much easier. :) In a strange sense, it's less painful when you just let them do their work. The best thing to do is think "Almost done, I'm almost there" in your head. Don't think about pain, or anything scary, just think about it being finished. Listen to your piercer, it's good to focus on their voice aswell. It was the first time I didn't tell my piercer to stop, and it was the smoothest piercing experience I've ever had.
I have somewhat thicker lower lips, and in all honesty it didn't exactly tickle when the needle went in. The weirdest feeling, is that I could feel the needle pop out the other side and it wasn't anything I had ever felt with my prior piercing experiences. It wasn't extremely painful, just a wince and the pain immediately vanished.
My entire bottom lip went numb as soon as it was over with, I could only feel a slight throbbing and a small amount of blood trickling down my chin. Since my mouth was numb, it felt like a huge amount of blood, but it was just a drop or two. Rye said he more than likely scraped a small vein. Besides that little ordeal, there was minimal bleeding. The only blood I've seen so far was the first time I cleaned it.
Surprisingly, the second piercing hurt less. It was more of a burn/pressure than pain. I also felt the weird "pop" sensation that was more odd than anything.
Immediately after they were done, I could feel my mouth swelling. My whole bottom lip felt massive and it looked like someone had given me a good smack on the mouth. They're positively gorgeous though, and they are definitely my favorite piercing.
It's been about 24 hours and I still have some decent swelling and bruising. One looks lower than the other but right now I'm contributing that to my swollen lip. The left piercing is taking it more harder than the right... a bit more sore, but completely managable! The only time I feel pain, is a dull ache when I smile.
On a pain scale of 1-10 I would give this a 3/4. :) Even though it's been less than 24 hours, I usually forget they are they. The only annoying thing about getting snakebites is the swelling. It's definitely very weird eating sometimes.
If you're thinking about getting snakebites, I highly suggest them. They're god awful sexy on any gender, and they're a breeze. If you can stub your toe and survive it, I'm pretty sure you'll handle the snakebites experience pretty well. Make sure that you go to a PROFESSIONAL... you don't want to do this on your own. Besides the serious health risks, it's also harder for you to line it up correctly. It seems simple, but it very much isn't. A piercer not only knows what they are doing, but I'm sure you don't want to have to stick yet another needle in your lip because you messed up the first try. :) I cannot stress enough how dangerous it is to self-pierce, especially if you aren't a professional. Please respect yourself and go to a clean, and safe piercing enviroment. You're worth it!
Good luck!