umm. right. here goes. it's kind of a shitty experience but.. still. it taught me a lesson. when i was 14 ... i thought it would be "cool" to pierce my labret. It was a really stupid thing to do. i got very, very, very drunk. I had the crazy idea that a piercing would be super cool.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon Artist some girl. Studio alisha*s vinyl or something Location oxford, united kingdom Before I had it done I wasn't scared or anything. But obviously that was the alcohol. I wasn't thinking straight, and I didn't really give a damn where or who was going to do it, I was just going through a manic stage and it was a thing of the moment. I was desperate to get it done. I thought i'd get some kind of kick out of proving I could take the pain.
My friends were also drunk ... therefore they did not try and stop me.
We walked pretty far until we found a small building which was located pretty much on it's own. It was really dirty inside, and very dark lighting. I was drunk.. so I didn't really care. It was only a small place which seemed to be more of a record store than a tattooist's. I now realise how dumb i was not to look around for a nicer looking (and smelling) place but still, me and my friends were very much under the influence and I was so set on getting it done that I just jumped right in and asked how much it would cost me.
I asked them a few questions, how much, *will it hurt*, etc., etc. The guy said it was only £5 which I thought which was slightly strange at first because that's pretty damn cheap ... he said it was because it was a quick and easy piercing to do ... hmm.
He introduced me to this young girl who looked about 16 years old. He said she had *some* experience ... which made me happy enough so I followed her into a dark room which was also very dirty looking and there was one plastic chair in the corner. I saw her playing about with a set of needles which didn't come out of packets or anything ... which made me nervous so I asked her to wash the needle or something ... and i remember she replied with something like "what is your pain threshold...or don't you have one?" ... this scared me a little and I found myself almost frozen to the chair so I didn't move or say a word and gritted my teeth and told myself that this would all be over soon.
A few of my friends who had their labret done had told me it didn't hurt at all.. so I was content in that I thought my experience would be as pain free and maybe even as enjoyable as theirs had been.
I think i got hot and flustered and went to walk out of the room and she told me that I shouldn't worry, it would be ok, and I wouldn't get it done as fast and cheap anywhere else in london anyway...so she continued and she sprayed on what I suppose was numbing fluid over my mouth and chin, which, to be blunt, looked and smelled like piss, and basically at that point she stuck one of her big fat needles through my lip. She didn't even ask me anything, like what size bar I wanted or if i was *ready*, which i definitely wasn't.
The needle went in at an angle. which hurt, and sort of went in and out again. It tore my lip open because it went in and out in a strange direction. lots of blood. nice, eh? anyway ... I was in great pain, which she didn't apologise for, so she just kept going ... and she pulled it out and stuck it in again. more blood. the second time she stuck it in, it went straight through ... but it hurt *much* and i had a semi-hole right next to it which was bleeding wickedly. she pulled the needle out and stuck a 16 ga bar through it. luckily the bar came out of a small unopened bag and was pretty clean and I think that's how I avoided really bad infection. when she put the bar in, it hurt so much i think it made me sober. It made my lip almost instantly swell. ouch. she literally kicked me out of the seat while i was whining in agony....so my friend paid them and we left. talk about nice service. they didn't even ask me if i was ok ... and it was quite obvious that I was unhappy.
When i was completely sober the pain of it really hit me and i passed out on the street. My boyfriend called me, found out what had happened and took me home.. and i woke up the next morning still very much in pain.
the place I had it done at isn't there anymore. I'm pretty glad it's not because it wasn't a registered place or anything. there are too many places like that one, that offer piercing and tattoos, when they aren't actually qualified to do those things. luckily someone found out about this one, but there are a lot of other places I could name all around london which are obviously non registered places with un experienced people working in them.
Too bad for me that it DID get infected, (surprising huh!) and it was very sore and scabby for a long time. I had to visit the doctors to get antibiotics to clear up the infection because it spread and made my gums and tongue wicked sore. I'm lucky that I didn't have to take it out. But it was still pretty nasty looking and very painful. I just kept cleaning it almost every hour and avoided eating for the next 3 weeks or so because it hurt too much to get food out from around it. The antibiotics worked pretty fast, and after all the gross stuff had cleared up from around it, it actually looked quite good and it was in the right place.
A few months later I went to a reputable place and got a 12 ga bar put in it. This was done at the camden salon in london. It is brilliant there ... very very clean, the guy, mark, who did it, and does all my piercings and tattoos is very very nice, it didn't hurt at all, and didn't cost me much more either.
I told them my story, and they said they knew of the place and found it very funny that I'd even thought it was a proper tattooists.
all I can say is: never again. maybe i'm a wuss, but, i'm never, ever, going to get drunk and put myself through that again. i envy the people who can take severe amounts of pain. because i know i can't. still.. it hasn't put me off piercing. in fact that's what started me off ... so it's all good. and there are plenty more to come!
So I have a Q and A -
Q: Should I thoroughly check out the place before i get a piercing?
A: YES! YES! YES! YES! It might seem obvious but it is so important to make sure that EVERYTHING is clean and done proffessionally! I had such a bad experience and I can't stress it enough! I'd hate anyone to go through all the pain that I did. It temporarily ruins your looks and the way you generally feel. not good!