Browsing through the BME photo galleries some years ago, I came across photos of Shannon's Vertical Lowbrets. I remember seeing them and being in awe over their beauty. I knew someday that I would have them. I let the though slip a bit until one day I watched a video of them being done. The procedure seemed pretty easy if you have an idea of Body Piercing. Me being a piercer Body Piercer since 1997, I thought I had enough expirience to tackle my craving for such piercing.
At A Glance Author sCabbOy Contact thescabboy@yahoo.com IAM ScabBoy When A month ago Artist Jack Cook/ScabBoy Studio Express Yourself Studio Location Lackawanna,NY First off, I emailed and I.M.ed a few people who had this piercing and asked them about the pain factor, soreness, and healing. Most told me about sharp pains, inflamation, and soreness. Nothing I have not felt before. I also looked at some pictures to see how the placement was. I also felt my jaw and pulled away my kin to get an idea of the path of the jewelry, how it would fit, how long the bars should be, and more importantly, what kind of jewelry I should use.
After all of this, I got myself ready. I got calipers and measured from my inner lip to the bottom of my Chin where I wanted the piercings to exit. (I ended up putting them on slight angles for comfort). The measurement ended up being 1 3/8".
I went and took some PTFE barbells and cut them to the desired leingth and got them ready to be autoclaved. While they were autoclaving, I put some Emla on my chin and bandaged it up. (yeah I cheat)
After an hour, I was all set. I washed my mouth out with antiseptic rinse, then sea salt water. I then prepared my skin with Iodine and marked the piercings more specifically making sure they are aligned 100%. After the parks were perfect.. I was ready to pierce.
I opted to use I.V. Cathetor needles because of the depth of the piercing, and the fact I was doing them myself. I didn't want to lose contact.
I layed out a pair of Hemostats just incase, and one of the PTFE barbells with steel balls. I was all ready to go.
The first piercing went by fast. I had to peirce from the Chin up, which I guess isn't the best way. The outside was pretty numb so I was able to go slowly. After the needle penetrated the first layers of skin and was inside my jaw I slowly ran it underneath being sure to avoid anything inside the skin. I took more time that I should have, but since it was on myself I felt like comfort and quickness was not so important.
When I felt the needle poke the inside skin of my mouth, I aligned it with the dot I marked on the inside and pushed it very quickly and smoothly it poked through. One was finished. Minimal pain thanks to Emla, and it was super easy.
The second piercing went as smoothly, but I ended up getting some blood. About half way through I felt some resistance and I pushed hard. The end of the Cathetor filled up with blood, I knew something bad happened. I backed the needle out 3-4mm and then pushed it up some. I then aligned it with the dot and poked it through. It bled for about 30 seconds and quit. A good sign that nothing vital was hit. One bad thing about using Emla creme. I could not tell that I hit something because it was numbed. My bad I guess.
After the needle was through I slipped the PTFE barbell inside the sheath of the Cathetor needle and followed it thru and installed the balls.
That night there wasn't much soreness at all. THe next night on the other hand I ended up eating, and it provoked alot of swelling. The bars were kind of tight against my skin, so I removed the inside balls and used o rings for a couple days keep it comfortable.
I ended up keeping the PTFE balls on the inside. They are alot more comfortable than the steel.
I have had these piercings for about a month now, and they both seem 85% healed. I am super proud of them, and I love them to death. I personally think these are one of the most attractive piercings I have seen.
I also learned when doing these a few valuable lessons in case I was to do these on a client.
1. Placement is vital for comfort.
2. Make sure the jewelry is placed parallel to the jaw, and not on an awkward angle where it will rub against it.
3. Get familiar with the anatomy before marking it and pierce it.I have photos of this piercing up on my IAM page, there's also one in the piercing galleries of BME.