At A Glance
Author	Mosherette
IAM	Mosherette
When	A month ago
Artist	Louise
Studio	Manchester Body Piercing
Location	Manchester, UK

Well hello there.
Vertical labrets have always been my favourite piercing, ever since I first saw them on BME: an instant hit. To me, they look much more attractive than a plain old labret or lip ring (not that there's *anything* wrong with those, just my opinion you understand), and I wanted one so much. I knew I had good lips for one – I have a very full, if slightly wonky, lower lip – and was itching to get one for a very long time, but couldn't because of my job. I recently changed jobs and moved to a very relaxed work place, but I was still a little wary of getting something as prominent as a lip piercing. Eventually, I ended up getting it done almost on a whim: I actually went to get my tongue pierced for the second time and came out with my longed-for vertical labret!

*Yowl* The piercing procedure.
The piercing itself was fairly eventful, and was performed by my very favourite piercer, Louise. This was the first vertical labret she'd done, despite her years of experience (they've not caught on in Britain, really), so she took her time over preparation to make sure everything was exactly right. She applied some anaesthetic to the inside of my lip to start off with, and then started preparing while that took effect (not that it made any difference in the end!) She measured my lip at 10mm, and offered me a choice between a straight or a curved barbell: I went for the curved option, and so a sterile 12mm long (the extra 2mm was to allow for swelling) 1.6mm curved barbell was found. Next came the marking, which took as little time due to my aforementioned wonky mouth, but eventually we were both satisfied that placement was as spot on as it could be. I lay back in the chair, closed my eyes and prepared for the needle.

I felt an almighty searing pain as Louise pushed the needle through my lip, and squealed and clutched at the chair in shock. It hurt quite possibly more than any piercing I have had before, even my very bloody septum (since retired), and I've had a fair few. Louise needed an extra push to get it out through the skin again, and that was it – I was pierced. My heart was pounding wildly and I was breathless with adrenaline, and excited at the same time. I'd finally done it! As I lay there, contemplating what I'd just been through, Louise swiftly inserted the jewellery and screwed on the ball. Then she sat back and said;

"Oh."

The jewellery was far too big. It looked ridiculous! I had a huge great bar sitting in my lip and I looked...well, foolish! I started giggling at my reflection in the mirror and Louise was mystified as to how she'd managed to do this to me when she'd measured so carefully. The good thing was that it was perfectly straight, so if I wanted to keep it, all she needed to do was change the jewellery instead of pierce it again (thank god for that). She produced a 10mm barbell, and quickly whipped out the 12mm one and replaced it. I had another look, and it was much better. The other piercer in the shop and the shop manager crowded round me when I came out, eager to see my new addition, and they were both very complimentary about it. I had my vertical labret at last!

The first few days.
The piercing felt very peculiar at first as the anaesthetic started to wear off, and then it really started to hurt. I felt as though I had been punched in the mouth, or bitten my lip really hard, and I was constantly thinking it was bleeding – even though there was never any blood at all. I tried applying some ice to it on the train home (I got a cup of ice from KFC at the station), but to no avail for the most part – I just ended up looking silly with a wet chin and front. I also bought a packet of straws, as I realised that drinking was going to be an interesting affair for a while. The straws helped immensely – I took a couple of ibuprofen and tried drinking the water normally but dribbled down my front instead – and I discovered that eating things where you have to take a bite and then chew was very painful indeed – sandwiches, for example. As you bring your lips round the food when you take a bite, you put pressure on the top of the piercing and eating a sandwich took me about half an hour. For the next few days I tried to eat food that you have to put entirely inside your mouth with a fork instead.

By the time I got home my lip was very swollen, but oddly the pain was starting to subside. The day after the piercing I woke up pain-free, but pretty soon it started to hurt again, and I also had an odd, numb feeling in front of the bar that came and went. Ibuprofen helped a lot with the pain, but it didn't seem to do much for the swelling, which got worse throughout the day. Eventually, that evening, I made myself a little compress with frozen peas (!) in a plastic sandwich bag, and held it against my piercing – bliss!

The next day I did my first salt soak, which I know I should have done sooner but my lip was getting very, very dry and salt water would just make it worse. I had some very minor crusties, though, and so salt soaked them away. I did more frozen pea compresses too, which helped the swelling a little. By that night the pain had eased somewhat, although it was still sore and I was constantly aware of the gentle throb of my heartbeat in my lower lip, and it was still rather swollen as well.

On the third morning after the piercing, things seemed much improved. It didn't feel as swollen, and it was definitely less painful. I was a little worried to notice some discolouration on my lower lip, to either side of where the bar passed under the skin – a little bruising, probably. I hoped nobody would notice as there was no way I could wear lipstick to cover it up! The next morning and the pain and swelling were greatly reduced, and my first proper crusties appeared. My lower lip was by now very dry and painful – I'm addicted to lip balms and without them, my lips were getting very sore and cracked. But of course there was no way I was going to put lip balm anywhere near a fresh piercing! I would just have to endure, as there was nothing I could do about it.

Day five and my lip was still sore, and I wasn't yet used to being able to feel the bar through it when I moved my mouth, although that will come in time. The swelling was almost gone, but the crusties were plentiful. I tried not to pick at them, but my main problem is and always has been fiddling with new piercings. I've also always had a habit of picking at the skin on my lips, so now I had this dry skin – and a little toy to pull on as an added bonus - my habit became ten times worse. Not a good thing at all, so I made a conscious effort to leave it alone, otherwise it could end up rejecting. By this time I'd almost mastered the art of drinking without dribbling – I managed my first hot drink today not through a straw! - but cans still posed a major problem for me.

Day six was much the same as day five, but I stupidly picked at the dry skin around the top hole in the morning. Of course, my whole lip hurt now, but apart from that there was no change in the condition of the actual piercing. I hadn't done any salt soaks for a couple of days, just removed crusties in the shower, so I decided to do one before going to bed. I'm very lax sometimes with my cleaning routines, which is no good for my piercings and I probably wouldn't have half the problems I do have if I wasn't so forgetful. The swelling had gone now, though, and a little bit of the bar was visible, poking out of the bottom hole, which hadn't been seen before today: that's how I knew the swelling was gone.

Problems?
The next two weeks were uneventful as far as healing was concerned, but something else was wrong...I felt very uncomfortable with my piercing. I would look at myself in the mirror and think that it looked completely wrong on my face. It just didn't feel as if it belonged there. All reactions from my piercing-friendly friends had been very positive, but I simply didn't feel as if this piercing belonged to me. Three weeks after I had it done, I removed the top ball from the piercing, and looked at myself in the mirror. It looked as if I had a normal labret, and it looked much better – my boyfriend agreed with me. After a minute or so of deliberation, I removed the bar completely. Goodbye vertical labret.

But then I quickly put it back in again. I was completely unsure what to do now...this was the one piercing I'd longed for, actually longed for, and now I didn't think I liked it. I was really quite upset. I was fairly sure that the main reason I didn't like it was because the balls on the barbell were too big – I much prefer small, neat facial piercings that don't scream, "Look at me, I'm pierced!" to every passer-by. I decided that I would leave it for now, and buy a smaller gauge barbell with smaller balls on it, and see how that looked. I was aware that the chances of rejection with the smaller gauge would be higher, but I would be taking it out anyway if it stayed at 1.6mm, so I felt I had nothing to lose. Another consideration was the trouble it was causing when eating and drinking: nothing major had occurred, but the occasional dribbling incident was making me wonder if it was worth the bother. Perhaps a shorter barbell with smaller balls would eliminate those doubts too.

Success, and a happy piercing.
And I was so glad that I put it back in. I ordered an 8mm long 1.2mm curved barbell from Wildcat, but when it arrived I knew immediately that the bar was too short. Undeterred, I ventured into the local piercing shops and finally located one that had a 10mm long 1.2mm curved barbell – and it was autoclaved already – hurrah! I took it home, washed my hands thoroughly, popped it in...and I was instantly over the moon. It looked glorious! I was absolutely delighted: my piercing was delicate, small and pretty, instead of big, obvious and overpowering on my face. The smaller balls also eliminated the problems I'd been having with drinking, and I was so very pleased with it. Success at last!

Present and future.
My piercing is now four weeks old, and now that I have the smaller barbell I'm absolutely in love with it. Vertical labrets are still rather uncommon piercings – although that isn't the reason I decided to have one: a piercing's popularity has no bearing on how much I like it – so if you decide to take the plunge, I urge you to go to a competent piercer who at least knows what they're doing, even if they have never actually done this particular piercing before. My own experience was a very painful one, but I've read others that have been pain-free, so please don't be put off by the pain aspect – it only last two or three seconds anyway, and in my opinion is more than well worth it.

I'm babying my piercing now that I've changed the bar, as changing jewellery in a piercing this new isn't without its problems. Warm salt soaks are the order of the day, and strictly no playing with the barbell! I often found myself sucking on the top ball of the old barbell – and believe me, crusties don't taste nice – but I'm doing that less with this short one as well, which can only be a good thing. Here's to a beautiful vertical labret! Thanks for reading my experience. Take care, and happy piercing.