At A Glance Author naz Contact knotty_clarebear@hotmail.com When Three months ago Artist Anna Studio Artistic Impressions Location Welland, Ontario As silly and as reminiscent of "This time at band camp," stories as it is, I finally got my first non-ear body modification on a trip with my ultra-conservative orchestra, accompanied by two of my fellow musicians. As thoroughly disgusting as the conditions under which I was pierced, I won't go into great detail for fear of making myself sound thoroughly stupid to the rest of the BME community. As the title of my experience implies, the shard of metal I'd had forcefully lodged through my face was a perfectly standard labret.
The healing process was remarkably trouble-free, although considering the way I treated the piercing, constantly playing with it with slimy, grubby hands, I deserved a raging infection to teach me a lesson. For about the first week, I faithfully put tea-tree oil around the piercing and used Listerine religiously after every meal, but after about a month, I resumed normal Listerine-ing habits and tea-tree oil became a thing of the past.
At some point during the six months I had my labret pierced, I became an avid reader of BME, and I was soon intrigued by the pictures of vertical labrets I'd seen. I encountered minor problems with the labret I had. I've concluded that I have abnormally thin lips or something, because I'd never found a labret stud with a post short enough to not stick out abnormally far. After six months of being paranoid about gum and tooth enamel erosion, I decided to retire this piercing long enough for it to heal sufficiently that I could get it redone vertically.
After a lengthy heated debate with my parents, they agreed to pay and sign for my piercing, provided I'd stay on a family vacation to the Black Lagoon for an extra three days. Was it worth the compromise you ask? As Hellish as the three days were, I'm inclined to think so.
One fine summer evening, I held my parents to their promise, got my best friend and ID in order, and headed off to the friendly local piercing parlor, Artistic Impressions. After explaining briefly to Anna, the young woman who was piercing me exactly what I had in mind, I was led to the [insert horror movie-esque music here] "piercing room."
Anna then proceeded to draw snazzy blue dots on my lower lip so that I could approve the placement. I scrutinized the said snazzy blue dots in the conveniently placed mirror, exclaimed something to the effect of "Right oh, looks perfect!" and was then instructed to sit in the oh, so menacing chair where hundreds before me had been modified. I watched as Anna changed gloves, bent the originally straight barbell to a slight curve ideally suited to the piercing I was after, removed needles from packaging and all the rest of that jazz. The only thing missing? The clamps I'd assumed she would be using. When I expressed my concern, she explained to me that the procedure would be easier for her to "freehand."
As for the pain factor, it was more uncomfortable than I'd anticipated the procedure would be. Recalling the feeling I'd experienced while getting my labret pierced months previous to this piercing, I assumed the degree of pain would be roughly similar. Boy, was I wrong. Failing to take into account that lip skin is far more sensitive than labret skin, I was in for a surprise! As with my first lip-related piercing experience, inserting the threaded jewelry was my least favourite part of the process.
It's been three months since that fine summer evening, and I'm as pleased with the piercing as I was when I first bought it. The healing process was as trouble-free as was the first, although it healed slightly faster. I put this down to the fact that I employed the "LTFA" method of healing, Leaving The Fucker Alone. The only minor inconvenience I've experienced with this piercing is that it's close to impossible to find jewelry which will fit it properly. While barbells intended for tongue and navel piercings are far too long since I have relatively slim lips, eyebrow rings are too short. I have managed, however, to purchase one barbell which was a suitable length. I'm not entirely sure as to what the intended use for the jewelry is, but I can only assume it is for eyebrow piercings. After leaving the straight barbell in for about three days, I was experiencing some minor irritation. I removed the jewelry long enough to take two pairs of needle-nosed pliers to it to bend it ever so slightly, and after replacing it, I have since had no problems with my lip piercing.
This weekend, I finally got around to purchasing some more film for my camera, and within the next few weeks I'll doubtless have pictures of this and my brand, spanking new anti-eyebrow piercing posted!