Really, there is no deep, psychological philosophy behind my cheek piercing. I basically wanted it because I'm vain, and I thought it would make me more aesthetically pleasing. Of course, we all want something we don't have, and I've always wanted to have dimples. My sister for example has perfect dimples when she smiles and I've always been jealous of that. If I can't have dimples, I'll have cheek piercings instead, I decided. I made my decision earlier on in the wintertime but because of the cold and how my health deteriorates during the dark winter months, I decided to wait a little bit before getting my cheek piercings.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist Maika Studio On Edge Location The Hague, The Netherlands (Europe) (Take some time, and think about when the best time is to get pierced. Are you on the swim team? Then don't get a piercing during swimming season. Are you like me and is your immune system on a low because of winter and cold? Then don't get a piercing during winter. Do you have allergies, i.e. hay fever? Then don't get anything done in springtime.)
I wanted both cheeks done, but not at the same time obviously. It makes eating and washing and drinking much more easier. So I first got my right cheek. I am still waiting for it to heal so that I can pierce my left cheek.
I was actually quite nervous to be honest. Maika had never performed a cheek piercing before (but that wasn't why I was nervous) and I didn't know anyone personally who had done any.
PLACEMENT: we spend literally fifteen minutes on the placement. I tongued the inside of my cheek to feel the little indent of where my dimple would be had I one. I smiled and Maika must have made five different points until we were satisfied. My jaw started to hurt from smiling. We even consulted various piercing magazines to see where others had placed their cheek piercings. We eventually had our mark and we were ready to pierce.
BREATHE DAMNIT: since I have quite a bit of experience with piercings, Maika didn't bother to tell me everything she would do. It was all a bit run of the mill: cleaning, placement, clamping, piercing, inserting jewelry, making sure everything is a-ok, cleaning one last time, and letting me go. But I was still nervous. She clamped me, which I didn't feel at all. Then she told me to start paying attention to my breathing, which I did. I could feel the needle being positioned on the mark. And then she said, "Breathe in deeply... and breathe out slowly." "How are you feeling," she asked me. "You're done?" I garbled. It's hard to talk when you have your mouth wide open and a needle in your cheek. "I didn't feel a thing!" And it's true. I didn't feel anything of the piercing. Not even when she inserted the jewelry and screwed on the ball (which for me is usually the most uncomfortable part of piercings). I was high on my body's drugs and I was elated that it didn't hurt at all.
JEWELRY: Since neither of us had experiences with cheek piercings, we figured that only a few mm would be enough to allow swelling. So we opted for a 13 mm labret stud. Oops. There was our mistake. Little did we know that my cheek would swell up twice its size in the next day or two. After three days of the piercing, I ran back to the shop and we went for a 20mm teflon labret. I recommend teflon because basically, it's bendy. If you bite on the stud, you won't break your teeth and the plastic bends with your facial structure. Which is good because your cheek muscles move quite a bit. I recommend you even go bigger than 20mm, go for much longer than you think you need. Then again, we didn't know. But now we do. And if you realize that the jewelry is too small, go back and have it changed as soon as possible. Don't wait, just go.
HEALING: for the first couple of days I was very uncomfortable because the jewelry was just too damn small. But after I got it changed into the teflon labret stud, I was a happy camper. The swelling subsided although it still isn't completely gone yet. After a week, my piercing started to have crusties (which is normal). In the first three days I used a very diluted mouthwash to gargle twice a day, and I clean it twice a day with unicura antibacterial soap which I use anyway for my body. (I think it's good to use a soap your body is already accustomed with. And besides, unicura number two is a mild antibacterial soap that makes you feel squeaky clean but without drying out your skin too much.) It's been two weeks and under normal circumstances I would go back and get the labret changed into a shorter one, but I feel that this cheek piercing will need its time to heal. First of all, it's through quite a bit of flesh and like I said before, I'm not a 100% that the swelling has disappeared yet. Besides, it still has crusties and is still a bit red around the piercing hole. The inside of my cheek is doing great by the way. It's the outside on my skin that is still a bit tender and sore. I'm waiting at least another two weeks for it to heal a bit more.
AND NEXT? I'm getting my other cheek done next week. Hopefully it will be as good as the last one and this time I will make sure to get a proper lengthy labret stud. I'm thinking I'm even going to go for a 25mm labret stud. Better safe than sorry.
UPDATE: It's been now exactly three months and my piercing is healing well. However, a month ago it looked as though it was developing some kind of a keloid scar which disappeared after two weeks. I hear it's common with cheek piercings that the opening gets a bit swollen and reddish but disappears after a few days or so. As I am somewhat of a hypochondriac, I was already freaking out the first day I noticed it. But thankfully it disappeared. It's also still crusting a bit but I believe it will do so for at least half a year. It's a tricky piercing but it's fairly easy to deal with. But it's worth it because, you know, I now have dimples. Huzzah!