Had my lowbrets for 18 months or so now and they have been calm for a while now.
At A Glance Author 13twelve Contact 13twelve@bme.anon When A year ago Artist Louise Studio Manchester Piercing Studios Location Manchester, UK The piercing itself took two attempts – the first giving me great respect for Caroline. The shop was busy, I think I'd picked a Wednesday afternoon, as I like it seemed every other student didn't have lectures. She lead me into the piercing room was as spotless as it always is, we were bantering and laughing away (if you ever meet Caz, you'll be hard not to have a giggle).
I had just downed a can of Pepsi, which isn't actually any different than any other minute of any other day – but in my head is a part of the "going getting pierced" routine.
I got sat down and let Caz get the bits and bobs she needed (all out of sterile packets or the autoclave). We discussed placement of the lowbrets, drew a bunch of dots until a good spot was found. The measuring up bit came then, something Caz took great care and time to do properly. Then came lots of moving my mouth around to see where the dots go when I talk, smile and what not – if you ever meet me, you'll soon learn I don't shut up often...
Then the rank banana flavoured stuff was rubbed on my lip – numbs you out no end but personally I think bananas are well, rank. This probably came in handy because the next steps involved quite a lot of never done before lip movements to get placement sorted, as the lowbrets are just that, low, you have to bend the lip quite a lot to get access.
We were both aware there was a bunch of people waiting outside as there was hustle and bustle going on, I could sense it was starting to stress Caz out – which was totally understandable.
I've probably got the chronology mixed up here but I think next came shining the lil torch thing through my lip around the finalised dots to check for veins in my lip. I had a dot on a vein, so the dots had to be redrawn, re measured etc. Once again the vein sat right under a dot. All this was taking time and by now the hustle and bustle was getting on my nerves too.
Then Caz said "I just don't feel comfortable doing it now, can you come back another day?" And though my mouth as all numb and I'd been dribbling (haha) I said yeah. It was no skin of my teeth (no really, it wasn't) to come back another day, I worked in Manchester and when not working spent my free time there too (and I'd been in their shop probably 1000 times already). It takes some balls to say "I don't feel comfortable doing it" so for that Caz I commend you!
I can't remember what day I went back, so let's just say Sunday. Caz wasn't in so I said hello to Louise and told her about Wednesday. The shop was now quiet and Lou was happy to have a go.
The thing I like about Lou is when you just chatting to her, you get quite a frank, open discussion which is cool – but when she turns on "pro piercing" mode you get top bedside manner, it does the trick, and calms any nerves you might had.
And I had a couple (Wednesday hadn't put me off). Sure I had my lip pierced and other things, but there was a lot more flesh to get through, and of course 2 piercings to be done to make the pair of lowbrets.
So the procedure got repeated, Lou had to draw dots and check for veins a few times until eventually bingo, a save zone. I lay back on the bed/chair thing (oh I do miss their old dentist chair) and I stared at the trippy light thing in the top corner, which I distinctively remember never seeing before.
"deep breath in, now breath out, that's it, you alright honey?"
Yeah there was a sharp short pain but nowt to write home about. To be honest it was more uncomfortable than painful, as my lip had to be bent a fair bit. I remember thinking "thank god she didn't needle my gums" haha.
After the first one I got up and had a look in the mirror at the right lowbret. The stud was 1.6mm x 12mm and had one of those big ball stud things on it. It looked amazing. That put a smile on my face; sure the ball was currently hanging down as the swelling hadn't started yet.
Back down on the bed/chair thingy and next piercing done. Felt just like the first and if anything the buzz of seeing the thing in my face a couple o mins earlier meant I didn't really care how much it hurt. Its not like I could pull out here anyways, the right hand side of my chin pierced would look daft on its own.
I said my "thank yous" and "good byes" and left the shop for what also seems to be a ritual of mine, walking around town with a new piercing (the best was perhaps my nape, when the plaster thing fell off and revealed a very raw looking nape with a small trickle of blood dried below it in Muji haha).
The swelling process used all 12 mm of the 12mm long stud and though swelled so much my face didn't look visually distorted (hell no, I'm always that ugly muhaha).
After a couple of weeks the swelling went and I'm now wearing 8 mm labret studs.
In general life lowbrets are easy. You got to clean them etc. but they never catch your gums or teeth in regular life. A particularly stressful job I was doing gave me ulcers around the left lowbret, which was a total pain the arse – but that went. Being hit in the face is the major problem, again my left lowbret caught a stray knee (I have no idea how – though I imagine my spike thing stuck in quite nice). That caused the stood to shoot back, batter my gum and do lots of swelling.
They've been up and down and up and down through knocks and bangs – but now 18 months on I think I've been 6 months without needing to change the studs for the snug fit.
The left lowbret (can't be coincidence that this is the lowbret that's taken the most punishment) doesn't align properly now. If I take the stud out, or as happens on my active mouth, it falls out – the hole on the inside of my mouth leading down the hole on the outside doesn't align properly. Means that the stud wants to break through the surface just above the outer hole – now that's quite painful. If I leave the stud in the hole on the inside with slight pressure from my tongue and then go about my daily business till it pops out, it goes in fine.
Though one morning I drove all the way to work trying to get it in :-).
Oh a warning to people useless at getting their piercings in and out of their respective holes. Because of the way these things sit, it ain't easy to put them back in. And because of where they sit, i.e. your lower lip, they do fall out. Eating, talking, and shouting or whatever helps studs come undone. And though mine point downwards, they still happily come out and into my mouth (have no idea how many studs I've eaten, but went through a phase of loosing studs while having meals).
Putting them back in sometimes means going to the Manchester Piercing Studios (a la the time I was in the pub a couple o doors up having a meal with work) or, what I find quite a stressful time of bending my lip down, it slipping it, me drying it out and then desperately searching for the inside hole to push the stud through. It's not a day in day out fear – more an awkward swine when it happens.