At A Glance
Author	Kathie
Contact	Kathie@bme.anon
When	A week ago
Artist	Geli
Studio	House of Pain
Location	Wuerzburg, Germany

I can't remember for how long I had wanted a labret in the center of my lower lip. I had always dreamed of a decent segment ring, or maybe just a simple stud but I never had the balls to get it done.

I was working as a clerk in civil service and even though my boss wasn't really strict about a dress code and such I'm sure he wouldn't have appreciated a piercing in my face. So I buried the desire somewhere deep inside me and let it pass.

But as soon as I was done with my internship there and went back to college - and after getting two piercings that can not be seen by everyone - the addiction was back. And now I could finally do it - so I told myself.

I know that I can't keep my piercing after I'm out of college - my future job won't allow it - but at least for those few years that I'm still in school I can enjoy it.

If there wasn't that horrible fear of needles!! I'm always good in talking about getting this and that done, but when it really comes down to it I'm the biggest coward on the planet.

So I dwelled on the idea of getting that piercing for like another year. I read a lot of articles about the labret and about what can happen to your teeth etc. etc. and then I saw a picture of a vertical labret.

The moment I saw it I just knew this was my piercing. I just had to get it!! In my town a lot of people have a labret, but almost no one has a vertical one. And of course I wanted to get that piercing for myself and because I thought it was pretty, but there's nothing wrong with wanting to be at least a little bit different than the crowd.

So the decision was made. It had to be a vertical labret. But then the coward in me was screaming again. Oh my goodness - think about the pain! Right through the lip! It's going to kill me!! I really have to laugh when I look back now.

Piercings are very expensive over here. In the studio of my trust a vertical labret would be 65 euros - which is about 80 dollars. That's a lot of money for a fulltime student like me. So I called the studio where I got my other piercings done like 1.5 years ago. It's about an hour from my town, but if it would have been a lot cheaper, it'd have been worth the gas.

So I call them and ask them for their prices and they just asked me "a WHAT?" I was a little stunned by that but thought maybe they know the piercing under a different name. I explained what I wanted and they said they've never even heard of that one before. But a regular labret is 35 euros (about 45 dollars) so they'd do mine for the same price.

I decided to rather wait a little longer till I'd have all the money and pay more but therefore I could be sure that they know what they're doing.

What a coincidence - like two days later a friend tells me that the studio where he gets all his piercings (and where I got all my tattoos) has a special offer just for this week where all piercings are just 49 euros! Now I just had to find a way to come up with 50 euros.

A friend of mine still owed me quite some money and he promised me to give it to me that week, but of course he didn't. So I had to come up with another idea. My report card for the past semester. I was in the top third of my year - my parents just HAD to reward that! I really didn't think my mom would do that, but I had to give it a try.

I explained to her that I need 50 euros and that it's a one week offer and that I just have to have that piercing because if I won't have it now I'll never get that chance again in my life. Well at least until I'm like 70 and retired.

And now something happened that I would have never dreamed of: she agreed. Just two conditions to it: 1. my dad can never know that she paid for it and 2. my dad can never know that she even knew about it! Nothing easier than that!!

So I had the money and went to the studio. I was so damned scared. I smoked like a chimney on my way there and then the next problem: I was taking antibiotics at that time because of a bronchitis. I didn't think that it would affect a piercing, but they told me I can't do it because my body needs all it's strength to get over the illness.

I was bummed out. By the time I could get my piercing the prices would be back to normal. The lady at the studio really felt sorry for me and told me to just pay the cheaper price now and come back when ever I'd feel better. What a generous offer.

I paid the money and from that moment on there was no way out. I decided to get it done next Friday because after that I'd have the weekend for the big swollen lip to rest.

I didn't make it till then of course. Would be too boring in a story that's already that twisted, right? Thursday. I don't know why, but I had the strong feeling to get it done now or never. The studio is just around the corner from my school and I just couldn't concentrate on school anyways. My friend and I decided to skip the last class (English grammar) and get some coffee. So while we were having coffee I told her that I really want to get it done today but I'm soo scared.

Now she knew why I was biting my lip in school all day - I tried to figure out if it really would hurt that bad. So she paid for the coffee and dragged me to the studio. The closer we got the slower I walked.

When we got there I had to fill out a form and my hands were shaking so bad that it was almost impossible to read the form in the end. We had to wait for a little while because there were some people who just wanted to get their jewelery changed and I was kind of glad about that - I could have another cigarette to calm my nerves. Didn't help though.

Then it was finally my turn. I walked into that small room and my friend followed me with a big grin on her face. She said she came with me that far, now she wants to see blood!! I'm glad she closed the door behind her, otherwise I'd have been gone by then. Blood! Oh my goodness! I hadn't even thought of that.

But from that point on everything just started happening. I just tried to ignore everything around me and did what I was told. The piercer had everything prepared already and she marked my lip with a felt pen (you know that kind of pen you use for that purpose) and after my friend and I approved the spot the piercer told me to lay down.

At that point I asked myself for the last time, why I'm really doing this to myself. Everything now happened really fast. She put the clamps on my lip, told me to open my mouth just a little bit (I was clenching my teeth as hard as I could without even noticing) and then it came: breathe in - breathe out now....

I knew when I breathe out she'd do it and I was THAT close to saying "no wait not yet!!" but in that moment I just did it and the needle was through before I was even done breathing out.

To say it didn't hurt would be a lie. Of course it's not a very pleasant feeling when someone pokes a needle all the way through your lip. But to me the feeling how the needle went through all the different layers of my lip was worse than the pain.

It didn't even take a minute from putting the clamps on my lip till the little curved barbell was through. I felt a little dizzy so I didn't get up right away. But I sooo wanted to see it. They handed me a small mirror and I just stared at it in amazement for like a minute mumbling "oh my god it's sooo pretty!!" They had a good laugh over that. The adrenaline had kicked in and I was like on drugs!

When we finally were on our way back home I was so happy about my piercing. I just couldn't believe that I was terrified for weeks just because of that short moment and I didn't realize, that I really had gotten it done! I felt the little ball with my upper lip all the time to remind me that it's really there. I was afraid I'd wake up and it was all just a dream.

A couple of hours later it started swelling and my lip looked like an inflatable boat. But just a few days later most of the swelling was gone and 1.5 weeks later I already got a smaller barbell for it because it was way too long.

Now it's about 2.5 old and it's healing perfectly. I just cleaned it with NaCl all the time and tried to leave it alone as much as I could. But it's such a great toy. I'm so in love with that little piercing and it almost makes me cry when I think about the day I have to take it out :(

I bought some nice little black cones for it and it just looks sharp with them. For school and for my parents I always put on the little balls though - I can't freak them out that much.

My dad was extremely pissed when he finally saw it. Even though he didn't see it right away. He was sitting right next to me for like half an hour talking to me and I was already getting nervous because he didn't freak out yet. He got used to it after a couple of days and my mom. Well she didn't get used to it at all. She always stares at it when ever she sees me. It's kind of funny.

But after all I can just say if the only reason why you're not getting it done is the fear of needles or the pain... Forget about it. Just do it! It's so worth it!