Over the past year or so, I have gotten numerous piercings. Some of them were impulse and some of them were deeply thought out. I would have to say that my most meaningful piercing(s) was my Vertical Labret Snakebites.
At A Glance Author Becca Seraph Contact Becca Seraph@bme.anon IAM Silhouettes When A week ago Artist Jeremy Studio Evolution Location Lower Indiana It all started out when I seen a picture of a Vertical Labret and I feel in love. I had a side lip ring at the time and I ended up taking it out so I could get a Vertical Labret when it healed. I changed my mind, however, after the old piercing healed up and decided I would look bad with a Vertical Labret. This piercing stayed in the back of my head until a few days before I got it done.
It was a Friday and my boyfriend and I adopted a new kitten named Choral. We loved that kitten to death but something was wrong with her and on Monday despite our efforts and hour-long drive to get to the nearest pet hospital open at 8pm, she passed away. I only had the kitten for a weekend but her sweet face was buried in my heart.
When we went to bury Choral we put her next to my puppy, Silas, who was not strong enough to make it (I bottle fed him for a few straight weeks, he was to weak to suck his mom). After the funeral I got to thinking, I did not want to forget Choral or Silas. I thought about a way to pay tribute to them. The first thing that came to my mind was a tattoo, but I am still working on my first one and by the time I would get one to pay tribute to them it would be months or years after they passed away.
My second thought was I should get a special piercing to resemble my lost pets. The first thing that came to mind was my Vertical Labret. If I got two Vertical Labrets (snakebites), one could represent each pet that had passed away. Also, it seemed that Choral loved to rub herself up against my Labret while she was alive, so it was a perfect spot. It may seem like a long stretch to some people, but every time I look in the mirror I see my pretty Verticals and smile, remembering all the good times I had with my pets.
The day I got my Snakebite Vertical Labrets was the Wednesday following Chorals death. I had made arrangements with Jeremy prior to getting to the shop to make sure he could do Vertical Labrets. He had only done a few before, but he was willing to done mine and since I trusted him so much I agreed.
When my boyfriend and I got to the shop, I filled out my form and talked to Jake, my roommate who is apprenticing there, and his girlfriend until Jeremy was ready to take me back. One of Jeremy's friends wanted to watch, but she had to go to the front and missed the actual piercing.
We went back with Jeremy and he took his time marking my lip. He got one mark perfectly, but he had to mess with the right side a few times, remarking. When he was finally satisfied he asked Josh what he thought before he started to set up. Josh was satisfied, so Jeremy set up the needles and put on some clean gloves.
I was a little nervous, because most of the piercings I had gotten lately were ones that I knew exactly what they felt like and I knew this would be different than all the ones I had. I believe he did my right one first, but I was so nervous I was not really paying attention. He had to custom bend the bar into a barbell before he started piercing me; it was in a package in the shape of a straight barbell.
Anyways, I had to wash my mouth out with mouthwash first off and then Jeremy carefully positioned the clamps on me and had to push a little to line it up evenly with the dots he made. He held the clamp with one hand and used the other to pick up the needle that he had put some lubricant on. He placed the needle on top of my lip and I could feel the tip poking me. Jeremy told me to take a deep breath in and as I did he shoved the needle threw. The sensation that flowed threw me was something I never felt before. The needle sliding threw felt like a burning and stinging sensation. The piercing sort of felt like picking a huge pimple. After the needle was in, Jeremy reached for the barbell. Around this time, the clamp on my lip was pressing on the needle and was hurting and annoying me to death. My leg was shaking back and forth as I was hoping it would end soon. When Jeremy was pushing the barbell in, it hurt a lot, I felt the barbell go in and the needle come out. It was a stinging sensation. Aft er the barbell was in, Jeremy screwed in the ball then removed the clamp. My reaction was I hate that evil clamp and I told everyone that.
The pain was different than I had expected, my lip ring hurt about 2 times less than this did. I wanted to call off the second one, but I was brave and just sat there saying nothing. The process was the same and I felt the burning, stinging sensation again. It hurt the same as the first one, no more or not less. Jeremy did remove the clamp before putting on the ball this time, which felt a lot better than waiting. He had a little trouble finding the ball on the tray but that gave my lip a little time to calm down and I did not mind waiting. After the ball was on Jeremy cleaned my lips with a Q-tip and made me use some more mouthwash. It was awkward to use the mouthwash; I started to drool on myself. It was kind of funny and we all laughed.
I went and paid after everything was over. We got at the shop around 8pm and after my piercing it were after 8:30pm and Jake got off at 10pm, so we decided to hang around and wait on him. My lips hurt most of the time while we were waiting, but by the time we left the shop to come home they were feeling better again, just hurting a tiny bit, could barely feel them.
My first time eating was a little tricky; I had to break the food into small pieces. It did not really hurt if the food hit the piercing, but I was worried about getting food all over the bar and in the new hole. I managed to eat some pizza and chips though. I almost ate some ice cream with no problem.
As for cleaning I am using Sea Salt Soaks and Anti-Septic Mouth Wash. I almost use Dial on the bottom ball. The length of the jewelry is really long, but I can change it to. It was in case I swelled up and I have some, but not too much. Talking is fine and they turned out a lot better than I thought they were. For not doing to many, Jeremy did a terrific job on mine and they are very straight and even. I love them and what they remind me over.
Yes, the pain sucks, but everyone has a different pain level and who knows yours might be more or less than mine. I would not let the pain distract you from getting this piercing if you are considering it though; it is a gorgeous piercing.
I have had them a few days now and they feel like a pimple on my lip. My lips are really dry and it is hard to lick them. I have been using a straw to drink and cutting up my food really small. If I hit them with food on an accident, it is no big deal it does not hurt, but it makes cleaning a little harder. I am sure they will feel tons better by the end of the week. I still cannot move them and the bar is way to long, but again I am sure in a week or so I can move them and a few weeks after that change my bars.
Thanks for reading my story and Happy Piercing!