For a few months I had been wanting to get my vertical labret done. I had already had snakebites at that time, and also wanted my tongue done.
At A Glance Author slash happy fiend Contact slash happy fiend@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist Pat Studio MB Tattoo and piercing parlour Location Murray Bridge, South Australia, Australia I decided on getting my tongue done first, and got that about a month before my vertical.
I was having a lot of trouble with my left lip piercing because I had gotten into a fight and it was ripped. It was being really bitchy and was swollen all the time.
On a Wednesday I was in the area near my piercer I stopped in and asked him if he he had time to do my vertical for me. He said yes and asked me to come into the back room.
He had a look for placement and noticed my lip was really swollen and irritated. He asked me why and I told him the reason. Then he said that the bar i had in was too short to accomodate the swelling that would come from my vertical being pierced and my lip already being swollen. So, he said to go home and change it to a longer bar and take some iBuprofen for the next few days and come back on Friday.
I left, disappointed but anxious for Friday come. I saw my friend on the way home and he said he wanted to get his nipple done soon, so I suggested we go get it done together on Friday because we could save money that way.
He agreed and we went on our ways. From Wednesday til Friday I read almost everything I could on the internet about vertical labrets and got really excited over the prospect of having a new shiny piece of metal in my lip.
So, I got into my boyfriends car and we drove to murray bridge. We got there and I got a bite to eat and some cold water to drink after.
We got to the shop and my friend was as nervous as he has ever been. My piercer was happy to see me, having done same old same old piercings all week ( navel and eye brows for the new trend in my town) and was happy to do something different.
Daniel ( my friend ) went first. I watched impatiently and finally Pat told me to make myself comfortable in the chair while he set about marking it.
We changed it a few times and then it was perfect. He got the clamps out of a sealed bag and arranged them on my lip. Then he got the fresh needle and positioned it. The usual breathe in and I'll pierce on the out.
He pushed the needle through in one swift movement. It was the most painful piercing out of 15 piercings, for me. All of a sudden I felt the blood start to run down my chin. Pat got me a piece of kitchen roll to hold under my chin so I wouldn't ruin my clothes. Then came inserting the jewllery, which wasn't really painful just really uncomfortable. The blood made it alot harder to put in but Pat managed it. My lip bled heavily for about 15 minutes and then stopped. My friend and I went to a local chemist to get some more iBuprofen as I'd run out of it and we got called tragic and stupid for mutilating our bodies by the manager so I called her a name and got kicked out. On the was home I accidently knocked it and started it bleeding again, this time having nothing to wipe it up. So in the end I ruined my top anyway.
Then I bumped it again the next day and it started to bleed all over again, with my boyfriends brother trying to be a big doctor and stop the bleeding, when it wouldn't stop he nearly cried because he thought I was gonna die :P It stopped after a while but my lip felt pretty bloodless for some time but then it got better.
The next few days it was pretty sore and it took some practise to learn how to eat and drink with it ( apples are especially hard to eat ) but other than that I love it! It looks good and no body else in my town has it ( bearing in mind I live in a really small town ) but yeah. I get people come up to me in the street and shake their heads like I'm mentally challenged or something. Its rather amusing.
I eventually had to take my left lip piercing out due to it wouldn't heal, but I'm hopefully getting it repiercing in a few months =]
For aftercare I just rinsed my mouth after eating and drinking with non alcoholid mouth wash and cleaned it twice a day with a sea salt solution.
If you are thinking about getting it, go for it! Its a wondeful experience and totally worth it.