Hello!
At A Glance Author Megan When Two years ago Artist Chantal Bernier Studio Tattoo Place Location Canada As an avid fan of BMEzine, I decided it is about time I make a nice contribution to this wonderful website :]
My experience is basically on lip rings, I have two, and both experiences were totally different, so do not rely on this alone to confirm the run through of a lip piercing, always know the risks as well.
Anyhoo onto my experience.
It was over my summer vacation, I was 14 years old [I had gotten my first lip piercing at the age of 12]. I really did find my lip ring looked awfully lonely there all by itself, and I thought the idea of having two was pretty nifty, seeing as I live in a pretty small community in the suburbs, and no one really has piercings of any kind. I, being the person who really could care less what others think, decided that yeah, I did want another one.
It didn't take much convincing of my parents luckily. I had already successfully healed another one, and I still have it, so they saw no problem with me getting one more.
The only trouble I had was actually just making the appointment itself, I had to reschedule at least 6 times, because they were so booked, and I am a die hard fan of this shop, so I really wanted to get it done there.
The day did eventually roll around, so I drove about one hour to the shop with two of my good friends. The first thing I did was have a bite to eat when we got there, but they bummed most of the food off me so I was left with a empty stomach, just as good as I was quite queasy and excited at the thought of what I was about to get done.
I walked into the shop, and talked to my piercer, exchanging friendly hello's, and then she asked me what jewelery I would like, I just chose a plain silver stud with a silver ball, a little different since the first time I was pierced with a ring. I have to say I definitely prefer studs now though, more room for when it swells and doesn't leave marks when it does swell, as a ring does.
The tough part came soon, I had to choose between which friend could watch, since only one could enter the room, so I flipped a coin for them, and my odd yet slightly amusing friend Ray won, so we went in together.
Chantal then washed her hands really well, I watched her do it, and I couldn't help notice her poster that said "Welcome To Your New Addiction" how true eh? Then she put on her rubber gloves and poured me some listerine, the yellow kind, which it the best for this kind of piercing as it takes tartar and plaque of your teeth, and will take the gunk and pus off your lip ring after eating. After approximately 30 seconds I spit it back into the cup and laid back waiting. So she marked up my lip, really well to, it matched the other perfectly. Chantal then opened the needle, from a brand new package, asked if I was ready, yes I was, and my adrenaline was pumping, counted to three but pushed it through at two, put in the stud, and screwed on the ball. I did not get it frozen this time, but I did last time, there is a difference, with no freezing it is more of a pinch feeling, with it frozen it is a pressure feeling. I received all my cleaning papers, and some sea salt, paid my 35 dollars, and left.
For about 3 weeks I avoided pop, candy, ketchup, basically anything with sugar or spices in it, because it has the ability to really irritate your new piercing, and trust me, a infected lip ring is not something you want. Also I was tempted many times, and even caught myself a few times, playing with the new stud, this is something you shouldn't do unless your hands are absolutely clean. Pudding and ice cream are a really good thing to have handy, they are delicious and really easy to eat :] also soup is good too. If you smoke, refrain from it for awhile, but if you can't and are craving, rinse your mouth out after, and also rinse after you eat. Oral sex is a huge no no since you have an open wound that can easily pass infections for about 6 weeks, it would be best to refrain from it.
All in all it was a really good experience, I would do it all over. I think if it is something you are interested in getting, definitely get it, you can always take it out if you don't like it. But I can almost guarantee you will :].