I guess I can be considered a late bloomer in the body mod community. I've had my lobes pierced since I was 8 years old (done with a gun- oops!)but other than that, my body is an expansive virgin territory ready to be punctured with high quality metal. My father and my uncle both have lobe piercings, and one of my cousins has an eyebrow piercing, but no one else in my family really deviates from standard. Except me. My first choice was the monroe piercing. It's a beautiful piercing that I am sure is about to become as common as nostril or belly button piercings. I chose this piercing because I wanted something that looked cute rather than hardcore. It's very feminine and dainty, if you will. That being said, it's not a flattering piercing for everyone, so I would encourage you to play around with putting dots of eyeliner on your face and seeing how it looks and where you want it placed. Now, on to my experience.
At A Glance Author pinkgingham_19 Contact pinkgingham_19@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist Carl Studio NEXT! Location Vancouver, Canada I decided to get pierced on a Friday, because I was sure that my lip would swell up so much that I wouldn't be able to talk and so I wanted as much healing time as possible. So I arranged for my brother to meet me after work and come with me to the shop for moral support. As I was waiting for him, I got really nervous. For some reason, I always think that when I go to get a hair cut or buy clothes or something, some employee will tell me that I'm too uncool or ugly or something, but I digress. I was super nervous, but I had already told lots of people that I was going to get pierced, so I couldn't back out now. Plus, my brother was really sick, but came with me anyways (aww) and I didn't want to let him down.
We walked over to NEXT! and I nervously went up to the counter and talked to Jacob. I told him what I wanted done, and I chose the bead that I wanted. I paid and he told me that it would be about 20 minutes, so we went outside and walked around a little bit, with me getting more and more nervous. Did I mention that I was really nervous? :p We waited for a bit in the waiting room, and then Carl came and called us back. We went into the back room and he begun the aftercare talk. It was one on one, and Carl was very nice and friendly. It really put me at ease. I asked about a million questions and felt really overwhelmed by all the information. Luckily, he gave me an aftercare booklet. I had already decided to follow his instructions like gospel, because, this is my face I'm talking about. Anyway, I felt really at ease, and Carl had me get up on the table while he marked it. When I was satisfied with the placement, he had me lie down, and we were ready to go.
The whole thing was over super fast. He pierced from the inside of my mouth to the outside, and I was surprised that the needle went through really easy until it hit the outer skin, and then it went through almost with a pop. The pain was so quick, it was nothing. I asked if there was blood, and there wasn't much, if any. He slid the jewelry through, tightened everything up, gave me a drink of water, and that was that! He showed me it in the mirror and it looked awesome! Even my little bro, who hates monroes, said that it looked wicked. I bought the oral piercing aftercare kit at the front desk (which is a steal by the way, at only $10) and I was set. I walked down the street, thinking I was super cool. My lip swelled a little bit, but it didn't really hurt, just felt a little funny. It felt weird to eat afterwards, but then I got the hang of it. The labret stud kept moving so that the bead was flush to my lip and the post was inside my mouth, which was a little uncomfortable.
Following the aftercare instructions I received from the shop, I bought some unscented Neutrogena bar soap, and used that to clean my piercing twice a day. The aftercare kit I bought contained a chamomile tea bag (for soothing hot compress), sea salts, a small bottle of Tech 2000 mouthwash (which I was told to dilute in 4 litres of water) and a q-tip. I rinsed my mouth with the diluted mouthwash every time I ate, drank something besides water, or smoked. I admit that I kind of neglected the sea salt soaks. I was supposed to do them 2-3 times a week, but I only did it twice a week the first 2 weeks, and then sporadically after that. The worst part of my healing process was the 2nd and 3rd weeks, when there was a lot of dried lymph on the piercing, and it looked red. When I opened my mouth it would push the jewelry through the piercing and the crusties. It was pretty annoying, but not painful. I just rinsed it a lot, and used chamomile tea compresses (and drank the tea :p) I gradually stopped rinsing my mouth after I ate, but kept up washing it every morning and night.
Around the 5th or 6th week I had my piercing, I tried to move to cleaning only once a day. There started to be a lot more lymph, so I did sea salt soaks for 15 minutes a couple times a week again, and did the tea compresses. By the 8th week, it had cleared up, and it was time to downsize! So, I brought my receipt back to NEXT! and Jacob checked it out for me, and I was able to downsize for only the sterilization fee of $15. Excellent deal, but you have to keep your receipt. That was about 3 weeks to a month ago, and my piercing is doing fine. No more lymph, no soreness or irritation, just a beautiful piercing.
All in all this piercing was really easy to heal. I followed the aftercare instructions, didn't play with it and drank lots of water, which I think probably helped the healing process. I think this is a gateway piercing, and now I'm preparing to get my next piercing done of course at NEXT!