I'd been trying to think of one or more suitable lip piercings to get done, and making absolutely no progress, when my typical piercer (Tommy) suggested a vertical labret. I'd always loved the look of them, but didn't think it would suit me, so I never really considered it. I was reassured that it would look good on me, and after considering how everything else I'd had done by him suited me well, to the point that people often comment on the excellent placement of my piercings, that he was probably right.
At A Glance Author anonymous Contact anonymous@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist Tommy Studio Skibos Location Wyoming After a run around the shop asking everyone else what they thought of it, I decided to do it. I asked for an idea of the pain from this piercing, was told it felt like someone splitting your lip with a razor blade, took a few pills to help with possible swelling, and ran off to the bank on a "New Piercing Soon" high.
I went back to the shop with enough money to upgrade my lip, and waited for Tommy and my brother (apprentice piercer) to get everything situated and on its way. He marked my lip, I inspected it in the mirror, complete with OCD scrutiny, and decided it looked perfect.
As usual, I started to get a bit nervous as soon as I layed down on the chair. I start bitching about how its going to hurt, sometimes issuing death threats to Tommy, if he were to 'fuck it up', and then acting appauled when asked "Are you sure you want to do it?". After a minute or two of this, I calm down and everythings once again fine and I'm ready to go.
Tommy held my lip, told me to take a deep breath in, and pushed the needle through on the exhale.
HOLY FUCKING SHIT.
OUCH.
I'm not one to move during a piercing. I've never had a problem with flinching, not breathing, anything. This wasn't my first facial piercing, and I'd done well (with the exception of terrible language and wishing death and pain upon Tommy when he did some play piercings on my back. 36 needles and the worst I did was kick my feet a little and yell 'fuck'). During this piercing though, I stopped breathing for a good ten seconds and somehow managed to move myself farther down the table by about a foot. The insertion of the jewelry (a curved barbell for healing)wasn't particularly painful. The bleeding was minimal, and although it was still stinging pretty bad, I felt completely better once I looked at it in the mirror. Tommy gave me the standard "How To Care For It", which as usual is about as effective as passing that information on to a toaster or a shoe, and my brother lectured me for touching it. I showed it to a few people at the shop and went on my way.
I've always been the type of person who cares for a piercing exactly as I'm supposed to for about two days, then says 'fuck it' and doesn't give its fragile state much thought from then on. This has never been a problem for me. I've changed jewelry early, touched new piercings with dirty hands, all kinds of 'new piercing' sins... And never had even a minor problem. All of my piercings had healed quickly and beautifully. I thought my lip would be the same. Not so much. A few days after getting my piercing, I noticed a lump forming around the bottom hole, expected the worst and ran down to Skibos to see what the problem was. I was told "Don't touch it damn it, and clean it. Put a little Vitamin E oil on it and leave it the fuck alone." I listened, but didn't see much improvement. I went back down a few days later, Tommy looked at it and said the curved barbells position seemed to be irritating the piercing, switched it to a straight, and told me that I could probably attribute some healing problems to the fact that I'd stretched my septum, pierced and stretched my ears, and pierced both nostrils all within about a month of getting my lip done. He told me to not get anything else done for awhile, to take perfect care of my lip, and to take it out if it didn't look better within a week... I decided to not get anything else done for awhile, take perfect care of my lip, and completely avoid Tommy if it didn't look noticeably better. I AM A TERRIBLE PERSON AND NONE OF MY ACTIONS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED 'THE RIGHT THING TO DO.' EVER.
It didn't look better in a week, or in two weeks, and I was alright with that. I'd rather have something to be happy about stuck in my lip, complete with a fair-sized scar, than be without it. Luckily, my abundant scar tissue essentially went away around the third week. There's a very slight, raised ring now, but it's only noticeable if you're inches from it, and most people will find themselves getting punched in the mouth if they are inches from my face, so no worries.
I got a shorter barbell to account for the grow out, and haven't had any problems with the piercing since. This, paired with my smiley, makes eating a pretty difficult task. It took me a few weeks to figure out how to drink without spilling, and how to take bites of sandwiches and things of that nature without fucking myself up. I think it'd be safe to say some of my healing difficulties were due to me feeling compelled to eat gigantic french dips for days immediately after getting my piercing, as well....
Despite the problems and the pain, I love it and am completely happy with it. It hurt in a much sharper way and for longer than any of my other piercings, but how it looks completely makes up for that. My problems weren't typical for this piercing, could have easily been avoided, and completely unrelated to the skill of my piercer, so don't let them turn you off. They were a product of my stupidity, which I outlined pretty clearly for anyone looking to avoid making the same mistakes I did. Don't follow my lead, and you'll be golden. Ha.