I had wanted another facial piercing, but something that wasn't too common. I already have my septum and nostril pierced, and wanted something subtle to compliment them. So I decided on a medusa piercing, (as I really like maintaining a certain balance with facial piercings).
At A Glance Author anonymouse Contact anonymouse@bme.anon When A week ago Artist jorge Location xalapa, veracruz Being new to Xalapa, Veracruz,(Mexico) I didn't really know where piercing studios were, but found one walking a few days before where I got another cartilage piercing. It was clean, professional, and overall "chido." So I decided a few days later to go ahead and get my medusa piercing.
I chose a diamond stud, and the piercer sterilized the jewelry and got a needle ready. A few minutes later I was pierced. It didn't hurt nearly as much as I thought it would, far less than even my nostril piercing. I looked in the mirror and was really happy with the placement. The only problem was that the stud (or piece) that I was pierced with was kind of short and the piercer suggested that if the swelling didn't go down in a few days that I come back to change the jewelry for something longer.
I was pretty okay with the piercing, it was done right, but my lips swelled up really bad a few minutes after I left the studio, and it was kind of awkward. I went to go get an ice cream, in hopes that this would help the swelling and calm me down, and right away the ice cream vendor asked "did you just get that done?" I instantly thought twice about it - what if my lips never returned to their normal shape and size? The next day I woke up and my lips (rather my top lip) was even bigger than it first was when I got pierced. So the second night I had the piercing I tried to take it out, in my mind the money spent was not worth swollen lips and a noticeable scar on my face.
I tried really hard to unscrew the piercing, and noticed that when I wasn't tugging on it, it would dig deep into the hole and make it bigger rather than sit on top of the hole.
Finally, I got the screw to come out and was relieved to be able to rub my lips together properly.
I decided to take it out for the time being – the piercing looked infected, and there was a lot of yellow fluid coming out of it. I put in an old nostril stud in (I do not recommend this) which was a lot longer than the original stud I got pierced with, over night just in case I decided I wanted to keep the piercing in the morning.
The next morning I was relieved to see that my lips had returned back to normal, and that there was minor scar tissue. I decided to take it out though, and wait until the mess cleared up before I attempted to get it re-pierced with an appropriately sized stud.
I should have probably done this to begin with, ask your piercer how many times they have done the piercing you are getting – my piercer seemed to know what he was doing, and did a quick and efficient job, but had he been more experienced he would have probably noticed that I needed a substantially longer stud. Another tip, is that if you are getting a piercing done in Mexico, please please go to a studio, and do not get pierced on the street (e.g. El Chopo in DF, El Callejon del Diamante in Xalapa, etc.) It may seem tempting to pay so little, but the cleanliness of the needles cannot be guaranteed. Although my medusa piercing was not perfect, I had the chance to see that the needle used was brand new and that everything was sterilized, and if I did have any major problems, I could go back to the place to see what was up. (And in case you are wondering, I paid $25 US dollars for the piercing).
Even though I had trouble with mine right away, I would recommend this piercing to most people. It doesn't hurt much (relative to other piercings) and is really classy. However, I do suggest going for a longer stud (even if it seems TOO long, it's probably not, and is a lot more comfortable than one that is too tight). At first I regretted taking out my piercing, as I really liked how it looked, but the pain and discomfort was definitely not worth it. Now I just have an awkward looking bump above my top lip that kind of looks like a popped pimple.. (not super attractive, but better than the former option), but I will definitely get it re-pierced.
(Note - smokers! it's best to not smoke while your piercing is healing, I found this hard to do as I'm an addict, but keep that in mind with any oral piercings.)