Chris and I wanted to get tattooed but the outcome wasn't looking good. We called a few reputable shops and none of them had any openings so we decided to go to Anchor's Tattoo in Burlington and see if we could fit in somewhere. We couldn't, so I decided to get a piercing or two. I decided on my cheeks.
At A Glance Author San Contact San@bme.anon IAM BlueStar When A month ago Artist Mike Studio Anchor's Tattoo Location Burlington, ON
I had my cheeks pierced when I was 18 but due to a horseback riding accident, I got thrown into a jump and broke my jaw and chin and had to remove the piercings for x-rays. It was excruciating getting them out and I didn't even try to get them back in because opening my mouth was agony and I knew I'd need surgery. Having a wired shut jaw and oral piercings don't go together well. I did keep my labret piercing though.So I decided I wanted to get my cheeks pierced again and Mike went to set up while I went to find an ATM. The one at the closest store was out of commission so I had to go to an actual bank, which was just across the street. Mike set up, we went outside and had a smoke and went inside. Mike got his gloves and mask on and I rinsed with yellow Listerine for a minute and spat it out. The stuff is rancid and it made my eyes water. Chris had his camera out and was documenting the procedure, as usual.
Mike cleaned off my cheeks with, I believe, iodine, and Chris and him teased me about my rosey cheeks. After the marking I looked in the mirror and said that I didn't have rosey cheeks, I looked like I had jaundice.
First we marked, and re-marked, and then re-marked again. The marks were over the original scars from the first attempt. I looked in the mirror, they looked fine, we scrutinized, re-marked them, and then scrutinized and after a little bit, settled on a good location. The jewellery we were using were two 14ga internally threaded 5/8" barbells, since we didn't have any labret studs long enough. When I had the piercings originally done when I was 18 (not done by Mike) we used 14ga externally threaded 5/8" barbells. I would be pierced with 13ga needles, which makes follow through a lot nicer.
We started on my left cheek. Mike clamped me, told me to take a deep breath in, and exhale, and there was a sharp pinch and I was pierced from the outside in. (I forgot to mention throughout the process he changed his gloves several times and I was marked with a toothpick dipped in genitian violet.) The barbell was followed through with no pain and the bead was screwed on and tightened.
Now for the next side. I opened my mouth wide, the same procedure. The pain was a bit pinchier this time, but the jewellery was followed through quickly. The bead took a couple extra seconds to get on and it was tightened and I had pierced cheeks. I smiled and Chris took a picture. I rinsed with warm water and spat into a cup for the bit of blood. Mike cleaned the little bit of blood off of my left cheek, the only one that bled, and Chris and I were on our way. We sat and chatted for a while and I had another smoke (and rinsed afterwards). I was happy with my new cheek piercings and they hadn't even started swelling yet.
We went out to eat afterwards at a nice restaurant and I had no problem with the piercings at all. They didn't touch my teeth, I didn't bite them. There was no real pain or anything. I was eating nachos later that night and had no problems either. The next day there was minimal swelling. I picked up some sea salt and mixed that with boiling water in a water bottle and used that to rinse after smoking, eating and just whenever my mouth felt unclean.
After a few days I swelled a bit more. I didn't take anything for it because it wasn't that bad. Mike said he had a lot of problems with his cheek piercings, even having 1 ¼" bars in were too short for him. I guess they work with some people. Some others say they have a lot of leakage and bad scarring, but mine have been good so far. I've had them for a little over a month and there is no swelling, no pain, I don't bite them and I clean them regularly in the shower with unscented antibacterial soap and rinse my mouth with salt water occasionally. I did lose a bead once, and that was pretty hard to screw back on, it was inside my mouth, but I got it. My mom did offer to help, but I declined.
I'm happy with my cheek piercings, and I'd definitely go back to Mike (I've been going to him for years, and he moved out of the province for a while, I was devastated) and Anchor's Tattoo. They've done a couple of tattoos on Chris (check him out on IAM, he's memento_mori, I'm BlueStar) and they seem like a good shop that does solid work and I'd recommend them for anyone in the area to drop in, check them out and get work done. Mike's a great piercer, he follows sterile technique and does a great job, so go get pierced by him!