Bad off-center lip Experience

At A Glance Author Genjuro Contact armagedddon@hotmail.com Artist Jayson Studio 13 B.C. Location Hollywood, on Melrose Ave.

About 3 months ago I decided that I needed more facial piercings. I already had a septum but I felt that could to easily be hid with a retainer, and that getting two off-center lip piercings would be a kind of commitment to my love for body modifications.

So one day I decided I had nothing to do and the time was right for me to finally get my lips pierced. So I called Jayson at 13 B.C. and make sure he was free, shaved my beard off (as Jayson recommended, he said the placement would be easier to do), ran by the bank, withdrew $160 from my account, and was on my way to Melrose.

When I got there Jayson and I spoke shortly about how Upright Citizens Brigade (our favorite show) was not going to be on for another season, but that BattleBots was cool.

Jayson assumed I wanted to get them done at 14-gauge, but I asked for 12. Than as he looked for labret studs in 12-gauge I told him I wanted to get them done with rings (my mistake). I decided 7/16" rings would be fine, and so did Jayson. The two Captive Bead Rings cost $20 each, and he only charged me for the labor of one piercing because I was a regular customer at 13 B.C., and so the total came to $70. So with everything ready we head into the back and he spent about 15 minutes making sure the dots he was drawing were even and everything. Than the procedure came, Jayson did a great job performing the piercing, needle went in the front of my lip and came out the back real smooth and painlessly the first time. On the second one I feel it was a bit more painful, I think it was because by that time my lip had started to swell up and become a bit more sensitive. After he had placed the rings in and cleaned my lip up a bit more I got up and looked at myself in the mirror. I love the look of a new piercing, how tight the skin is against the shiny surgical stainless steel rings made my eyes water with joy.

I walked to the front and thanked Jayson a second time, and I gave Jayson a $20 tip and smiled at the new customers walking in that raised their eyebrows to me as I left.

For the next month I did Sea Salt soaks twice a day, and every once and a while when I felt they needed to be cleaned I used Bactine to wipe the crusty stuff away. But, as I said earlier, getting them done with rings against Jayson's advice was a BIG mistake. I found even after a month the rings would move back and forth from the edge of my mouth to the center and constantly irritate the piercings. I was fed up with it all, and once a keloid formed I finally just went down to 13 B.C. and ordered a pair of 7/16" labret studs for $30 a piece (mistake #2). When they came in the next week I had Jayson replace the rings for the labret studs. That was a horrible day, because I ended up getting a parking ticket and I lost the bag with my 12-gauge CBR's in them. A week later I realized the labret studs were a tad to short, I should have ordered longer ones, but since buying those for $60 had made be broke for the time being I had no choice but to cope with it. A few days later I realized I had grown a cold sore on the back of my lip right where the labret disk sat. I ignored it and hoped it would go away and not bother me to much and went to sleep.

The next morning I woke up and found the right side of my lip was VERY swollen and had swallowed the labret disk with it. I made Asprin paste (ground up Asprin with a drop of water) and placed it on the back of my lip for the next three days. After the time I relized the asprin had done nothing but dissolve away the cold sore and heal it over with skin, I went to Jayson and asked for help. He told me the only way to get it out was by using a needle and poking a hole in the back of my lip and removing it that way. So we went to the back and he proceeded to stab me with that needle about 15 times until the hole was big enough for the labret disk to be removed. I had the option of putting a longer 12-gauge barbell in it until it was healed but I opted to just lose the piercing. He gave me some gauze and we both spoke a bit of the problems, most likely because I had started with rings, and than replacing those for labret studs that were to short.

For the rest of that day I sat at home and did Hot/Cold soaks to help blood circulation. The swelling went away within a few days and there was no real noticable scar. After another month I relized that I hated how the one off-center lip I still had looked all by itself, and since I decided I was not going to get my lip re-pierced I removed that one as well.

So as of now they are both closed up and did not leave any visable scar tissue. Most people will remind me how I wasted all that money on these piercings, but I disagree with them. I still remember the first day I had them done and how beautiful they looked than, and truthfully I think going through all that other stuff was more fun than just having them heal and not cause any trouble.

I would like to say that 13 B.C. is a great studio, please don't think that this was caused because of them. If you are in the Hollywood area and are looking for a place to go, I would highly recommend 13 B.C. on Melrose Ave., or Puncture on La Cieniga Street.