I have gone through tongue, eyebrow, and septum piercings, but I have never experienced a pain quite like my monroe. My best friend ChrisTea and I decided to both get them done the day after my high school graduation (June 27th). We called around the studios in Hamilton and decided that Wylde would be the best bet, since we had both been pierced there before and trusted them very much.
At A Glance Author Angi Contact Angi@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Matt Studio Wylde Tattoo Location Hamilton, ON, Canada When we walked into Wylde I was beyond excited because I have admired this piercing for a very long time. Matt was a new piercer to Wylde, so it was very nice to meet him. ChrisTea and I signed the customary sheets and sat down in the waiting area.
ChrisTea was called back first so I was left to wait and wonder what I was getting myself into. It seemed like forever, but finally ChrisTea came back with a beautiful new piercing. It totally set my mind at ease when I saw it on her. It looked so lovely. She told me it hurt, but I knew it was going to hurt a bit, I mean someone is jabbing a sharp object through your lip. Next was my turn...
Matt called me back and asked me to sit in his chair. I had a seat and he asked me where I wanted the monroe placed. I told him the right side and he marked where he thought would be the best placement. I looked in the mirror and it was perfect. I sat back down in the chair while he changed his gloves and got the clamps ready. He chatted with me about some other piercings he had performed that day and about my piercings. He made me feel quite comfortable.
Finally he put the clamp on my lip, which was painless. The clamp was nothing. Now we get to the piercing. Matt told me to take a deep breath and exhale. When I exhaled he pierced. Most people will say septum is the most painful piercing. I would say Monroe. It hurt more than I could ever imagine. The pain was prolonged while he put in the jewelry. It was a constant feeling of someone cutting my lip in half. After a good 2 or 3 minutes the pain subsided. The jewelry was finally in, and I was sipping some water while Matt cleaned the blood off of my lip. He told me to try and stand up, and if I felt dizzy he could sit me back down. I was fine, so ChrisTea and I walked out of Wylde with some pretty new Monroe's.
Day one was very good. There was minimal swelling and eventually there was no more pain. Day two was scary. The jewelry that Matt had put in was not big enough for my lip. The swelling was so bad, that the back of the jewelry was indented in my lip. I thought that was normal, so I left it and cleaned it as normal and tried not to worry myself. Day three was the same, the jewelry was still indented on the inside of my lip, but it was getting better. Day four it took a turn for the worse.
I woke up with the backing of my jewelry almost completely grown into my lip, and the ball on the front halfway into my skin. I was very freaked out, but it was Sunday so Wylde was not open. I went to the store and bought a longer labret to put in it. When I got home and tried to remove the initial jewelry I had a lot of problems. My lip was so swelled that I couldn't grab hold of the backing. I had to get my mother (who absolutely hates my piercings) to get it out for me. That was even more painful than the piercing. After she got it out, I saw this disgusting whole in my face the size of a labret ball. Thankfully, the ball hadn't gone right through my skin so it would heal back to normal. The longer labret I had bought still was not long enough for my enormous lip, so I had to put one of my tongue rings in it.
I still have the tongue ring in it which was very uncomfortable, but now I have gotten used to it. For some reason normal labret jewelry will not fit in this piercing. Hopefully I will be able to find something long enough because having a ball on the inside of my lip is irritating my teeth and gums.
I would recommend this piercing even though it has caused me a lot of pain. Anyone who is thinking of getting it done: Make sure the jewelry you are given is long enough for swelling, because you DO NOT want to go through what I did. I am still very happy I got it done! It is so beautiful. Good Luck!