For about a month or two, I've wanted to get my lip pierced. I already have my left eyebrow, and had my tongue at one point (I took it out) but that just wasn't enough for me. I looked into the piercing, procedure, and aftercare for a few weeks, and after a month of nagging my mom to let me get the piercing and to get a permission form notarized, she finally agreed to take me a week and a half before school started.
At A Glance Author Ashley Contact Ashley@bme.anon When A month ago Artist some guy Studio Atomic Tattoos Location Largo, Florida So on July 29th, my mom drove me out to Atomic Tattoos in Largo, Florida. In the car on the ride there, I was really excited and bouncy. I wasn't nervous at all. When we pulled in, I started to get a bit worried, but not too much. I'd been to the studio before, and it's a very clean one with really nice people. I highly recommend going there or to one of their other studio locations if you live in or around Tampa Bay.
Anyways, me and my mom went in and I told the piercer I wanted to get my lip pierced. My mom gave him the notarized paper, and he told us to come back into the piercing room. I looked around a bit, and noticed how clean the studio looked. I just couldn't get over it, and it made me feel much more comfortable. My piercer was very attractive, so at least I had something else to concentrate on than the pain. :P
I sat in the chair they had, and he made me rinse my mouth with mouthwash or something for about 30 seconds. After that, he cleaned around where the piercing would be, and took a marker and marked on my lip. I told him the location of the mark was fine, and so he opened all the packages (needle, ring, etc). He put a clamp on my lip and then counted "one..two.." and on three, he stuck the needle through. It wasn't too painful, it was actually less painful then what I had expected. He then put the ring in and dropped the bead that was supposed to go in it, which made me kind of squirmish. But it landed in my lap, so he just picked it back up and had no problem putting it in the second time. The ring itself was pretty big, but that's how it has to be done to leave room for it to swell and such. I didn't care, it looked great and hardly hurt, I was very satisfied. After the piercing was done, he cleaned around it again. Then we paid for it, tipped him, and left the studio. On th e car ride home, I kept licking around my lip and stuff, I couldn't help it, it felt really cool. I eventually got over it though. I cleaned it about 3 times a day and rinsed my mouth with salt water, and I didn't get too much crusty stuff around it. It swelled a little bit, but not too much (which I was really pleased with).
A lot of people ask me about my piercings and my hair (which is pink) but I don't care. I like the attention, it's pretty funny sometimes. A lady in the drug store kept staring at me as I walked by her and her kids, which made me kind of uncomfortable. But for the most part it's people asking if it hurt or something, so yeah, I don't really mind it.
Seeing as I don't live with my dad, I decided it would be safest not to mention a word about the piercing to him. Back when I told him I got my eyebrow pierced, he flipped out. When I mentioned the fact that I dyed my hair, he was disappointed. Then I added "its um..pink" and he wouldn't talk to me for a good week or two. I'm scared to even think about what he'd say about this.
Its now 3 weeks later, and I'm going to change the jewelry to a smaller ring next week when I get the money to, since I looked into it and it says it takes 6-8 weeks to heal, but the jewelry can be changed after 3 weeks (because the swelling goes down, I suppose). It looks great and is totally worth it. As I said before, I recommend going to this studio if you live in the Tampa Bay Area. You can check out their website at www.atomictattoos.com
My tips for having a healthy lip piercing:
1) As always, make sure you check into the piercer/studio. Make sure it's a clean studio with sterilized needles and such, and make sure your piercer is experienced/licensed.
2) Don't make the piercer mad, they're the one putting a hole in your face ;)
3) Breathe and don't be too fidgity, and don't stick your tongue in front of your teeth! You might mess up the piercing or get your tongue and lip pierced together
4) Clean it about 3 times daily (wash around the piercing, use a q-tip if necessary to pick off the crusty stuff). Swish your mouth with warm salt water after eating, smoking, brushing your teeth, or drinking anything besides water.
5) Don't touch or play with your piercing unless you're changing the ring or cleaning it. Be sure to wash your hands before handling it. Don't try to move it around while it's dry, i think it tends to tear the skin a bit.
6) This one sucks, but don't kiss anyone or do anything too much with your mouth for a few weeks, you have an open wound that can easily be infected.
Have fun, if you decide to get your lip pierced, I hope your experience was as fun as mine. :)