My name is Ahnassi, and I am an androgynous autosexual. What is an androgyne, and why is this important? Well, an androgyne is someone who feels that they belong to neither gender. As an autosexual, I'm not straight, bisexual or gay - but that's another essay in and of itself. So why is this even important?
At A Glance Author Ahnassi Contact Ahnassi@bme.anon When It just happened Location Oxnard, California, USA I got tired of people wondering what I was, based on my jewelry and clothes. Some people think that an earring in your right ear means you're gay, or that multiple earrings in both ears means you're bisexual, or any other odd superstitions and "labels" that people have put so heavily on jewelry for the past several decades. I wanted to make some sort of a statement with my body - something that's not too common where I come from, and something no one knows how to interpret. So, I chose a labret.
On top of this meaning, there is a paragraph in Raven Kaldera & Tannin Schwartzstein's book, "The Urban Primitive" which goes into detail about the significance of a labret piercing. An excerpt says "..For either gender it suggests authority, experience, and status as an important member of one's tribe." (131). It isn't typically an ideal piercing for someone my age, but I have my reasons for believing that it's right. I think I'm an important member of my tribe. I bought a labret with a red and black pentagram, to show my experience as an occultist. Everything has meaning – nothing is coincidence.
A labret is a lower lip piercing, right in the middle, just above your chin. It's the kind of piercing that you can't help noticing on someone's face. I come from a rather small agricultural town – and a labret is not exactly a common sight around here. We have no piercing studios per se (unless you count the places that use guns for ear piercings, which are awful and unsanitary), so I've been piercing myself for a couple of years.
I have a piercing obsession – When I get the urge to pierce myself, I must find a way to do it. It's not exactly safe when I don't have the right needles, but for me, it's just how it has to be sometimes. I don't recommend piercing yourself unless you know a bit about what to use, how to use it, and how to clean it up afterwards – especially if you're interested in self oral piercing and self genital piercing. They both require a bit more care, and much more healing time.
When I go looking for piercing implements, I usually wander into the sewing room. I keep all sorts of needles, pins, and assorted sharp things in there. To do my labret, I chose a long pin (looked about 17/18 gauge) with a colored, ball head. Ice is another useful tool. There is nothing I recommend more for pain relief and numbing than ice. Use it before, use it after. It's good stuff, so I got myself a Ziploc bag full of ice, and – lastly – a lighter, and took it all into my bathroom.
Since I didn't have a sterile needle used specifically for piercing, I would have to sterilize the pin I chose. This is what the lighter is for. You can also sterilize a pin or needle by boiling (which is actually a better choice), but I was too lazy for that. I made sure the pin was well heated, and then wiped it down with a wet cotton pad. Now, it's ice time.
For me, applying ice is the most painful part. Ice BURNS, and if you have sensitive teeth, it's no fun to have it up against your two front teeth as I did, inside my mouth. Ice also has a tendency to give you an "ice cream headache," by constricting the blood vessels to your brain. After I spent a considerable amount of time with a piece of ice against the inside of my lip, I got out my pin, and began to stick it through the inside of my lip.
The first half feels and sounds amazing...As you break through the first layers of flesh and fat pain-free from the ice, and it's then that you find if or not you've struck a blood vessel. Realizing I was off-center and – more importantly – the numbness was wearing off, I pulled the pin out and reassessed the situation. It barely bled half a drop, which both disappointed and pleased me simultaneously – I love blood, I'm rather partial to the taste and feel of it, but I tend to freak out if I bleed too much.
I decided it was time to apply ice again, but this time to both sides. I bit off a chunk to rest between my lower teeth and lip, and held another piece against my skin on the outside, to numb both the entry and exit area for the pin. I started to shake, as I always do on my successful try, but it's not wise to be piercing yourself if you start to shake – you can miss your mark or get it in crooked. And that is a very uncomfortable situation to be in during the healing process.
Taking a deep breath, I began to push it in from the outside of my lip (so the colored pinhead, which is like a ball on conventional labrets, would be on the outside instead of the inside). I iced it up well enough so that it didn't hurt, and I made the final push through the second half of my lip, and it was through. It was uncomfortable pushing it all the way through, as the pin was SLIGHTLY tapered, but I got it in...And asked myself what to do now.
The pin was about two inches long in total length, so I had to reduce most of that. Especially the sharp tip – that wouldn't have been fun to have stabbing into the roof of my mouth. I had no wire cutters, so I got the next best thing – pliers. The needle nose pliers I use for jewelry crafting have a sharp edge to cut tiger tail, fishing line, and other strings one might use to make a bracelet/anklet or necklace. I have a heavy duty pair, so I brought those into the bathroom with me. This was a bit on the painful side, seeing as how if anything TOUCHED the pin it made me wince. I clamped it and squeezed, let go, and realized I had only bent the thing. I decided it was time for a photo op, and took a break for a picture.
After several minutes, I managed to get the thing down to a manageable size. Only one dilemma left – what do I use as a backing? I tried a few different ones (Like the traditional earring back, which did much more harm than good), and finally settled on a piece of rubber tubing. Relatively soft, and snug-fitting. I had no intention of losing this after all my hard work. It was painful, still, and I was afraid that my skin might close over the backing in my sleep (EEK – avoid that at all costs). So far so good.
This morning I went to Salzer's Music (An "alternative lifestyle" type store) to see if I could get a special backing for my labret, but apparently they don't come that way. So I bought the smallest gauge I could find (14), so that at the end of 8 weeks or so, I can replace this one with a higher quality.
I don't suggest anyone try this at home with anything less than a sterile needle and a nice 18 gauge labret. But I think self-piercing is a great thing, and everyone should experience it once in their life. It can really change your view on pain, and you learn a LOT about hygiene and how to take care of yourself. Good luck!