Tell me about your lip piercing experience

December 22, 2003 8:29 PM

I'm thinking about getting a piercing. Lower lip, middle of the right side, to be exact. I've googled and found general information on the procedure, but I'd like to ask anyone who's had this done to help me out - I suppose what I'm looking for here is not so much knowledge as experience. (more inside)

How much did it cost you?
How long and how much did it hurt?
Will it much affect my ability to speak and for how long (I answer phones at work)?
If I decide ten weeks down the road that I don't like it, will it scar when I take it out?
What reactions have you gotten from co-workers and bosses?

posted by ArsncHeart to clothing, beauty, & fashion (8 comments total)

I had the exact same piercing a couple of years ago.

Cost: approximately 50 bucks, jewelry included.
Pain: not much beyond the first few hours after the piercing.
Effects: your lip will swell, causing you to be the object of ridicule for a day. I didn't have any other major speech problems after that, but you will be very conscious of it for the first couple of months or so.
Scar: I took it out after 6 months, and I still have the scar 2 years later.
Reaction: being a student at a large state school, I just got compliments.

The piercing was painless, but you will have to go in a few days (weeks?) later to get the jewelry tightened, since it was put in loose to allow for the swelling. This is where I had problems, and I was never happy with the how loose the ring was after. And since it was loose, I had issues with food bits and some slight lisping. It also did occasionally rub against my tooth, and I was paranoid about further damage, so I decided to take it out.
posted by lychee at 8:48 PM on December 22, 2003

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=lip+piercing+experiences

Also try, lip+piercing+(cost or (hurt or pain) or speak or reactions).
posted by mischief at 9:07 PM on December 22, 2003

I have one in the middle of my bottom lip, was $60 including jewelry, slight amount of pain but mostly just hot, swelled for a few days but went down quickly. From what I understand it's pretty much one of the least painful piercings to get. I haven't taken mine out so I don't know about scarring, and I didn't have any problems speaking after the first night. Applying lip balm, that was a problem.
posted by Andrea at 9:41 PM on December 22, 2003

Is the piercing going to be on the same side on which you answer the phone? I was a quality monitor in a call-center in a former life, and we would occasionally have reps who we could tell had lip-piercing, because the jewelry hit against the mic, making a click or thwack noise.
posted by anastasiav at 12:08 AM on December 23, 2003

My dentist says he sees a lot of patients with scraped tooth enamel as a result of their piercings. He doesn't like 'em.
posted by Tacodog at 12:08 AM on December 23, 2003

Kissing someone with one, *that*'s a problem. Had a girlfriend who had one put in. We broke up shortly thereafter...
posted by SpecialK at 3:25 AM on December 23, 2003

I had the same piercing done about six or seven years ago. It didn't hurt at all when it was done, and didn't hurt very badly as it healed either. I went straight from the piercing shop to a friend's opera recital, and got some odd looks from the other opera goers, but I don't recall experiencing any major swelling either.

At the time I worked for a uniform customization and distribution shop as some sort of client relations/computer person, and nobody cared too much at all. One guy actually seemed to like it a little too much, and made me very uncomfortable as he sidled up next to me at every opportunity to tell me that piercings really drove him wild.

Unfortunately I had two big problems with the piercing. One, eating was kind of a pain, and food would get stuck around the base of the piercing (I kept it clean, but I'm talking about between the time I chewed and the time I made it to the bathroom to rinse) and would really really gross me out. Two, the guy who did the piercing was a novice, and rather than going straight back through my lip, he went in the front and out the top, and he used a much larger ring than I thought necessary, and made it look like I had a damn door knocker in my face. (A friend was getting that little triangular middle part of her ear pierced at the same time. After he put the needle through he stopped and asked her if she "had anything" because he had pricked his finger with her needle. Oy.) So I ended up taking it out after about two weeks.

No scar at all. No problems talking either. It's nothing compared to the mealy mouthed aftermath of a tongue piercing.

So then in summation, make sure you have a very reputable piercer, of course. You probably won't have any problems with it, provided you do your after care correctly, etc. And as long as your job seems cool with these things, you probably won't get tossed out onto the street. Piercings are not as wild and crazy now as they used to be. I've had my nose pierced for two years now, and never even taken it out for a job interview. Go for it.

(Oh and I haven't had a problem with being on the receiving end of a smooch from a pierced lip, either. I'm thinking there were compatability issues beyond just body jewelry for SpecK. ;))

(And mischief, sometimes advice of this sort from a community you know is preferable to that from a community you don't know. But if you're looking for additional input, ArsncHeart, I really like the forum at tribalectic.com. They are surprisingly kind and patient with questions.)
posted by jennyb at 6:58 AM on December 23, 2003

Thanks, you guys. Your stories and advice, combined with those of a couple friends who've had piercings done, have strengthened my resolve to have this done. I'm excited about it - I just wish I had tomorrow off so that I could get it done tonight and talk properly at work on Monday.

jennyb - That link is a great resource and I'm glad you posted it.
posted by ArsncHeart at 10:27 AM on December 23, 2003