CAUTION! This story is extremly graphic and may include descriptions of illegal / dangerous activities. DO NOT attempt anything described here. Everyone involved was specially trained so that these activities could be performed in a safe manner.

Funny how things work out sometimes… I’ve been stretching my labret ( lower lip ) piercing for some time now. I decided that I wanted it scalpel cut up to a much larger size. Fortunately I knew someone that could do this for me. ( Don’t bother asking who, I won’t give out their contact into ) I made the appointment for Friday night so I would have the weekend to heal. It’s been a long time since I got a new piercing, so I was very excited. I had a ton of nervous energy when I got to the shop. Mr. X ( as I’ll call him ) and I went back to get started. We discussed exactly what would be done. Then we got started. Mr. X marked a 0 ga. circle using the end of a taper. The mark was centered over the existing hole. Triangular forceps were applied. These allowed my lip to be pulled forward, and also served as a straightedge for the cut. As soon as I told him I was ready, Mr. X made a 5/16 in. horizontal cut.
I’d always heard that if you get cut with something extremely sharp, like a razor blade or scalpel, that it doesn’t really hurt. I can say that this is basically true. The cut was kind of an odd hot sensation immediately followed by the feeling of blood running over my chin and neck. The second part of the procedure was using an insertion taper to expand the hole to 0 ga. and insert the plug. I’ll be honest, the taper was really painful, but not moreso than what I expected. With one solid push the plug was in place. As soon as the plug was in, the bleeding stopped. It took a while to get the blood cleaned up, it had run into my hair.
I thanked Mr. X and headed home. I hadn’t taken any pain medication beforehand since it can thin the blood. When I got home I took some Ketoprofen ( AKA little green magic pills ) and thought about going to sleep. I had been watching TV for about an hour when I noticed that I was getting some bleeding inside my lip. I knew this was nothing abnormal. I packed some gauze behind the plug and applied a cold compress. Unfortunately this did not stop the bleeding. I decided that I had to go back and see Mr. X. I called to let him know what was happening and that I was on my way back. It’s pretty hard to talk on a cellphone with a mouth full of blood and gauze. By the time I left my bathroom looked like the scene of some violent crime. When I got back to the shop Mr. X. said that my lip hadn’t swollen up and there wasn’t enough pressure on the cut to stop the bleeding. He said that we could insert a 00 ga. ( slightly larger ) plug, which would put pressure on the edges of the cut. I knew exactly what the taper was going to feel like, and I was ready for it. With the larger plug in, the bleeding stopped almost immedately. I went home again confident that there was enough pressure now to keep the cut from bleeding.
The process started at about 8:30 PM and it was now about midnight. I couldn’t really fall asleep, so from 12 until about 3:30 AM I just dozed in and out. Somewhere between 3:30 and 4 I noticed that blood had started oozing again. I knew this wasn’t a good sign. Gauze pack and cold compress didn’t do the job. By 5:30 AM I resigned myself to the fact that the bleeding would not stop and that the plug had to be removed, and the hole stitched up.

Stay tuned for part 2… Fun at the ER.

Tags: graphic, pain, piercing