Well it’s been quite a while since I posted on here. To be honest things haven’t been very good with my health but I’ve had some free time today and I thought I’d get a post up. I’ve had some more work done my arm tattoo but I thought I’d write about my most recent piercing, my medusa piercing.
Sometimes called the philtrum, the medusa piercing is done just above your top lip in between the ridges. This is actually your philtrum.
Why did I have it done?
Well I’d been considering it for a while. When I had my septum done I was considering this one but wasn’t sure and because it had been abut 16 years since I last had a facial piercing I thought that the septum piercing was probably the most sensible considering scaring and being able to hide it.
I’d done the usual research online, following conversations on groups on facebook and looking at images. I even downloaded one of those apps where you can superimpose piercings on the photos to see what it would look like. I was pretty much convinced but I needed a bit of a kick.
I knew it was going to hurt, I was completely prepared for that but I just needed someone to give me a nudge in that direction. That opportunity came when my friend said that she wanted to get her nose pierced. Of course as the kind and supportive friend that I am, I offered to go along with her and then the lightbulb moment happened when I thought that if she was going, I would get my lip medusa piercing too. The date was set, we were going into Sheffield for a day drinking session on Good Friday and there was a really reputable piercing studio close to where we were meeting. It was on!
The Experience
We were meeting for drinks and lunch at 12pm so my and my friend decided to meet at 11am to go and get the procedures done. We were joined with two other friends, so moral support was overflowing. Medusa piercing, I was coming to get you.
We arrived at the studio, I felt like I was probably going to pass out. I’d picked up some sweets at the train station 20 mins before and swallowed them as fast as I could and had an energy drink. I’m well aware that no decent piercer will do so to someone with an empty stomach due to fear of fainting. We got to the studio and my friend was asked if she’d eaten and she said no. Tut tut!My friend filled in her form, picked her jewellery, paid up and then I did the same. What I’d eaten didn’t constitute as a sufficient meal too so we were sent off to Taco Bell to indulge in some food. about 20 minutes later we arrived back in the studio smelling like a Mexican fest.
We arrived back at the studio. I was as nervous as it gets. It’s completely normal feelings for me. I can’t comment on others. My friend went in first. I just paced around the waiting area with my two friends watching me. I was sweating, making jokes and trying to take my mind of the impending situation. My heart was racing. in what seemed like 2 minutes, my friend appeared from behind the curtain sporting her new blinged nose. It look great. Her eyes hadn’t even ran!
A few minutes passed and then it was my turn. Deep breathes…..
I walked behind the curtain and was greeted by this lovely girl (I say girl because I think lady sounds old). She asked me to sit on the bed while she got things ready. I could see as the sterile equipment and bits and bobs laid out. I was completely reassured that I was in safe hands. She went through what was going to happen and describe that because of where it was, it would more than likely feel like a sharp pinch and then it would be over and done with. I was fine with it. On the surface I probably looked quite cool but in my head I was screaming and crying. I get really anxious with situations that I don’t 100% know what to expect. Piercings are one of these. I know this isn’t probably that uncommon but nevertheless I was bricking it! Out came the pen. She marked up my lip and asked me to check if I was happy with its placement by looking in the mirror. It looked fine to me. I’m not sure I was entirely paying attention to where it was. I was too distracted with what was about to happen. Pretty stupid. She probably could have been putting it through my cheek and I probably wouldn’t have noticed.
I sat back down on the bed and she brought the clamp to put on my lip. She kept lifting my lip up to see where my web (the bit that attaches your lip to your gums) was and she said that due to my web being off centre that she would be able to put it pretty central but that if the back was slightly off centre the front would be in the centre. Sounded pretty reasonable. I was saying yes while she had my lip in a clamp. Not sure that’s what it sounded like but she got it. Then came the needle. Oh crap! It was going to happen. No backing out now. “Take a deep breath for me”. When I had my septum done I noticed I kept holding my breath. That is not good. breathing keeps you conscious so I was paying a lot of attention on just breathing.
1,2,3 it was done. The needle was through. She then threaded the bar through and went to put the purple gem on it. She was really struggling. My lip was in her fingers and she was attempting to put the top on for what felt like 24 hours. I could tell something wasn’t right. Oh god! Why don’t my piercings go right. Flash backs to when I had my septum done. She called out to the girl on the reception to come through and she questioned whether she had given her the right top for this bar. Meanwhile I’m very aware that I’m breathing like a wrong ‘en. She went out and checked and brought some others in. It was the wrong size. It wasn’t the right one. She packed my lip with cotton wool to make sure that the bar didn’t fall out. I’m sat there with my lip packed out. I must have looked like a right idiot. She sterilised the new top and proceeded to put it on my bar. It went on straight away. Crisis averted!!! I’ve never been more relieved.
All the blood starting flowing normally, my heart slowed down and I walked out from behind the curtain. My friends were sat their looking concerned. They had thought I’d passed out of something due to what seemed to be an emergency happened when the girl on the reception was called round the back.
It was done. I had my medusa piercing. Yay! Mission accomplished. I was told to avoid alcohol, spicy food and an endless list of other things. I was given aftercare instructions and we went on out way for a fun day.
How is it now?
It’s about 4 months since I had it pierced. It’s only got angry once or twice and generally that’s been because I’ve knocked it. I’ve been very good at not touching it. I made sure I swilled my mouth with water after every meal and used no alcohol mouth wash twice a day when brushing my teeth. It does seem to go a bit tender if I drink beer but it is one of the things they warn about not doing as beer has yeast in it. If I wanted a beer than much I would jut drink it using a straw. I know I shouldn’t have gone on an all day drink session straight after but it didn’t affect it that much. I still ate I just ended up with a swollen lip for a couple of days. It looked like I’d had fillers injected. Not a fan of the trout pout on me as I have a short top lip so I was constantly having to lick my teeth. Apart from what I’ve noted already it’s been pretty smooth sailing. I did have my concerns beforehand as I’ve never had a piercing that had internal and external healing to take place.
And here’s what it looked like a week after I had it done.
Aftercare Advice
- Don’t touch it! – as much as you’ll probably want to play with it, DON’T. Your fingers are quite frankly gross. If you need to touch it, make sure your hands are clean.
- Give it a rinse when in the shower with water directly from the shower head. Use your tongue to push it slightly from the back to allow water to get behind the head of it.
- Gently brush the back of the piercing with your toothbrush when cleaning your teeth. This will stop a build up of food and stuff on the back of it.
- Use mouthwash with no alcohol after you’ve brushed your teeth. I tend to put a little pressure on the front of it so it moves away from the inside of my lip so that the mouthwash can get between the back of the bar and my lip.
- Only if it flares up use a sea salt wash. I only did a couple of times during healing.
XOXOXO