Post Finals Celebration

At A Glance Author Terry Contact hopeterry@hotmail.com Studio Zebra Location Berkeley, California

It was the Saturday after my last final for the semester, and I needed to celebrate. I thought that a tongue piercing would be the perfect "gift" for the occassion. I called up a friend and we drove to Berkeley and went to a place called Zebra on the infamous Telegraph Avenue (close to UC Berkeley). The last time I was there, my best bud had some tattoo work done on her back, and that turned out pretty good, so for some weird reason I thought they'd do a good job on my tongue as well.

We walked into the studio, and to my surprise - no wait. I talked to a lady in the "piercing section," and she showed me a selection of the jewelry I could choose from. I went with the ordinary metal 12ga barbell.

Okay, so I hand over the cash, and a guy brings me into a back room. He tells me to get on what looked like a dentist chair, and gets out his equipment. I was glad that he got them out of sealed bags, but I did see an ant waltzing around on the counter. Hmm...

I told him that I was petrified of needles, and he sort of ignored my comment. I then asked him if he used any breathing techniques and he chuckles a little and says no because a tongue piercing is quicker than an ear piercing. He goes on to say that its a little more painful than getting your ear pierced but it didn't hurt as much as giving birth. Hahahaha, his humor wasn't helping me any.

After he wiped my tongue with some yellowish-brown liquid, I told him that I was serious about needles and to not let me see it. Okay, so he takes a toothpick out and marks where he'll poke me. He clamps my tongue and literally throws a napkin on my lap. The clamp didn't hurt at all, and I didn't salivate all over myself.

Next he took out a big wooden stick. The next thing I know, I'm looking up at my friend who has the most painful expression on her face. I realize that the piercer guy wasn't remarking the spot he had marked earlier like I had thought, but was actually putting the needle through my tongue. I close my eyes and about two seconds later I feel the guy twisting the balls on.

I didn't feel any pain, but when I opened my eyes, they were a little teary. I guess the guy thought I was crying so he gave me a soda. When I stuck my tongue out at my friend she said that there was a little bit of blood which I wiped off with my unused "drool napkin."

Alright - so here's the aftermath.

day one - just that trickle of blood the minute after i got my tongue pierced. no swelling - i had noodles and vegetables that night.

day two - massive swelling, but i could still see a couple centimeters of the bar. no pain. i had steak for dinner - had to cut it up though.

day three - some swelling, no pain. i'm eating normal by now.

day four - no swelling, no pain - had mcdonalds.

day seven - had the barbell shortened.

I totally don't regret getting my tongue pierced. Its so fun to play with - but what sucks is that it gets stuck on my braces when I'm eating, and I have to manually remove the ball. Haha, yeh, laugh, I know its funny. The only thing I regret doing or not doing in this case, is ask the piercer to put the piercing further back - he didn't even ask me to approve his marking. But I'm guessing, he put the hole there because I have a short tongue...

As for my speech, its back to normal. I don't think the swelling affected my speech as much as the incredibly long barbell. That thing was annoying. Although I said the whole procedure and healing process was painless, I did experience a little discomfort in my tongue during the first couple mornings after I got it pierced when I moved my tongue around (especially when I yawned). But after a few swishes with water, the discomfort went away.

Oh, to care for it - no Listerine for me. I swished with warm salt water and gly-oxide after breakfast and dinner. I never sucked on ice, but I did drink cold beverages to keep the swelling down. and that plaque crap on my tongue went away after about two weeks. so now i have a pretty pink tongue with a tiny silver barbell in the middle of it.

PS. Does anyone know anything about the possibility of getting gum disease from having the tongue ring in?