Another tongue pierce

At A Glance Author BMGecko Contact BMGecko@bme.anon Artist Rock Studio Rock's Dermagraphix (Tattooing and Piercing) Location Alamogordo, New Mexico USA

Just yesterday, I decided I wanted to get my tongue pierced. I'd had it done twice before, but due to different reasons, I didn't get to keep them in. Being in the military, I was forced to take it out one of the times. Thinking I could wear a clear plastic ball in it didn't work either. The coldness of a soda on a hot summer's day made the plastic shatter! What's past is preface, so onward!

I called Rock's at about 5:30 PM and asked if they had a spot where I could come in and get my tongue done. They had a spot open at 8PM. Just enough time to get some dinner, and brush and floss! After setting the appointment, Kat (Rock's wife) made sure to tell me how much the total cost would be, and got my name and phone number.

I made it to the studio with a few minutes to spare. There was a man in back getting a tattoo. A woman I surmised to be his wife was in back with him. Kat, a younger fella and I made small talk in the waiting area for a while waiting for Rock to get to a good stopping place on the tattoo.

Once the proper stopping place was found, Rock, the "tattooee" and his wife all took a break. After a few minutes, Rock went back into the back to clean and sterilize. I didn't really watch him do it, as I'd gotten three piercings there before, and there were no problems before so I can say I fully trusted Rock with my piercing. After Rock had gotten done with some of the preliminaries, he asked me to come in back, and gave me a cup of mouthwash, and directions on how much of it, and in what way he wanted me to clean my mouth out. He also made a joke off the cuff (as he always does!) to lighten the mood.

After rinsing out, I came back to the spot where he does his work and sat down. He examined my tongue top and bottom, then did it again that time after his wife turned the lights out. When the lights went out, he used a small light (covered with clear plastic wrap) to look at my tongue. He'd done it before with another piercing, and since I'd not heard of it being done by others, I figured it was just something he did which maybe worked, or maybe didn't. He said how it made it easier to see if there were veins and such that were where he wanted to place it, that (if pierced) could lead to things from facial paralysis to a lifelong speech impediment. He asked if it was allright if the young man that was in the waiting area could watch. I had no problems and said yes. The young man stayed about 6 feet away the whole time, and didn't get involved in the procedure one iota. (Figured I'd go over that before I related the pierce itself)

All that out of the way, he marked off my tongue, (and then commented that it looked like my tongue had been pierced before)put the forceps on my tongue and placed them (pretty gently, it felt like he put them just on each side just snug enough to stay there). As we were almost ready to go, Rock mentioned to the young man that we'd spent time like this before, him the piercer, and me the piercee. I guess Rock knew my tolerance for most piercings isn't too bad (at least I don't flinch!) so he asked me to take a deep breath through my mouth and exhale through my nose. During the first exhale, he went ahead and pierced me! He didn't mention a "three-count", and I didn't mind. He went ahead and put the jewelry in, and I didn't really feel a thing. He mentioned to the young man that he didn't count to three since he didn't want to make me nervous. After I got up, I said to Rock, "Thank God you didn't go all the way to three, I might've gotten bored!". He laughed and then went over how he wanted me to do the post pierce rinse.

I went into the bathroom, swished the solution in my mouth, and when I spit it into the sick, I was surprised at what I saw. All I saw was the bluish solution, and no blood! The two times before my tongue had been pierced it had bled for a litte while. Well, a pleasant surprise, it didn't this time, which I guess I can attribute to the "flashlight trick". After doing the post-pierce rinse we went over how he wanted the healing to go, and what I should use. In addition to the printed aftercare sheet, he hand wrote additions onto the sheet. Oh, almost forgot, he went into what sort of diet I should follow in the three days afterward. He asked for a liquid diet to be maintained, but asked that if I couldn't do that to stay away wholly from certain kinds of foods. His phone number where he could be gotten in touch with anytime was also on the sheet. And as always, printed on the sheet, it said, "The only stupid question is the question that doesn't get asked!".

Though I didn't ask a thing about cleanliness, spore-testing, 'claving, or any of that I can say that I just got a piercing that in one day seems better off than the twice I'd gotten my tongue done before. Wish me luck that I ain't forced to take this one out!