Well my story begins with a lazy Sunday afternoon on the Internet. I was chatting with a friend and he was asking if I had any tattoos or piercings. I told him that I had three tattoos and that my ears had been pierced 5 times each, plus the cartilage on both ears. He went on to tell me that he had recently went with his friend to get her tongue pierced. "OUCH!" was my first reaction. (haha) But he continued on to say that it hadn't hurt her a bit. Of course I was skeptical and didn't really believe him, but after I got to thinking about how lovely my tongue would look with a piercing, I began researching the topic (thanks mostly to BME for all of the awesome experiences posted!) Well after about a day of reading and researching, I decided I was going to do it. I went to work and told my friend that she was coming with me to get pierced! She was excited about the idea and decided that she would have her navel pierced while we were there.
At A Glance Author Wildcatgirl Contact Wildcatgirl@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Jake Antos Studio Electric Superstitions-Kustom Tattoos Location Berkley, Michigan I was extremely excited, but also a nervous wreck! We made the appointment for that Friday, so I had about four days to get myself totally pumped up. I read somewhere along the lines of 500 experiences here on BME and of course got nervous when I read the occasional story about how much the needle hurt. But I was determined at this point, and there was no way I was going to back out.
Well that was quite possibly the longest week of my life, but Friday arrived (which I began to refer to as "The Day My Tongue Will Fall Off"...ha!) and we were ready for action. I had my "last supper" at Burger King, a nice cheeseburger and some French fries, gave it some time to digest, then picked up my friend from work at 12:45 so we could head out for our one o'clock appointment.
We got to ES in what seemed like record time and walking in, I thought I might throw up due to my nervousness, but I made it inside without losing my lunch. (hooray!) We told the girl at the desk what we were there for, and she had my friend pick out her navel ring and told us to sit and wait for a few minutes while our piercer (Jake) prepared. I sat there getting more and more nervous until he finally came out to meet us and then asked, "Who's first?". We had determined days ago that I would go first so I wouldn't be able to chicken out, and he took us back to the piercing room.
The room (as it should be) was very tidy and clean. There was a chair, and a table like the ones in doctor's offices covered in paper, also a sink and lots of cool décor mixed in with shelves full of gifts that he explained he had received from some of his "regulars". I took this as a good sign. Also, our friend had her nipples pierced by him the week before and absolutely raved about what a good piercer he is.
Anyhoo, he asked if I had any questions and I said, "Okay...how bad is this going to hurt?" and he said. "Relax, it's not going to hurt at all..." and went into explaining the procedure and also talked about his (very numerous) piercings and said that his tongue is the only one that he didn't even feel. He had me fill out the usual paperwork basically saying, "If I die, I won't blame you". And then had me rinse with some nice tasting minty mouthwash for 30 seconds. After I spit it out, he had me stick out my tongue, then flip it up so he could check it out, then he opened his sterile equipment (they even have their clamps in sterile packages) and again asked me to stick out my tongue. He dried it off with a cotton gauze square, applied the clamps (which did not hurt at ALL) and then put a cork under my tongue and told me to take some deep breaths. I was completely freaking out at this point, but did not show it. I had my eyes TIGHTLY shut and was holding my friend's hand with a death grip...heehee. Then Jake said, "take a deep breath in....and let it out" and he pushed the needle right through, attached the barbell and said, "Ok, you're done!" all within 5 seconds time! It didn't hurt in the least, all I felt was some pressure, like him pushing on it, but that was it!! It literally took LESS than a second for him to push the needle through. I put my tongue back in my mouth (which wasn't at all awkward) and was SO pumped that I had actually done it! He said, "ok honey, it's bleeding just a bit, it's ok, it's totally normal..." and gave me more mouthwash to rinse with. There was a little blood when I spit it out, but that was all, and I never saw anymore after that. He went over the aftercare with me and gave me a sheet and I was all done! After my friend got her belly button pierced, we thanked him, paid and tipped him, and went on our merry way!
My tongue did not start to swell for about another 12 hours, and then of course, it killed! LOL It was bearable though; I just befriended Advil and ice water the next day, and then ate things like soup, noodles, Wendy's Frostys, and slurpees beginning Sunday until about Tuesday, when I started eating solid foods. It was awkward at first, especially since my tongue was still sore, but I did it, and just had to take my time. After one week, everything felt completely fine and I was eating and talking like normal. Talking was an issue, however, for about 5-6 days. I had a bad lisp and since I am a teacher and talking all the time (haha), it was pretty frustrating, but I got through it, and it was totally worth it! My mom thinks it looks gross, but my dad thinks it's pretty cool ;) I am 23 though, so their opinion wasn't really anything I was worried about.
Now for my good advice! The first thing I want to say is, use sea salt rinses! I didn't start doing that until day three and I was missing out. It is very soothing and if you don't mind the saltiness, it's great! Also, for a mouthwash, I recommend Biotene. It is specifically made for people with "oral irritations". It is also anti-bacterial and alcohol-free...and also very, very gentle. I never had to dilute it.
I also want to STRESS that you find a GOOD, GENTLE, piercer! One of the first things I asked Jake was "is this a fast procedure?" and he explained that yes, it is and it has to be, because if you take 2, 3, 4, etc. seconds to get the needle through, the muscles in your tongue will tense up and THAT is what causes pain. There are no nerve endings in your tongue, so realistically, it should not really hurt anyone as long as it is done properly. So find a piercer who knows what they are doing! A good piercer will be certain to provide a piercing experience that is as pain-free as possible, and also won't need to use any sorting of numbing creams or sprays. I have heard that in many cases, piercers use this as a "crutch" to mask their inexperience. So even if you have to call fifty places to find a really good piercer, it will be worth it in the end for a happy, healthy, lovely piercing!
It has now been 11 days and I am completely happy with my tongue piercing! No infections, no more pain, no lisp!! Now I'm just really excited to get some new jewelry so I can take this very long barbell out...heehee.
If anyone has any questions, feel free to IM me, my AIM screen name is joko2600. And if you are located in the metro-Detroit area, I highly recommend Jake Antos at Electric Superstition for a happy piercing experience!