I had my tongue pierced many times before, varying from a double center to venoms placed farther back as well as venoms placed close to the front. Each and every time the piercing drove me nuts, rubbed at the roof of my mouth and bothered my teeth. Due to my ever-so-irritating oral fixation, I needed something in my mouth to play with. Sure, I have a labret piercing, but that just doesn't cut it. I ordered a bunch of piercing needles and waited for them to arrive. I'll throw in a note that I do have a regular piercer who's great, but sometimes its just fun to pierce yourself.
At A Glance Author San Contact sandraglover@cogeco.ca IAM BlueStar When A year ago I pierced a few things, my nipples, hood, couple ear piercings and then one day spontaneously decided on my tongue web. I wasn't even looking at pictures or anything. I grabbed a 12ga needle out of my stash and a 14ga 5/8" barbell. Stop! 5/8"? Yes. 5/8". I didn't have any shorter barbells and figured I may be able to pull it off. I went into my washroom and grabbed some paper towels, which I laid around my sink, peroxide, polysporon (lubricant for the needle), the needle, the barbell and a glass. I have a very pronounced tongue web, which really got in the way of center tongue piercings.
After making my preparations I threw the barbell into a capful of peroxide to disinfect. It had only been used by me before, so I didn't have to worry about contracting any diseases from myself. I rinsed my mouth out with peroxide (it tastes like absolute SHIT, if you're going to spontaneously pierce your tongue web, make sure you have some form of mouthwash.) and after about 30 seconds I spat it out. It tastes like fuzzy butter. I squirted some polysporon out of the tube, then I then washed my hands with antibacterial soap and dried them with paper towels. I opened the needle and dipped the end of it in the polysporon. I eyeballed my tongue web and decided on a good place to pierce it. I took the needle and positioned it inside my mouth.
I checked my placement on both sides and did a quick vein check. Nothing visible. I don't mind bleeding, but blood isn't the best taste (to me, at least) so I hoped to not hit a vein while piercing. I checked it again, and applied a bit of pressure to the needle, and put a piece of paper towel balled up on the other time (how advanced). I heard it hit the paper towel, and pushed it through the rest of the way, with a really sharp pain. I pushed the needle through until there was an equal size from each side. Now, the fun part: Jewelry.
I figured I couldn't follow through the jewelry immediately after the needle due to the length of the needle and little amount of space to work with inside my mouth. I carefully pulled the needle out and quickly followed the barbell through. It slid through with no resistance or problems at all. Ooh, now for the BEST part: Getting the ball on the barbell. I moved it with my tongue, and bit the end in my teeth, and got the ball on after a few attempts. I was impressed. It bled for a few minutes, and I spat the blood into the sink. It looked like there was so much more, due to the saliva. I rinsed with cold water, which felt good, and the bleeding stopped. I personally expected more, due to piercing with a larger gauge needle.
I was impressed with myself until I realized the barbell was way too long, I could hardly talk. Dammit. So, I went into my room and grabbed an SS 14ga 3/8" cbr with a stainless steel bead. I snapped a picture of the piercing, then wandered back into the washroom. I rinsed with cold water again, and thoroughly washed my hands. I grabbed toilet paper and using a piece on each side of the barbell, managed to unscrew the beads, after drooling all over myself. Yum. Then I washed my hands again, took the barbell out, and popped the cbr in. It got caught about halfway, so I tried from the other side, and bikity bam! It was through. Awesome. I dried it off and got the bead on with no problems. That surprised me. I figured I'd have quite the struggle with it. I pulled my tongue back into my mouth and rinsed.
I threw out all my paper towels and junk. I bent the needle and destroyed the bevel. I covered it in paper towels and threw it in a pop bottle. This isn't sufficient, I may add. Biohazards are a good idea. Another note, piercing yourself is not the best idea. When you can, go to a professional. If you must, use proper supplies and at least make a decent attempt to disinfect your equiptment. Buy needles sterile.
Aftercare was simple. Good old salt water rinses, tastes better than peroxide at least. It healed fine in a few weeks, there was no real discomfort or swelling. The bead fell out once while I was learning how to drive, so I just played with it in my mouth and didn't swallow it. (Trust me, when you're learning how to drive, it's a bad idea to mess around with body jewelry. Wait until you have some experience!) When I got home, I snapped the bead back in and was on my merry way. I didn't notice an overabundance of plaque on it, and when I did I'd just throw it in peoxide.
After a few weeks I got sick of it, so I took it out. It was just irritating. My mouth was bare without it. I got over it in a few days and there is no real way to tell I had it pierced. It didn't migrate at all, but I did only have it for a month or so. Nobody really noticed it, which was the same for tongue piercings with me. I also found a cbr much more comfortable, since I changed it to a 5/16" curved barbell after it healed. It even had tiny beads.
So my opinion on tongue web piercings: They're fun, until they annoy the piss outta ya.