In early 2002, while flipping through the BME picture galleries, I ran across the tongue web piercing pictures. I've got an oral fetish the size of Texas, so the idea of getting something in my mouth pierced was very attractive. I had already decided that I didn't want my tongue pierced, because that would just be a repeat, and I wanted something new. However, I wanted something private that I could play with, so things were kind of limited (a lip ring might be fun to run my tongue over, but it would be obvious as hell what I was doing).
At A Glance Author yardgnome Contact yardgnome@bme.anon IAM jcorn When Three months ago Artist Unknown Studio Zebra Location Berkeley, CA
I first went down to Industrial Strength in Berkeley, but was told that the piercer wouldn't do webs, due to lack of experience. I was pretty disappointed, since I really liked the jewelry at the shop (and still do). So I asked where else might be able to do the piercing, and was referred to a shop called Zebra, which happened to be about a block away.
When I walked in the door I knew I was in trouble. It was your average "water pipe" store, with insipid 420 and alien paraphenilia everywhere. Just seeing all that crap almost made me walk right out the door, but I was determined to get my web perforated that evening. Things went from bad to worse when the guy that grabbed my jewelry for me didn't even know a web could be pierced. But he looked like just some flunky, so I wrote it off. Then, after choosing the jewelry (and being assured by someone supposed more knowledgable that it was the right size), I was issued a number. That's right....a number.
After about half an hour my number was called, and I was shunted into the piercing assembly line. I walked in, the girl checked out my web and jewelry within the space of about 5 seconds, and then got set up. She mumbled for me to open up, told me that it wasn't worth marking out the piercing and that she would just go ahead and pierce. Then she just stabbed on through and threaded the circular bar bell in. I feel she did a fine job on the piercing itself, though some people seem to think it's a little far back. But it was by far the least painful piercing I've ever gotten (I didn't even know she had finished until she started threading the bead on).
Talking and eating was a little awkward at first, but the real problems began within the first week. That's when large keloids of tissue started to appear around the piercing, and I noticed that the jewelry was far too long, so that it kept hitting against my teeth.
Hoping that they'd have more of a clue than Zebra, I went back to Industrial Strength for advice. They claimed that I should just continue the salt soaks, but increase the number of times I use mouthwash per day. They specifically told me to use listerine.
So things just got worse and worse with the keloiding for quite a while. Then I made a trip down to San Diego (see my conch experience) to a Enigma, a shop with people that really knew what they were talking about.
The good people at Enigma instantly recognized that my jewelry was far too small in diameter for the piercing, so the cause of the keloiding was the pincing of the jewelry itself. Additionally, they mentioned that listerine was probably doing far more damage than good, since it would stimulate those busy little mouth-cells to grow, exacerbating the keloiding. So, to make a not-so-long story short, the guys at Enigma hooked me up. My circular bar bell (which I got because I really liked how it looked) was replaced with a properly sized curved bar bell, and the difference was immediately noticable. No longer did the damn beads constantly click against my teeth. No longer was there a strange feeling of something always in the way. That feeling had been a problem because it caused me to constantly play with the jewelry, and thus accidentally unscrew it about once a week.
Flash forward to a week after replacing the too-small jewelry with and switching to a non-alcoholic mouth wash. The keloids have greatly reduced, and everything is smooth sailing. Before, I played with the jewelry all the time because it was so in the way, and I just felt this compulsion to flip/twist it around. Now, though, the web is great to play with when I'm bored, rather than constantly by compuulsion. All's well that ends well (finally), due to knowledable piercers. So let this be a warning to you....stay the hell away from Zebra if you're going in for a piercing, and if you're going to get advice about a piarcing, make sure the shop actually performs the piercing you're looking for advice on (I know, it sounds so obvious in retrospect).