Common Sense Warning: Please don't do what I did. My attempt to pierce myself wasn't the best way to go about it. Things could have been a little more sterile, tools and jewelry could have been better quality, and overall I should have been smarter about it. Go to a professional you can... but if you do decide the DIY method is right for you, do your homework, and make sure you do everything properly.
At A Glance Author Lauren Contact lolli_860@yahoo.com When N/A For a long time piercings have interested me, due to that fact that I'm only 15 and have parents that are "looking out for my best interest" my options have been limited on what I could get.
I stumbled upon the BME glossary, and read practically everything in there. I found the tongue web piercing. Thought it was kind of odd at first, but I liked it. I kept going back to look at it, and thinking, "Hey, I could do that."
To test my theory I went into my room, grabbed a sewing needle, cleaned it off with an alcohol wipe, and cautiously proceeded to push it through. I was a little scared of hitting a vein, so I wasn't pressing that hard. The needle took a long time to go through, but it finally did. Surprisingly it didn't hurt at all. I didn't have proper jewelery at the time, so I just had to leave it as a hole. I couldn't even see the hole though, because it didn't bleed and everything else was red to begin with.
I started doing some research. I found out that you're supposed to aim for the middle of the triangle, and there really weren't any veins to worry about. I looked at some more pictures on BME, and decided my web was big enough to be pierced.
So then I started looking for jewelry and found out which kinds were appropriate. Then I decided on a plain metal barbell that was 5/16 of an inch in length, 14 gauge, and had 4 mm balls. I was kind of short on money, so once again I turned to the net for a solution. I found www.bodypunks.com . I know I should have been wary of jewelry on the internet, but my barbell seems to be in good condition because it's held up so far.
To test my parents to see if they'd get mad or not I wanted to do something little. I decided to stretch my ears, just a tiny bit. I got two 8 gauge circular barbells, and a taper, along with the barbell from my order from bodypunks. I stretched them, and let my mom find them, she got a little mad. I decided against telling her about my soon to be tongue web piercing.
I made my boyfriend take me to wal-mart, to look for sewing needles because all the ones I had were too small. I found a pack that would do. I'm pretty sure this was a stupid thing to do, because they were pretty dull. I wasn't really sure what size to use either. Sewing needles really shouldn't be used to pierce. I also bought some mouth wash, so I could make sure things were somewhat clean.
I tried to pierce it twice with the smaller needles in the pack, but it didn't bleed, and I couldn't find the hole. Around the second time, I found out your supposed to use a cork to receive the needle, so I tried using cardboard. Still no luck though because the needles wouldn't bring me any blood. It was kind of frustrating.
I almost gave up until one Saturday night when I got back from a pretty good local show. I was in a "hit something" mood, because I desperately wanted to mosh, but no pit was started. So I decided to try again. I grabbed the biggest needle out of the pack I bought, which was probably around a 12 gauge although I'm not really sure. Then I walked into my bathroom, and climbed onto my sink. I was sitting right in front of my big mirror so I could see. I used the mouth wash for 30 seconds, although it burned, and cleaned off my needle with alcohol wipes. I put a folded piece of very thin cardboard opposite the needle so the skin wouldn't stretch, and I popped it through. It finally bled, I was happy.
But piercing it was always the easy part. I couldn't get the barbell through again. I probably fiddled with that for 15 minutes, then I couldn't get it through to the other side. That was probably another 15 minutes, and then Another 15 minutes to screw the ball on. I made sure to cover the drain in my sink, just incase I dropped the ball. The whole thing probably took about an hour. An hour that I couldn't swallow the whole time, imagine the drool. So it was that much harder to hold on to the barbell.
When I finally got it in I used the mouth wash again. It was a little sore because I played with it for so long, but overall pretty painless. I got frustrated a few times, and almost gave up, but it was worth it in the end.
For aftercare I used a mix of mouth wash and water about four times a day. I'm not really sure if that's what your supposed to do, but once again i was lucky because it worked for me. Oh, and I made sure to get the uncolored mouth wash, because I heard the blue kind can discolor the skin around the piercing.
I've probably had it for three months now. My parents still have no clue. I figured since I went to the orthodontist and they couldn't see it hiding under my tongue, my parents wouldn't find it either. Although I have to be careful not to play with it around them. It has fallen out a few time during dinner, but I just pretended I ate something nasty, and spit it out in my napkin. Then later went to the bathroom to put it back in. It's a lot easier to put back in, now that's it's healed and everything.
I can talk, and eat perfectly fine. I actually think it helps me talk, because I took it out for a couple hours one time, and thought I had a lisp.
I've only had one problem. I chew on it, and click the balls against my teeth, and i think the balls stretched the skin towards the ends. So there's two little pinkish bubbles right next to the balls. When i stop chewing on it they get smaller, and will probably go away, but I've already developed the habit. So, don't chew on your tongue web, it'll turn ugly.
And if you can, get a professional to pierce you. I just had no other options. Well, I could have waited until I was 18, but that's too long for me. The placement is too far back, because i didn't really know what I was doing, they do.
Haven't really showed too many people, because I don't like the "pierced for a reaction" idea. But to each his own. Well Happy piercing. If you are considering getting your tongue web done I would recommend it, but go to a professional if it's possible. I didn't really know what I was doing, and I'm extremely lucky that it turned out okay. Don't do what I did!!
Read the First Paragraph Again!!