About a year ago when I was 15 years old I was introduced to the wild world of body modification. At first I wanted to infamous belly piercing that all young girls long for. But then every girl and their grandma was getting that done and I wanted to be a little more original.
At A Glance Author Danielle When A year ago Artist Adrienne Studio Village Street Wear Location Bellmore, NY (Long Island) At the time I was friends with this one girl in my school and she had a tongue ring. She told me all about getting it done and how much fun it is to have one. Right then and there I decided I wanted my tongue pierced. I knew my parents would not go for it at all so I initially decided to go into the city with my friends and have it secretly done (I thought that I could hide it from my parents until I had to nerve to tell them). Well, that was ruled out since I was too skeptical about going into city piercing shops. But I was still determined.
Around January or February I broke the news to my mother that I wanted my tongue pierced. She didn't exactly say no but she wasn't exactly saying yes. So, being the determined one that I was, I offered to do extra chores around the house such as doing the dishes every night. Well, that went on for about a month or so and it didn't seem like I was getting myself anywhere.
Then Saturday March 24th came. My best friend was going to this place called Village Street Wear to get her belly done. I decided to go along with her to get a feel of the whole piercing thing. So, my mom drove me to the place and we met up with my friend. I was so jealous of my friend and I practically cried to my mom asking if I could get my tongue done. Well that seemed to do the trick since she finally agreed and filled out the paper work to get my tongue done. I was so excited! And nervous! Although I slaved over BME the past few months reading up on stories about tongue piercings and most of them explained how minimal the pain it, I was still so scared! I made my friend get her belly done first while I waited outside the room with my mom. Being the baby that I was I started hysterical crying and pacing around the store.
About 5 minutes later my friend came out with a big smile and showed me her belly. Then I realized it was my turn. Me and my mom were lead into the little room in the back of the store. The room was very small but very clean and sterile. I can't remember if the piercer had me wash my mouth with Listerine before hand..she might've had but this was a year ago so of course I'm a little fuzzy. There was a little chair I was told to sit on and the piercer, Adrienne, got the needle and tools ready. At this point I was completely freaking out. I had my eyes shut tight and told Adrienne that I didn't want to see the needle so she showed the sterile needle to my mom instead. Then she instructed me to stick out my tongue and stay still. She checked the veins under my tongue and BAM! She pushed the needle through from the bottom up. OUCH! I must admit, it hurt a lot more than I expected it to. But the pain only lasted for 2 seconds. Then she put the barbell through. OUCH again! She scr ewed on the ball and then I was done. She had me wash my mouth with Listerine afterwards and I checked my tongue in the mirror. Beautiful!! I loved it. Adrienne went over the aftercare with me and my mom. Glyoxide twice a day and mouthwash after all eating and drinking for a whole month.
I came out of the room and met up with my friend. She asked me how it was and all I could say was that it hurt. I was still in shock at this point. My mom paid for the piercing (it was $70 for the whole thing) and we were on our way. We stopped at CVS to get necessary things to take care of our piercings. Then we stopped at a diner for lunch. Of course I couldn't eat anything so I literally drank 5 glasses of ice water to help the swelling.
That night my tongue got so swollen eating was so impossible. But somehow I managed to get down some soup. The next couple of weeks were a bitch. I talked with a lisp and it hurt when I ate. After about a month the swelling went down completely and I stopped using the glyoxide and mouthwash.
Well, it's been a little more than a year now and it's great! I've had absolutely no problems with it. It's such a fun piercing to have.. all the guys love it ;) hehe. So, for any of you that are thinking about getting your tongue pierced.. GO FOR IT! The healing period is very short and the pain is very bearable. It's definitely worth it. Just make sure you go to a good, clean place that knows what they're doing. Good luck! :D