At A Glance Author the sinful shellylynne Contact the sinful shellylynne@bme.anon When It just happened Artist dee Studio bee cool Location calgary, alberta I'm not the kind of girl you'd expect to have body mods. I come from a rather conservative family. My grandfather is 94 and still wears a jacket to dinner. My mother and father absolutely despise any sort of body modification, aside from ear piercings (as long as they're in the lobe and not stretched). My older brother only dared to get tattoos and piercings once he left the house. However, due to the fact that I'm only 17 and still living under my family's rule, I don't get the luxury of eyebrow rings and "made in Canada" tattoos that my brother sports at Christmas dinner. So I just settled with my two sets of lobe piercings, colouring my hair red or purple, and wearing the occasional low-cut dress to a school dance.
However, all that changed yesterday. I'd be contemplating getting a piercing for a while. I searched BME for months, trying to decide on the perfect body modification that I could hide from my family AND still be unique. Nipples, genitals, navels.. All of them appealed to me. However, i dropped the navel idea because I'm not skinny enough for it (my tummy just wouldn't look good with a ring in it) along with the genitals (something about jamming a piece of metal into my hood really doesn't gel). And then I found it: frenulums. I found many pictures of rings and barbells in the tongue-web, invisible until the owner lifts her tongue to show it off. At first I was repulsed, but then the idea started to grow on me. Soon, I decided that my frenulum was in dire need of being pierced.
I've always been prone to doing things with little warning. When I was 12, I dyed my mousy-brown hair red on a whim. A few months after I turned 15, I bleached it from dark purple to creamsicle orange. I pierced my ears a second time one day without really thinking about it. This is how it was this morning. I woke up and decided that TODAY was the day my little web should be punctured. I showered, got dressed, and asked my friend Scott to pick me up. Within the hour, Scott and I were driving to Iron Will, a piercing place not too far from my high school.
I asked the fellow behind the counter how much it would cost to have my tongue web pierced. He frowned and said he didn't pierce that, but he could recommend a place that would. He said that Bee Cool is a reputable piercer that would do that. I thanked him and left the store with Scott, got back in the car, and drove to Bee Cool.
We went inside and looked at the tattoo flash on the walls and display cases of barbells and rings. Finally, I approached the counter and asked the girl, Dee, how much a frenulum would cost. She looked surprised at first (I guess I don't really look like the kind of girl who'd get something like that done!) and then told me it would be $35, plus the cost of the jewellery. I looked at the display cases and finally picked out a pink-bronze CBR with a black bead. I filled out the necessary paperwork and handed her my learner's license. She told us to wait up front while she prepared the room. Scott and I looked at the flash on the walls and talked about little insignificant things, and I couldn't believe I was doing this. Finally, Dee called us back and I stepped into the back room. It was brightly lit and reminded me of the countless hours I'd spent in doctor's offices and dentist chairs.
Dee thrust a dixie cup of mouthwash at me. I sloshed it around in my mouth until it burnt like no other as I watched her take the instruments from their packaging. She then directed me to sit down in the dentist chair and lift my tongue. After a few minutes of poking and prodding my web, she clamped it. It hurt, but no more than I'd imagined. She then cleaned off part of the web and told me to take some deep breaths. She slid the needle through easily, and it only stung for a moment. She then corked the needle and tried to put the ring in. While she was doing this, the uncorked end of the needle slid into my cheek. She apologized profusely and then finished putting the ring in and snapped the bead into place. The whole procedure took 5 minutes.
I looked in the mirror and immediately fell in love with the pink ring in my frenulum. I followed Dee up to the front counter, and she handed me an aftercare sheet. She warned me about migration and said if it did that right away, she'd repierce it for free. I thanked her, and then went next door to get some sea salt to rinse my mouth with.
Scott and I went to the mall afterwards so I could show it off and get some ice for my mouth. Every time we passed a mirror, I'd check out my pretty ring. Eventually, I went home to my parents. The ring didn't affect my speech at all, and they still have no idea about it, even after the long conversations I've had with them since.
My friends and I went out for sushi tonight. I spent most of the evening picking little grains of rice out of my ring and sipping on ice water. It hurts a bit to eat, but it's nothing I can't handle. People only notice the ring when I show it to them. Otherwise, they have no idea it's there.
I'd recommend this to anyone who wants a piercing they can easily hide from their parents and still show off to their friends. I'm in love with my frenulum and even named the piercing Dexter.
Happy piercing, kids!