When I started exploring the possibility of getting into body piercing much of my serious research took place on BME. One problem I had was that most of the stories were written when the person's piercing was still fresh so I decided to wait until mine was a year old before writing mine so I could writing about the piercing itself as well as the entire healing process and later problems/discovers/foibles etc... Well, it's my tongue piercing's birthday today!
At A Glance Author ChshreCat Contact ChshreCat@bme.anon When A year ago Artist Keith Studio Aarron's Tattoo Elegance Location Port Angeles, WA I'd thought about getting a tongue piercing for about a year before my wife decide to have her nipples done, so we made it a family event. She got herself perforated in December of 2001 and I planned my tongue for one month later.
Part of my job is spent producing television commercials and I often have to do voice-overs myself so I scheduled some time off for healing. I arranged the Friday before and the Monday-Tuesday after a weekend I already had off. It turned out that 5 days wasn't going to be NEARLY enough time to relearn how to speak with a spike through my tongue, but you live and learn.
I also took the time to get myself some nicotine patches and get off cigarettes as I had read that anything in the mouth is a no-no and should be avoided. I was really taking this venture seriously and managed to quit smoking by the time my piercing date came up.
I had a good breakfast and lunch that day and a couple hours before my appointment we'd dropped the little one off at her grandmothers and shopped for aftercare supplies that I'd checked on beforehand. By the time we arrived at Aarron's I was well psyched up for the process and felt cool and calm... until I opened my mouth. I suddenly found myself rattling on and on at 900 mph about whatever was in my head at the moment. Guess I was more nervous than I thought.
After paying for the piercing and getting into the back room I settled down again and started to relax. Keith, the same piercer who perforated my wife's nipples for her, started the long process of preparing for the piercing. I was familiar with this from my wife's visit and knew it would be a while. Keith has to be the most by-the-book guy I've ever met, when it comes to his job. Each step required fresh gloves. Sterile areas were laid out (even though the whole area was sterilized already) and instruments were prepared. Everything was checked and double-checked. Then he was ready to start on me.
He checked my tongue over, asking preferences about placement, recommending what he thought was best for my tongue, etc. I rinsed with the vile brown Listerine, I was marked and clamped (more gloves along the way) and was ready to go. I felt complete calm and prepared for this, but just to be safe I rested my hands on the arm-rests of the chair and hooked my feet behind the foot-rest so I didn't kick Keith accidentally.
Keith explained the three-breath procedure to me and we started. In and out for one. In and out for two. In and out and his hands moved.... and nothing. Absolutely nothing. Now... I was ready the first time, but I don't know if I'd be ready to start over again and I was about to tell him to quit screwing around and just pierce me already when my tongue started to get warm. A very warm sensation spread through it and then gradually faded into a dull ache as he popped the bar in and screwed on the bottom ball. That was it!
I picked up my daughter and had to show my mother the real reason we had to get out on our own for the afternoon. :) Surprise mom! Your son's a wierdo now!!! And we went home.
I'd stocked up on soft things the last time we went grocery shopping so I had plenty of chocolate pudding... yogurt... jello... instant breakfast, anything I could think of that wouldn't require the use of my tongue that much. I started with cold foods because anything warmer, even if it was soft, made my tongue hurt. I also stocked up on bottled water and kept the bottles going through the freezer before drinking them to try to keep the swelling down and to numb out my tongue. Gradually I was able to move up to warmer foods like mashed potatoes and eventually more solid fare.
It took me about 10 days before I was really able to eat anything I wanted, and about another week beyond that before I could finish a plate of food in less than 45 minutes. Eating with a fresh tongue piercing can be a slow, slow process... little bites, don't hit your teeth... and swallowing when there's something on your tongue that won't swallow down takes some getting used to as well.
As far as speech was concerned it was a couple weeks before I was able to talk without anything too noticeable and about six weeks before I totally learned to speak properly. The lisp was the last thing to go.
At 2 months I sized up from the 14g I was pierced with to a 12g bar and immediately my tongue felt better. It didn't really hurt anymore, but I would have kind of a vague sore sensation in it and it would hurt if I caught the ball on my teeth while eating or something. The move to 12g immediately took care of a lot of that and the ring was much more comfortable.
One interesting fact... I found that the tongue ring actually improved my singing. I guess that I had some bad habits and when I got the ring in my tongue it forced me to pay attention to how I form different sounds and how I use my mouth. That's my best guess, but my singing voice improved quite a bit with the installation of my little steel friend.
At 11 months I got a new barbell for my tongue. This time I moved up to a 10g bar, internally threaded with a dental acrylic ball on top to save my teeth in case I bite it a bit too hard sometime. The new ring is one size shorter and fits perfectly.
One of the biggest questions everyone asks is about the sexual aspect of the tongue ring. I can tell you that my wife has given it two thumbs up! Her response to her first test drive of my new appliance was to give me an evil grin and ask when I'm getting a prince albert to go along with it.
I just scheduled my PA for February. Look for that story... in 1 year.