I had wanted to get a tongue piercing since I was about fifteen or so. But no amount of begging, pleading, or bargaining got my parents to budge on the issue. I'd have to wait until I was 18. Well, almost.
At A Glance Author Gwenn Contact Gwenn@bme.anon When A year ago Artist Not Sure Studio Need A New Hole (Tecumseh location) Location Windsor, Ontario As my birthday approached, I started planning what I would do on my special day, including my piercing. But then on July 4th of 2003, three days before my 18th, a friend told me that she and her sister were planning on going into Canada to get their tongues pierced. Her sister was only sixteen at the time, which apparently is the age required to get a piercing in Canada, or at least in Ontario. Since we all live in the Detroit area, it's not at all odd for local kids to drive across the border for mods.
So my friend drove to Windsor with minimal hassle. The border patrol is actually really understanding if you tell them you want to go across to get a bit of metal poked through you. I've been back several times with the same explanation and they hardly so much as blink. As we drove down to Need A New Hole (the one on Tecumseh), getting just a little lost, it started to rain. In fact, it was a pretty good storm.
Once we got inside, we three girls filled out our forms and I started to get nervous. I told myself "You've wanted this for years, and now you're here! Just do it!" I've since found that I get these kind of jitters before each new piercing no matter the situation. But it's always been worth it. My friend's sister has had multiple (non-sterile, at-home, bad-idea) piercings before, so she said she would go first. She really took it great and I felt a little better. I decided I wanted to go last so my friend sat up on the stool and I held her hand while our piercer got out new clamps, needle, etc.
Suddenly, power out.
However, we were not deterred! The shop was dim, at best, so our man took a candle out of his cabinet and lit it. Her sister came in the curtained room to hold it up so that he could see what he was doing as he put the piercing in. She took it really well too!
Now it was my turn. I started getting scared again and I considered backing out. I talked to the piercer though and he made me feel so much better.
Me: "So, are you gonna make fun of me if I cry and act stupid?"
Him: "No, not at all, you're being really good about it! The only thing I hate is when guys come in here acting all tough and then TOTALLY embarrass themselves screaming and carrying on."
Me: "Oh my god, I'm really afraid it'll hurt though."
Him: "Oh, it won't be bad at all, I promise you."
Me: "Of course YOU say that, you already have a million piercings and YOU didn't cry."
Him: "Ah, no one said I didn't cry."
Hehe, I liked this guy. :)
He made me swish with this horrible tasting stuff for a minute. Then he marked my tongue in a couple different places and I told him that I liked the one in the middle the most. So he took out the clamps and held my tongue out of my mouth with them for what seemed like forever. I started drooling but hey, the other girls had too. I'm sure he's seen worse. He asked my friend to hold the candle up so that he could see to line up the piercing perfectly.
Finally, he asked if I was ready. I said yes and closed my eyes ... it was too late to turn back now. I felt a little poke when he pushed the needle through (top to bottom, I do believe) and then a strange sensation as he put the jewelry in. It wasn't bad at all! I ran over to the mirror to admire the beautiful barbell in my tongue. It looked perfect. And it is ... it's perfectly centered and straight, to this day.
We paid him for his service and he explained to us about aftercare. We shouldn't eat red meat, dairy, beer. As I was a vegetarian at the time, the not-eating-dairy part made me a borderline vegan for about two weeks! I basically survived on tomato soup for almost a week while my tongue was still tender and before I had learned how to maneuver it well in my mouth while eating. I was VERY CAREFUL about rinsing my mouth with the special mouthwash every time I ate or drank something; I had a little bottle of it everywhere: in my purse, my car, at work ... I think being so anal about it really contributed to my problem-free healing.
I haven't regretted my tongue piercing for even one day since I got it nearly a year ago. In fact, it just opened a whole new avenue to explore and I'm constantly trying to figure out which new piercing I can get that I want but that is still acceptable for work. So far I just have two in my cartilage and my tragus on my right ear. I'm considering getting a second tongue ring behind this one. Although, a word of caution: What they tell you about damaging your teeth is true. I had a slave ring in (the kind of jewelry with a ring transecting the top ball in the barbell) and tried to eat something. The slave ring takes up quite a bit more room in your mouth, and I inadvertently bit down on it. It was extremely not-feeling-good and it chipped one of my teeth in the back. Just consider the consequences beforehand, as with any mod, but I'd say that tongue piercings are relatively harmless.
Oh, almost forgot! When I came back to the shop a few months later with my friend to get her navel pierced, I reminded the guy that I'd been there before.
"Remember, you pierced my tongue and two of my friends ... the power went out and you had to pierce us all by candlelight?"
"Oooh, yes, I remember! That was very romantic."
"Uhh, yeh ..."
"Well, *I* was feeling a little spark, anyway!"
See, I told you I liked this guy. :)