Ever since I was a kid, piercings fascinated me. As I have grown older, I too see that they are not just a piece of jewelry, but a statement. A statement of self-expression, individuality, and eccentricity.
At A Glance Author Alex Contact DiscoSuperfly@hazleton.net When It just happened Artist Dan Studio Illusions Location Frackville, PA The first times I remember seeing anything like a piercing were when I would skim through the channels at 10, seeing clips of "The Howard Stern Show" and those half-naked Africans on the Discovery Channel. I thought some were gross, some just weird, others so fascinating- the one that has (and probably always will) captured my attention- has been the tongue.
Just for the simple fact the tongue is the only muscle in the body not connected on both ends- that makes it pretty damn cool. Besides that, it is the strongest muscle... how nifty! And since I was like, 6- I have always been able to make this absolutely unbelievably loud snap noise with my tongue- so just one more reason for me to obsess about it. Besides that, I love the Rolling Stones, and what is their logo? You got it! A tongue!
At 15 or 16 I started really contemplating getting my tongue pierced. Of course my family saw it as disgusting, repulsive & completely unorthodox, but my mother did not seem to hate the idea. So one day after a successful check-up at the doctor, my mother slowed the car down as we approached the local tattoo parlor & body piercing place called Illusions, and said simply, "If you want your tongue done, you can get it done, but if you do not get it done now, you can kiss the idea good-bye." I jumped to the advantage and said, "Oh my god! Yes!"
We go into Illusions, it is a nice little shop with the typical look of thousands of tattoo designs everywhere, a guy who looks like a biker who is the tattoo artist, and another younger guy named Dan, who is the piercer. He has various piercings himself. The place is clean, a little untidy, and there are lots of cymbals up on the walls, drum sticks, dollar bills & other silly things.
I tell him I want my tongue pierced, he gets my mother's signature, a copy of her driver's license, and my signature, name, number, address- all that junk. Then he takes me into the side room which has a stool or two, "the chair", a sink, all the needles and all that other stuff. I rinse my mouth out with the awful tasting Listerine, then sit back in the chair- he dots my tongue, I look into the mirror- disapprove of the location & get it a tad closer to the end. Then, he rubs on all the disgusting taking numbing agent (in the form of a gel) which does indeed numb my tongue, but tastes absolutely disgusting as well. Watermelon... watermelon my @$$!
He puts a pair of those silly clamp things on my tongue and tells me to take a deep breath, and then a quick pinch, and wah-lah! I have my tongue pierced! He then proceeds to giving me papers on aftercare, healing, and instructs me about this & that, etc..
The next few days that followed my tongue was indeed swollen, and the front portion of my neck always swelled up a little bit & was quite tender. I could not eat anything really chewy, and wound up living off of ice cream, small bites of food, and lots of ice water. It went away in 5-6 days and I started eating normal again. The thing that most bothered me was the fact the barbell seemed quite large and I found myself chewing on it when I ate.
And- all that occurred in April.
Now it is August, and with my tongue fascination in mind- I discovered that you can actually get multiple tongue piercings... ooh-la-la! Seeing that, made me save up the $63.40 to get it done again, and I did. This time the same dilemma... however the only difference, THE PAIN!
He said that usually the closer to the tip of the tongue the more painful it will be, god- was he ever right. With another stab I was incomplete angst & my eyes went straight to the top of my head & crossed, but the pain was then over, and well- I am alive!
Now I do not have just a piercing... but not I have gotten a double tongue piercing! How awesome is that? Hopefully this one heals just as nicely. I highly recommend Illusions, for they follow the guidelines & Dan is a really nice guy. Some of the horror stories I have read especially make me thankful.
People always ask why I would want such a thing done. Simply because I like the freedom to be who you want to be, and the ability to be an individuality- a unique, an original- a classic. This has given me somewhat of that sense.
And I do not regret it- one bit. (Yeah, until my orthodox aunt & grandmother find out... !)