Ten years ago I had my left nipple pierced and it was great but I thought that would be it in so far as piercings go until a few weeks ago... A friend had a labret done and as I watched I was once again hooked by piercing fever - I needed to get something done and soon. After checking out BME and other web sites I decided on a central tongue piercing. I researched as much as I could and read many of the experiences on here from people getting it done and that put alot of my fears to rest.
At A Glance Author KarlT Contact KarlT@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Pieta Studio Punctured @ Off Ya Tree Location Adelaide I talked at length with Pieta (a great piercer and really good at making you relaxed and comfortable) about getting my tongue done. Well after that I was finally going to get it done - I booked a week off work as everyone I read about said their tongue swelled up and couldnt talk properly (I work in a call centre so it would effect my job) and bought lots of supplies such as alcohol-free mouth wash, pain relieving tablets and Difflam-C (an anti-bacterial and anti-inflamation rinse).
Friday 4pm - went to see Pieta at Punctured to get it over with - I paid my money, $65.00 (Aus) and completed the normal waiver forms and was given the follow-up information as you would never remember it all - had a short chat with her as she was setting up about what I should expect - she said everything would be fine. So onto the actual piercing - she had me rinse with Listerine to kill off anything that shouldnt be there and after drying my tongue with sterile guaze she marked the spot on the top of my tongue to show me where it would go - it looked all good. She then had me poke my tongue out as far as I could (bit of a longue tongue so she was really happy at that as it makes it easy for her) - the clamp was put on and she had me take some deep breaths as I was very tense - after I relaxed she had me take one more deep breath and as I exhaled I felt a slight sting on my tongue - it was pierced by the needle - what was I afraid of - there was virtually no pain at all - she inserted the barbell and screwed on the top ball and it was over - WOW.... it was over in all of about 30 seconds and NO PAIN!!
She instructed me to suck on ice cold drinks and even try some ice to help keep the swelling down - I was eating that night - very slowly as I didnt want to bite my tongue or the ball... the next day my tongue had only swelled slightly - I have never had any problems with previous piercings and it looked like this was going to be a breeze too.
I kept up the drinking of icy-cold fluids for as long as I could. Man I was going to the toilet every hour I was drinking that much! I could eat the next day also - damn I was hoping to use this as a diet trick. Your not supposed to play with the piercing too much but I kept poking my tongue out to have a look as much as I could and running the ball softly against my teeth.
Friday the following week - went to see Pieta to show her how it was all going and she reduced the size of the barbell down as my tongue was healing VERY quickly and the swelling was all gone. She removed the longer barbell and while she was getting the shorter one ready I wriggled my tongue round in my mouth and it felt all wrong - without the ball it was just too strange - she reinserted the shorter bar with no problem at all.
It's now been nearly two weeks since my tongue was pierced and it all is going well - no problems with eating or drinking and my speech is fine too - the fat tongue lisp was gone.
Just one more week and I can start kissing and other things!! I've had no problems at all with speech and its only a few words that I have trouble with but I'll be able to re-teach myself how to say those words soon without lisping.
If your thinking of getting your tongue pierced - I'd say GO FOR IT!! it was totally worth the wait. A friend saw mine and liked it so much that he went out and got his done - hopefully he'll also put his experience on here also. Everyone at work loves it (except the boss, but she'll get over it) and some are even thinking of getting theirs done too.