A tongue piercing was one of the first piercings I ever thought about getting. I wanted one since I was 10. Actually, I wanted three when I was ten, going right down the middle. I begged my mom to let me get it done, but she continued to refuse. Until I was 15. By then, I'd put many holes in my ears with safety pins, I'd gotten my eyebrow pierced, and my lobes were slowly being stretched larger. I guess she figured there's no stopping me now.
At A Glance Author Raven17 Contact Raven17@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Me! Studio my living room Location Kitchener So when I had the money, I went out and got my tongue pierced. It was a disappointing day though. Turned out that my tongue is very short. The piercer told me three times if I couldn't stick out my tongue a little further, the needle would go right through my lip. With a lot of strain, it was finally done, and I was happy. Until I realized that if I could barely get one pierced, how could I get 2 more? I had never been interested in venoms, so with a heavy heart I abandoned the plan for my tongue spine and began to work on my ears.
About a year later, my lobes had gotten pretty big and I decided to wait awhile before stretching them some more. I didn't have anything else I wanted pierced at the time, so what could I do? I wasn't old enough for a tattoo yet... I remembered my tongue spine idea and decided to check out some pictures of multiple tongue piercings one BME. That's when I saw the section on stretched tongues. If I couldn't have more metal in my mouth, why couldn't I have bigger? It seemed like the answer. I borrowed a 12 gauge barbell from my brother and was surprised to find that it slipped right in. A day later I was slipping in a 10 gauge.
At this point, I wasn't sure where I was going with this. a lot of people asked me how big I was going and all I could saw was "I'll know when I get there."
A couple weeks after the 10 gauge went in, I decided to try for an 8. Again, I was surprised at how easily the jewelry went in. I didn't even have to use a stretcher. I knew this was too good to be true. Sure enough, my brother (who was also stretching his tongue at the time) had just gone to a 6 gauge and said it was difficult. Not difficult enough that he wouldn't go bigger, but it seemed this was the end of my barbells just slipping in.
Awhile later, when I was bored of by 8 gauge, I decided to try for a 6 gauge. I looked through my brother's jewelry collection but couldn't find the right stretcher. He did have a spike though. A spike for a 16 gauge bar. It was about an inch long and the end was about the thickness of my 6 gauge plug. In it went. It took about 5 minutes for me to get it through. Then the plug slipped as i tried to put it in and the spike had to go through my tongue another time. After a bit of struggle and quite a bit of drool, the plug was in. My tongue swelled slightly, like I had bitten it. It was back to normal in an hour or two.
After a couple months at a 6 gauge, it was time to move on. Luckily, I had a 4 gauge stretcher and plug. There was pain this time. It took about an hour to stretch my tongue. It hurt and all the muscles around my mouth and jaw were a little sore because my mouth had been open so long. That stretch was mostly uneventful eventful though.
Now this is where I get to the most painful stretch in my tongue's lifetime. The 2. I was sick of plugs. I missed having balls in my mouth (haha, laugh it up). So I went on a search for a 2 gauge acrylic barbell. I checked all the piercing shops in my area and all the head shops that sold body jewelry. No luck. Finally, I'm on vacation on the Jersey shore, and some crummy little store on the board walk has large gauge acrylic barbells. After some negotiation, I scored my 2 gauge for only 10 dollars. I realized later on that it would have been better to continue searching because the barbell was about 3/4' in length and with my tiny tongue, I needed less than 1/2". But I was on a mission. I needed my tongue larger since it wasn't long enough for my original plan.
The first stretch was...I don't even know how to describe it. Awful. Horrible. Tragedy. There was so much pain. It took me about 6 or 7 hours to get the stretcher through. During these stretching hours, I went through hell. Almost every time I pushed the stretcher through a little more, I would cry a little because of the pain. It was almost unbearable and I'm not one to cry over physical pain. Then my body would go through a sort of shock. My whole body would heat up but I'd begin to shiver. Then the cold sweats came. I spent most of the day wrapped up in my bed with some tissues and some attempts to swallow aspirin. And then the worst happened. The time came to put my barbell in. The stretcher came out but the barbell slipped and didn't go in. Then the blood came. My brother handed my the stretcher so I could put it back in quick and try for the barbell again in a bit. I just couldn't do it. I was so disappointed that I had spent so long working for something and then it turned out so horrible. I leaned over the sink and sobbed for a good 15 minutes while the blood ran out of my mouth.
It was a sad day and I was down about it for at least a week. I soon decided I would try again in about 3 weeks but use a plug. I also used some Tylenol 3's. The next attempt went much better. The stretch only took about 2 hours this time and the plug went in without a problem. I'm assuming it was easier because it had already been stretched. The day after the stretching, I could spin the plug and it was time for the barbell to go in. This was also uneventful.
I stayed at a 2 gauge for about 6 months. I had some trouble with the length and it wore away my bottom gums the tiniest bit. After some time I discovered a way to position my barbell so that it didn't rub on anything. It took some practice, but it soon came natural. I was very happy with my 2 gauge barbell until I discovered my size. I'm not sure how I knew, it just came to me. My tongue was destined for a 00 gauge barbell and my goal was within the next year.
A couple days ago, I carried out the first step of my plan. I had bought a shorter 0 gauge barbell awhile back and was borrowing a 0 gauge stretcher from my friend and a plug from my brother. I figured this time would be easier because the stretcher was straight. My stretch to a 4 gauge and a 2 gauge were both done with curved stretchers. I had also acquired quite a few Tylenol 3's and Tylenol 2's, so I was hoping for the best. I cleaned everything in really hot water and soap first, then a quick dip into some mouthwash. I attempted to make things easier and rubbed some Vaseline on the stretcher and in my tongue hole, but it didn't really do anything. Most of the Vaseline ended up drooling out of my mouth or I swallowed it.
The stretching took about 5 and a half hours this time. Luckily, I didn't go through shock this time, possibly because I was on a lot of pain killers. The pain killers cause another slight problem. When I had succeeded in pushing the stretcher all the way through, I noticed a ring of skin around the bottom hole, the out point. After taking a closer look I saw that it was a blood blister and at some point, I must have broken the skin. I was excited about being only one gauge away from my goal, so I soon forgot this problem and put the plug in without problems. My tongue was swollen and in a lot of pain, but with some ice water the swelling went down and the blister disappeared too.
The next day, my tongue was still swollen, but I didn't think that was unusual. I continued rinsing with mouthwash and sucking on ice. That night I figured something was really wrong because the swelling wasn't going down and was in fact getting worse. My tongue was a large painful blob in my mouth and I was developing a lisp. I didn't want to think about taking it out and downsizing, so I went in for a close inspection.
Now for all of you who get sick thinking of crusties on piercings, you don't know gross. Gross is when bloody pus seeps out of a hole in your tongue. I couldn't believe it. My tongue was infected and it was disgusting. I began to wipe away the pus with q-tips every hour or so and rinsing more frequently. It has been two days since then, and I finally got my barbell put in and there is only slight swelling and soreness now.
It has been a long journey for my tongue. Long and painful. I've thought about getting a professional to stretch it, but I don't think it would work out. I like to take my time with things and by stretching myself, I can take all the time I want. If you are thinking about stretching your tongue, you should go for it. Just know that once you get past a 6 gauge, it can get pretty painful and gross. Stretching by yourself can also cause ripped tissue and infections so make sure you either find a better way to get your tongue stretched or have a damn good after care plan.
I still wish I could have gotten three center piercings on my tongue, but my large gauge barbell takes up enough space to satisfy me.