At A Glance Author Chris Allegretta Contact Chris Allegretta@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Rebecca Studio Lark St Tattoo (Viva Lark Vegas) Location Albany, NY I've wanted my tongue pierced for about 3 years or so. My main roadblock to getting it done has been my wife, who was really not thrilled with the idea. I finally convinced her by simple bargaining: if she didn't like it, I would remove it after it fully healed. Surprising that I had to propose this compromise, it seems fairly logical, but I digress...This may be a useful note to those who have a significant other who is not into piercing.
The first question was "should I"? I knew I wanted a center tongue piercing, I work in the IT department at GE and having something easily visible was pretty much out of the question. I had conversations with my co-workers about it, and after getting over the surprise that I wanted to do it in the first place, they felt they didn't think there would be an issue with a center piercing. I must come off as fairly conservative, although anyone who knows me well would say I'm a pretty liberal person. As far as others at my job, my manager actually has several ear piercings, but I'm not aware of anyone who has their tongue pierced here. There was still some hesitation, but I decided to go for it after carefully weighing my career goals versus my need to be myself.
So the next question was "where"? I don't know many people who have a tongue piercing, and so I looked on the web for piercing studio reviews for the Albany area. I found a review or two about Lark St Tattoo, but generally they were about the tattoos. Since it was all positive, and I asked people who had friends who had many piercings, and none had anything bad to say about Lark St, I decided to go there. Piercings are actually done just down the street from the main store, it's called "Viva Lark Vegas".
I was surprised that I didn't need an appointment, they said "stop by after 3PM on Friday". I hoped this wouldn't mean standing in line forever, as my wife and 1 year old daughter, as well as a friend/co-worker were coming along for the fun.
Sure enough, when the day came and we all trekked down to do the deed, there was no line. I arrived at around 3:30 on a Friday, and the place was quiet. Rebecca (my piercing specialist) was very friendly and reviewed the documentation with me. I showed her my driver's license and a credit card to provide my age (I'm 28 and look my age, but it's good to see them do the verification anyway) and everyone followed me into the back where she was waiting with another employee who was learning the trade. They had asked if I minded if she also attend the process and I of course replied "the more the merrier!"
I gargled some mouthwash in the bathroom while Rebecca timed it and when the time was up I spit, returned to the piercing room and sat down on the chair next to the piercing needle and some other stuff which I assume was sterilizing tools. Rebecca drew a line on my tongue to show where the middle was, and told me that it was only temporary and would fade and not to freak out later when I saw it. Then came the fun! With a pair of tongs she held my tongue and I prepared for the worst. All the people I talked to said "the pulling on your tongue hurts the worst" but it didn't hurt very much at all. She said "you'll feel a pinch" and I did, and BANG the needle was through in a heartbeat! Then another few seconds to put the piercing in and another few seconds to put on the bottom ball (which I admit did hurt a little), and I was done.
Afterwards we chatted for a few minutes, as I wasn't anxious to get up right away. They also offered me a glass of cold water to drink which I eagerly accepted. When I felt up to it, they had me gargle some more mouthwash. This time there was no time limit, although I didn't realize this and kept standing there, waiting for them so say I could spit it out. I expected the mouthwash to sting or something now that there was a hole in my tongue, but it didn't. I came back to the piercing area and Rebecca went over the aftercare with me and I was set to go! I must have only been inside for 20 minutes tops. I immediately started drinking cold water and purchased a smoothie just up the road, and I sounded quite silly when I talked. The swelling lasted for about 8 days, and after two weeks I bought a new smaller stud.
A great afternoon overall, I am very pleased with the experience, and the wife even likes the piercing, so I don't even have to remove it :)