So, im sitting here, sucking on a piece of ice, completley enjoying it, with a huge smile on my face.
At A Glance Author Charli Contact Charli@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Unknown Studio Under The Skin Location Aldershot, Surrey, UK You wanna know why? I just got my tongue pierced.
Let me start from the beginning. About 6 months ago I had been contemplating what major piercing I wanted for my birthday. Tongue was the final choice. The reasons I hear you ask. Well its one of the least painful you can get, it is also one of the fastest healing and one of the least obvious once it has healed. This being my first major piercing (other than the 2 pairs of lobe, one cartilace and a tragus i have) I decided that a lot of planning needed to go into it. I started to research piercers, after care techniques, cost, all the usual things that people check up on when they go get something like this done.
Skip forward to the 4th of March, my 18th birthday. This is the day I finally decided on the place where I was going to get it done. I had decided on Under The Skin because I have had so many people say how fantastic it is. I had also called the place to ask about prices, hyigene standards, age limits and things like that. The man on the end of the phone was friendly and helpful, which really sealed the deal for me.
Skip forward yet again to today, 14th of March. One of my best friends, Jenny, had volunteered to drive me to Aldershot and hold my hand whilst getting it done. She came and picked me up around 2:30pm, and by 3 we were on Aldershot, driving around like looneys trying to find the place. After a further 10 minutes, we decided it was best to park up and walk to find the place. So once we had parked we walked around for another 10 minutes and found the place. I stood outside for a couple of minutes, taking in the look of the place, and deciding wether or not this place was up to standards. As soon as I walked into the place, the smell of disinfectant hit me in the face, I took this as a good sign. It showed they were clean at least.
So, me and Jenny headed down to were the piercings took place. We stood around discussing tattoos, as there were loads of pictures on the walls, and before long someone came through and asked us what we were here for. Jenny immediatley pointed to me and I then said "I would like to get my tongue pierced". So the guy ushered me through to the piercing rom, and had me fill out the necessary forms, indicating i knew of the risks, that I was of age, blah di blah, so on and so forth. (don't worry, I read it properly). He then informed me that they don't use clamps at that place, they said that it can panick the person more, and that the guy who does it is good enough to do it freehand.
The next thing I know, I am being ushered to a chair, and Jenny is taken out of the room. I was kind of upset, as I wanted someone to hold my hand. What can I say, im a wuss. So the guy tells me all about the procedure, and proceeds to spray this disgusting stuff in my mouth. He told me not to spit it out, not swallow it, and the piercer wil be along in a second. So I sit there, trying my hardest not to swallow, and wanting to communicate with Jenny, which with a mouthfull of liquid is very difficult.
About a minute later, the piercer is here. He tells me I can spit the stuff out, to which I say thank you through my closed mouth. At this point I cant feel my mouth at all. So he puts on his sterile rubber gloves, and shows me the needle and bar he will be putting through my tongue. So, he tells me to tip my head back, and stick my tongue out as far as I can. So I do just that. He comes near me with the needle the first time, and I back off, the second time, and I back off yet again. Did I forget to mention I don't like needles much?
Third time was the charm as he shoved the needle through my tongue. It was slightly painful, I would describe it as a sharp pinch. But I could feel the plastic from the needle (I'm afraid I don't know the technical term), I heard the piercer say "You now have a pierced tongue". It was the most, for the want of a better word, euphoric feeling I have ever had. The strangest part was when he put the bar in, the bar was slightly colder than my mouth was, and it felt weird. Weird but good.
The piercer then made me swizzle mouth wash round my mouth, to get rid of the blood, and the numbing stuff. I did this about 3 or 4 times, to make sure there was no blood left. He went through aftercare, and told me I should go get a cold drink, to reduce swelling. I thanked him, then left (Gah! I forgot to leave a tip!!).
I can honestly say I have never smiled more in my life! Walking down the street, I must have seemed like a bit of a looney. After that I went home, my mum kinda flipped, cause I didn't tell her about it. And my dad was surprisingly cool about it.
I would definatley recommend going to Under The Skin. They were incredibly clean and professional, not to mention friendly!
And I would certianly recommend this as a first major piercing. It isnt that painful (and yes it still hurt even after the numbing spray was put on), and it can look fantastic!
I think this is the start of a beautiful addiction.