About nine months ago after getting my first body piercing, my eyebrow the piercing bug hit me again and I had the urge to again get another. After talking with my girlfriend bout the numerous piercings I could possibly get I came to the decision that I wanted to get a vertical tongue piercing, as she had gotten hers done with numerous others and I thought It looked a treat. As I was only seventeen at the time and living under my parent's roof I thought it was considerate to inform my mum of my desire to get my tongue pierced, seemed like mission impossible as she had only just got used to me having my eyebrow pierced.
At A Glance Author Tom Contact Tom@bme.anon When A year ago Artist Tom & Tim Studio Hair House Warehouse Location Adelaide Australia After months and months of begging, arguing and basically having to prove to her why I "needed" it done. I also found out its quite hard to explain why you want a piercing to someone who is not interested in piercings, its just the rush of adrenaline or that feeling get inside yourself when you have it done that makes u feel great about yourself. Eventually my mum finally caved and told me I could do whatever I wanted but she wouldn't like it. After finally getting "loose" approval the next hurdle in getting my tongue pierced became apparent, sporting commitments basically put a halt on any piercing happening and I had to wait until the end of the season to get it done.
The end of the season came around and while going with my fourteen year old brother to get his eyebrow pierced (yeah I know bad influence) by the same guy who did mine I decided there was no time better than now to get my tongue pierced. After the piercer had finished doing my brothers eyebrow he called me in, wasn't nervous or anything like that just anxious to see the final result, the guy placed a mark on my tongue where he would place the piercing. I was happy with the placement but my tongue was blue from the crushed ice drink he told me to have prior to having it done to reduce the swelling (didn't really work) so it was hard to see the mark. After he got everything set up he clamped my tongue, I thought this would hurt more or actually hurt at all because of the stories of others saying the clamp hurt more than the piercing. Once he clamped it told me the usual breathe in breathe out stuff, by the time he had finished his sentence the piercing was done. After the piercer told me the after car procedures etc, me and my brother then went and got mouthwash etc, with my brother telling me that he now wanted his tongue done.
When I got home the pain or swelling wasn't that bad but I was worried about the positioning of the piercing underneath my tongue as it felt like it had been pierced on an angle with the bottom ball sitting closer to my teeth than the top. Everyone told me it was simply because my tongue was swollen, after a few days and a considerable amount of swelling it became apparent, to myself anyway that it was in fact crooked. After another dew days the swelling went down, as the bar was not straight the length of the bar was reduced. The bar seemed to sink into my tongue, and when I had full movement back in my tongue I could visible see that the piercing had been done on an angle, the bottom ball rubbed up against the back of my teeth which was quite uncomfortable.
I went back to where got it don't two weeks after I initially got it pierced and talked to one of the other piercer who my girlfriend happened to be friends with about how it was crooked. He looked at my tongue and could instantly tell that it had been done incorrectly and offered to do it for free in two weeks after it had closed over. After being fairly annoyed with my piercing I was doubtful in returning to the same establishment but my girlfriend assured me that Tim, who had done all of hers was really professional. Tim also told me that the original piercer didn't really like doing tongue piercings and was probably the reason why it wasn't done correctly, fairly poor excuse if you ask me.
After three months of every weekend going to get it re-pierced but something coming up at the last minute or work getting in the way I decided to go and get it done during the week. I went back to the same place where I had gotten it done before but had it on good authority that the guy who originally pierced my tongue was not working. I went inside and made an appointment, waited only about ten or fifteen minutes and it was my turn to get pierced. Seeing as I had already been disappointed with my original tongue piercing Tim made a huge effort to make sure that this time it was done right. He marked my tongue in the same original spot, as I really liked the placement of the top ball. He pulled my tongue as far as it would go outside my mouth so that he could get it as straight as possible but having a short, fat tongue wasn't working to my advantage. Tim managed to get it as straight as possible without hitting any nerves, vessels etc.
The time came to actual get it pierced after about half an hour of getting the placement and clamps right, he said he would do it slowly to get it as straight this time, the slow part worried me a little but was ready to get it done again. He slowly started to push the needle through my tongue and already having it done once before had generated scar tissue, this in combination with a slow piercing equaled a greater deal of pain than the first time. After about twenty seconds of him shoving the needle through my tongue he had finished, I had my tongue piercing back. The professionalism of Tim was quite outstanding in my opinion he didn't charge me for the correction piercing and threw in a free bottle of pro tat oral care.
The amount of time and effort that he took making sure the piercing was right meant a great deal to me, after being severely disappointed with the original piercing. After care was easier this time round as I knew what to expect and iced my piercing for about five hours after getting it done, and mouth washed regularly for the next two weeks. Its been about three of four months since I got it done and I love it couldn't imagine taking it out now, though some people find it a bit intimidating but that doesn't bother me after what I had to go through getting it done right. But all I can say is second times a charm.