I would like to start this experience by telling everyone out there who is under 18, or financially unable to get a piercing done professionally to know and understand the full repercussions of self piercing. Often times it can, and does, go wrong. There will most likely be complications that won't be foreseen and I in no way condone it. I also understand, however, that people do things for many reasons and there are a myriad of reasons for piercing one's self. I will now share with you my reason for self piercing my tongue.
At A Glance Author Sara Contact Sara@bme.anon IAM Ms Xia Jay When Two years ago Artist Myself Studio In a bathroom Location Colorado It was Christmas break of my Junior year of High School, roughly four years ago. I had my tongue pierced six months earlier, and that experience is also here on bmezine.com. I took that out soon after having it done due to various reasons and had decided I wanted to redo it. Unfortunately I was only 17 and my mother, although not opposed to body piercings, refused to actually take me and sign for it to be done. I decided the next best thing would be to just do it myself. Just waiting until I was 18 was of course out of the question. I heard of a place that sold sterilized needles and I still had my jewelry from my previous tongue piercing. I purchased the needle, which I realize now could have potentially been much more harmful than it seemed. I had no way of knowing if the needle had been properly sterilized but I was 17 and hell bent on having my tongue pierced. I wasn't very concerned with proper sterilization at the time. After I got the needle home however I realized I couldn't go through with it. I put it aside and decided I'd have to wait.
A few days later my boyfriend and I broke up. I was rather distressed and somehow in the back of my mind all I could think was piercing myself would make me feel better. It would be like a cleansing of negative energy from the relationship that had ended and he didn't like piercings so, he wouldn't have to deal with it and I wouldn't have to deal with him.
I got my needle, my barbell, gloves and a towel ready in the bathroom. I tried to be as sterile as I could by washing down the counter top and my hands about 10 times. Realistically I know I probably cross contaminated out the wazoo, completely defeating the purpose of cleaning everything down. I was ready though. I rinsed with mouth wash then went for it. As soon as the needle pricked my tongue it was like I was somebody else. It was almost as though I had an out of body experience. I wasn't the one pushing a sharp piece of metal through my tongue, I couldn't be. But alas, I did. I didn't go as fast as a professional would have. And I was scared out of my mind the whole time but as that needle made it's way through my flesh it was simply a magnificent feeling. After I got it through however I came crashing back to my body and reality and thought "holy crap, now I have to put jewelry through!" I was thinking the piercing itself would be the hard part, boy was I wrong. Somehow after many deep breaths I managed to get the barbell to follow through, God only knows how.
And there it was. A barbell back in my tongue. I had it for four days and then decided that it just really wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. I had managed to pierce it straight, again only God knows how, but I think what I was really going for was just the act of the piercing. I needed to have that addition to my body for a short amount of time to release all of the pent up feelings I had. It worked and I then decided that I could wait for a professional. I did later have my tongue pierced by a professional but that is the third chapter in the story of my tongue piercing.
The bottom line is, if you do decide that self piercing is the only way to go be careful. More careful than I was! Try to learn some sort of knowledge about the area you're piercing. If you're under 18 and simply can't wait, I urge you to try harder to be patient. Trust me, those years fly by faster than you realize and adulthood will come soon enough. Likewise, whatever part of your body you're wanting to pierce will be there for the rest of your life, hopefully anyway! Understand what you could potentially do to your body if you mess up and be ready to take responsibility for those possibilities.
Happy piercing and be safe.