Ok, well I think I should start by saying that I got my tongue pierced when I was 14- yes 14. It was my first body piercing. Though I was very mature for my age at the time and did look older than that it probably was not the best idea to chose to get my tongue pierced at that age. My second mistake was to chose the "studio" that I did. HairTraffic is- as the name suggests- a hair salon that offers other beauty related services such as like waxing and all that stuff but also ear ( cheaply with guns) and body piercing.
At A Glance Author Ana Contact cafeaero@hotmail.com When Five years ago Artist Jean- I think her name was Studio HairTraffic Location Belfast Background stuff about me (don't bother reading this- the experience comes later)
I first saw a tongue piercing when I was a very young kid and loved it on sight. My parents are against piercing so I had to find a way to get it done and hide it from them- please don't try this. You should really be old enough to take responsibility for your actions and not have to lie. (Practice what you preach aye? Don't bother taking my advice it seems awfully hypocritical right now.)
Anyway the other thing that made me really really want to get it done was I go to one of the best schools in the country (academically anyway) and wearing a uniform and having strict rules to do with that made me really want to do something different that wouldn't get me expelled and to say a big F-you to all the cloned girls who go to my school. So there we go.
Getting it done
Humm... well that was a problem. I knew exactly where I wanted to get it done and it is where I've got most of my piercings since- Skinworks. That place is by far the best place to get tattoo's and piercings in Belfast. They are reliable and I have heard my excellent reports of piercings from there (as well as my own more recent ones). Of coarse they require proper ID for all people getting mods done in there so it was out of the question.
My lack of ID lead me to end up going to HairTraffic- its name is now HairAppartment- I would never recommend this place it was only as a last resort to be honest. By along came the Friday I had planned to get it done on and there was I, accompanied by my friend Sarah both of us nervous as hell and I was so ready to change my mind but after seeing a group of clones from my school I decided I would just bite my tongue (not literally of coarse) and go through with it. You are required to be 18 at HairTraffic but they don't tend to ID.
The procedure
We waited in a horrible room on the top floor, on a sofa with about a dozen other people around the place for nearly an hour. I filled out the forms (all the usual stuff- name, address, date of birth, what piercing your getting done, accepting that its your own fault if something goes wrong etc.) Employee's came up with alcohol in plastic bags and sat in one of the adjoining rooms smoking and gossiping. I should have left then but young and stupid I guess. I was called into the small piercers room. It was very small and had a bed, a sink, a little desk and about 4 cabinets. It was very dimly lit with just a few candles burning and a covered lamp as if to try and make the place look better. The woman, Jean, was either in her late 40's or early 50's not pierced or tattooed at all (which I've learnt is generally not a good sign). She got me to rinse my mouth with antibacterial mouthwash and then told me to lie down and stick my tongue out. I can't remember if she was wearing gloves but if she didn't she defiantly did not change them once. I stuck my tongue out, she clamped it (after a few attempts) and lifted a needle and barbell out of a bowl of orange liquid. She said she was just checking for views and pushed through the needle from bottom to top.
I felt it pierce the bottom but after that it just felt like warmth was rushing through my tongue in the shape of a needle. It wasn't that bad even though it wasn't frozen. It wasn't painless but I didn't flinch or anything like I thought I would so it seemed fine. It only bled a little bit. She removed the needle and put the barbell in. It took her a few goes to get the balls screwed in. The whole procedure was done so badly but when I looked in the mirror it looked so beautiful I didn't care.
She said eat solid food and come back in 4 weeks to get the bar changed. She reminded me not to keep sticking my tongue in and out of my mouth or I'd rip it. She also said the reason why she hadn't frozen my tongue was because "it was illegal" (that's not at all true).
That was it.
Afterwards and Aftercare
I left and it had already began to swell but Sarah agreed- it looked amazing. It was worth the £30 which had seemed like so much money at the time. I got the train back to Holywood with her, where I was staying with my mum for a week (she lives in Canada but comes over to visit and has her mother take care of her house here). I kept looking at it in the train window.
I tried to eat a simple meal that night but it was very difficult- the bar was several inches long and though it looked good it felt very strange in my mouth and when I tried to eat I kept thinking it was just a piece of food and automatically trying to push it to the side of my mouth to chew- its very sore if you bite down on the metal bar (on your teeth not your tongue though- unless you tug it). It was a few weeks before I got used to eating properly with it and at the same speed.
My tongue did seem very swollen the next morning but I just did a few salt soaks and made sure I slept upright from then on- it seemed to work. My father (who I lived with at the time) is very anti-body mod's and even speaking to him on the phone I could cover up the lisping sound though my tongue did feel a lot heavier and it was exhausting to talk- he only found out I had it done when I told him after moving out.
After about 4days I noticed a white sort of puss secreting from the hole but I've read this is very common and I just kept up with the salt soaks and anti-bacterial mouthwash. The other things I noticed looking at it was that first of all it was off center (I tore it into the center a few weeks later) and that the taste buds around it seemed to have become enlarged- this again was seen to be fairly common and calmed down after a few weeks.
Long story short, one week after I got it pierced I had to change the bar. It was hardly swollen any more (though it was still larger and thicker than it was normally) so I bought a new bar and spent nearly 2hours in the bathroom trying to unscrew the balls which had been put on very tightly. When I did get the bar out it was relatively easy to change- I just needed to get the hang of it.
It felt so much better having the shorter bar in and by that evening I was able to drink alcohol and make out with someone for the first time sine I had it done (being the age I was I can't say if giving oral or anything more would have been possible but I wouldn't recommend it).
After downsizing the bar it was much more comfortable and within 3 days the swelling had completely gone down. It healed fully in the 2weeks that followed- by that I mean all the skin (or muscle) around it seemed to have healed properly and accepted the piercing.
Despite getting it done in a very unreliable place my tongue piercing turned out great and I still have it. Its defiantly one of my favourite piercings- I love it. My boyfriend (who I met shortly after getting it done and have been with since) loves it. Sometimes I take it out for a change but I mean for no more than 10mins because he says he misses it. And when it comes to oral if you can get the hang of it with the bar, its a lot better than without.
Tips
- Rinse your mouth with salt water or antibacterial mouthwash after every time you eat for the first week or two. Though I would defiantly recommend using the salt water as much as you can and the mouthwash no more than once a day because the saline solution does tend to help the piercing heal and keep it clean rather than the mouthwash that can hinder the healing process slightly
- Sleep upright- if you get as many pillows as you can and prop yourself up on them so you're almost vertical it will help the swelling go down faster in the same was you'd keep a swollen ankle elevated
- If you find you begin to lisp try saying the sound at the start of "T" words and then "S" words (so it sounds like "Tuh" and "Suh"). When you say a "T" word the tip of your tongue should reach just behind your front teeth at the roof of your mouth. For "S" words your tongue tip should be slightly behind this and for "CH" words it should be slightly further back. Practice before you get it pierced and you'll get over the lisp quickly
- Carry some salt or a bottle of water with salt around with you- it means if you eat something when you're out during the healing period you can still rinse your mouth easily
- Don't try to change the bar (from the long bar to the short one) yourself unless you're sure and don't take the piercing out for longer than an hour in the first year you get it pierced
- To change the bar I've found the easiest way is to hold the bar between closed teeth and unscrew the ball poking through while keeping the bar still between your teeth then remove that bar and insert the new one. You'll get the hang of it.
Overall this piercing has been the easiest of all my piercings to take care of. The aftercare procedure though was a bit of a pain in the ass to begin with, only lasted about 10days so it was fine and I just had to learn to get on with it. Although there were times when i really felt i could be bothered and it would be so much easier to take it out (because your tongue is quite sore for the first 2 weeks just from talking) it defiantly worth persevering and having a well healed piercing at the end of it all. I have had no problems with my piercing since. I would encourage anyone to get this piercing done and if you have any questions please send me an email. Have fun with your body!