At A Glance
Author	Kaycee
Contact	crazyriotgirl@yahoo.com
When	It just happened
Artist	DIY

***Don't pierce yourself. Go to a professional. What I did was not brilliant, and I put myself at risk for injury and infection. This is not a how-to, I'm just sharing what happened.***

So two nights ago, I was sitting in my room bored. (This is the way all great DIY experiences start out...trust me.) I had a collection of 9 (now 10) piercings, and I am hopelessly addicted. I've wanted another for some time now, but because of my job and my having Nazi's for parents ("If you get your nose pierced, you'll be paying your own tuition!"), I haven't really been able to add Number Ten.

So I am sitting in my room browsing through BME piercing pics and I click into the tongue section and start looking at the tongue-web photos. I have looked at these pictures before, but it never really struck me as something I just had to have. I've been thinking of getting another hidden piercing, though, so this began to sound promising. I read a few experiences, not really thinking seriously about it when the idea dawns on me. I don't really have the spare cash right now to do this, but I'm reading lots of successful DIY experiences. I just kinda decided to do it.

I try to find some appropriate jewelry first. I have a small barbell that is probably about 16 gauge. It was used as an ear piercing stud in a gun at the mall (I know, very bad), so one end is sharp. I ventured through my mom's sewing kit and found a curved needle. I was feeling like a dumbass that night, so I didn't bother to clean anything. I did decide to swish some strong mouthwash for a while and wash my hands before I did anything.

The first couple of attempts were failed. I held the stud up next to the web to check for placement. When I decided on where I wanted it, I held the needle next to the web and pressed. Nothing. Tongue webbing is some very stretchy tissue. I put my finger on the other side and pressed again, to no avail. The needle was not sharp enough.

I went back for a sharper needle and found one. I repositioned the needle against the web, put my finger on the other side and pushed. When I felt the tip of the needle against my finger, I brought it away and looked to see. Sure enough, the very tip of the needle was through the web. I wasn't sure if it had gone through or not because I felt absolutely no pain. I pushed the needle through (on the right side) and used my fingernail to keep the skin from stretching as the needle slid through the hole. No pain whatsoever.

At this point I was a little nervous. I hadn't really thought the whole process through, and now I was left with my mouth stuck open and a rather large curved needle sticking out of my mouth. I couldn't swallow or pull my tongue back or the needle could rip through the web. I took a couple of breaths and picked up the barbell. I unscrewed the ball and slid the needle backwards out of the hole. I aimed the barbell for the now invisible hole and pressed. I re-aimed and pressed again. After a couple of tries, I realized that this barbell was too large to fit through a small hole made with a solid needle. Damnit.

I searched through my jewelry box through all my different sizes of jewelry. I've stretched my ear lobes, so I have lots of bars and rings from 14g to 0g, but nothing smaller. I settled on another ear piercing stud, this time just a normal earring sized one. I knew it wouldn't work long term, but at the moment I just wanted something to keep the hole open until I could find something more suitable. I made a mental note to head to the mall the next day, and sat back down in front of the mirror to work this earring into my tongue web. (Strange way to kill time, but boredom is dangerous, I suppose.)

I aimed the sharp earring at where I thought the hole was and wiggled it a bit. I watched on the other side as the tip found the opening and slid right through. Relief! Fresh holes make me nervous without jewelry in them. I worry that I won't be able to get the jewelry back in and they will close before I can get help. Anyway, I sat back to breathe for a minute and admire my new piercing, but as I lifted my tongue up to look underneath, the earring tipped to the heavier side (the side with the ball on it) and slid down into the bottom of my mouth. I managed to catch it and push it back through before the end was completely out of the hole. Tongue web holes are very hard to find without a mark or jewelry in them. So I found the back to the earring (just a regular butterfly back) and had one hell of a time snapping it on. I knew it was dirty from wearing it in my ears, but I was still being a dumbass, so I didn't care.

It's really hard to get the backing on tongue web jewelry. You have to be able to hold the bar still while your tongue wants to move it around, calculate which way it's REALLY moving, because you're looking in a mirror, hold the back straight, and aim correctly. Then, once you've got it to the correct location, pressing it on is a problem because the damn earring slips out the other side, unless you can hold it in place. Why would that be a problem? Oh...I forgot to mention...You have to be able to fit both hands in your mouth. It's really a neat trick.

I let it stay this way, with the grungy earring back, for about 10 minutes as I wandered around my room, feeling it out and talking in the mirror to see how visible it was. The back started rubbing on the bottom of my tongue almost immediately. Something had to be done. I first considered a barrel back, but while I was looking through my jewelry box again, I saw some little clear backs, like the kind you slide on fishhook earrings to keep them in. Just a little clear donut that's a bit stretchy. That would be more comfortable than another metal back. I took the butterfly back off and slid the donut on. Much better. I later found another longer clear back to put on in addition to the first one, which extended past the pointy end of the earring, keeping it from stabbing my gums as the jewelry moved around.

This is what I wore in my tongue web over the next two nights and at work the next day. It took some searching through stores at the mall to find the right barbell I was looking for. Examining the clear backings on my earring stud had led me to another decision. The earring was hidden for the most part, as it was under my tongue. It was a bit visible at times when I talked, though, and my mom would absolutely murder me if she found out how I chose to spend my time that night. (She's not a big fan of the tongue piercings or DIY jobs, so the combination of the two would not go over well.) I discovered that the clear backings were invisible even to ME, when I was looking right at them. I decided to buy a clear retainer. It took me until after work today (two days later) to make it to the mall. Walmart had a 16g clear barbell, but it had screw-on ball ends, and I didn't think there was any way I would be able to get them screwed on once it was in my mouth. I needed the kind with an O-ring end. Claires and the Icing had these, but only in 14 gauge. That was too big. I was working with a hole the size of a stud. I finally found a 16g clear retainer with the O-ring end at Spencers. It's flat on one end, curved, and probably meant for an eyebrow. It would work though.

I got it home, washed my hands and swished with mouthwash again. I laid everything out next to me on a clean towel and turned on a lamp for some extra light. I opened wide to the mirror and dug in. I used two pairs of tweezers to get the clear backs off of the earring and then slid it out of the hole. I used a curved needle that was larger than the earring stud to try to taper the hole a little bit, but it slid through without any problem, so I don't suppose it did much of anything. I could still see where the hole was if I looked hard enough, so I put the end of the retainer up against the web and pressed. I knew it was in the right spot this time, so I pressed harder until it went through with a little *POP* sound. Hooray! This didn't hurt either. Really. I wouldn't lie to you.

That was the easy part, however. Now I was in for a treat- trying to get the tiny microscopic clear O-ring onto the notch at the end of the retainer. Theoretically it seemed easy. Just hold the flat end of the retainer with one hand, press the ring on with the other. I will spare you the messy details, but I will tell you that getting this O-ring on took about 20 minutes, involved two cotton balls and a q-tip, two pairs of tweezers, some crafty maneuvering with my tongue, and about three search-and-rescue missions for the damn ring when it flew off the tweezers and got lost on my bathroom floor. Tiny clear things are not an easy item to find when lost. I finally got it though, and you better believe there was a victory dance.

This is only the second full day of my new piercing, so I can't really tell you anything about the healing process. I am trying to use mouthwash after I eat or drink. My tongue web right below the jewelry is swollen up on both sides, which I believe is irritation from the earring rubbing against it. Hopefully with the new retainer there will be less irritation and it will heal better.

This is the story of my DIY tongue web piercing. I hope that if you are going to try this, you will be smarter than I was. Please. Don't be a dumbass. =D