It all started when I went to see about getting my tongue pierced, I went to the studio and asked them and they said that they would not be able to pierce it as my tongue web was too large. So on this particular occasion I ended up getting my septum pierced instead (which I now love!).
At A Glance Author Ben Mottershead Contact Ben Mottershead@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist i dont know her name, the girl with the funky hair! Studio Holier than Thou Location Manchester I was happy with having just my septum and my nipple pierced until I got the itch to get something else pierced. I was limited to what I could have as I was just about to start my GCSE exams and even though I am 16, my mum does not like piercings and I respect this so I needed something I could hide. I was thinking about the possibilities and then I remembered about how I could not have my tongue pierced due to my large tongue web, so why not get a piece of metal shoved through that instead!
So it was decided. As soon as I got together the £20 I needed I headed down to Holier than Thou to enquire about the piercing. They remembered me and they did not even ask to look at my web as they already knew it was huge as they could not pierce my tongue a couple of weeks before.
So before I knew it, I was yet again stood at the desk signing the form thing and then I was called into the back. The girl who did the piercing was very friendly and reassuring. I was not too nervous as I was told it would be nothing compared to my septum. She got all the stuff together and prepared my mouth. Like I said I have a very large tongue web and I chose to have the piercing quite far back on my web because the closer to the tip you get, the thinner the skin becomes. I wanted to have it pierced through quite thick skin as there would be less chance of rejection/ripping out. I chose to have the piercing done with a 1.6x14mm bar (I thought the extra length would be better to allow for swelling). Then came the clamps, these did not hurt but they were very uncomfortable as I had to keep my mouth open for so long! Talk about jaw ache!
Then came the needle. She did not draw dots as there would have been little point. The needle was through my tongue web before I knew it. She did the piercing very quickly and a couple of seconds later she swapped the needle for the bar. There was pretty much no pain, just a quick, sharp sting.
The next part of the piercing was slightly more difficult though. We still had the difficult task of screwing on the ball. My jaw was already aching from keeping my mouth open for that long and I was in slight shock from the rush of the actual piercing, so having to sit there having a fresh wound fiddled around with did not really appeal to me!
She tried to screw the ball on using her fingers but this did not work so she got out these little pliers to keep hold of the bar so she could screw it on. With these pliers she had no problem and I was done.
She then proceeded to explain aftercare and told me to come back if I had any problems. I walked out into the front, thanked everyone and paid and was on my way. It swelled up ever so slightly but it was hardly noticeable. Eating and talking was no problem. To clean the piercing I used Listerine but this made the piercing swell up even more as it is not alcohol free, so I never used it again. I switched to tech 2000 and this did the trick nicely. My web healed in about 3 weeks
I took the bar out the other day to clean it as it had a lot of plaque stuck to it and when it came to put it back in I couldn't find the hole so I decided it would probably be best for the sake of my teeth and oral health to leave it out.
I would once again like to thank the people at Holier than Thou as they are friendly and professional and make the piercings very bearable! I would say to anyone who is thinking about getting this piercing, think very carefully about your oral health, however it is a fun piercing to have and play with! My maths teacher had the most boring voice ever, which doesn't help when your teaching a boring subject! I don't think I could have got through his lessons without having this piercing under my tongue to play with! Thank god I have now left school!