Let me first start off by saying that DIY are not always easy, accurate and certainly not safe. Despite the success of some peoples experiences with self piercing, especially with webs, I highly recommend going to a professional. If you manage to dodge the veins, it gets infected quite easily. Leave this one for a professional piercer. Anyway, on with the show.
At A Glance Author carrie When A month ago Artist Myself. Studio In my room. Location Vancouver, Canada. I have loved piercings since ... well I can't even remember. Let's just say a long time. However my parents, like most, did not feel the same way. They just can't imagine their daughter getting needles shoved through her body, let alone her face. So, that pretty much eliminated the idea of asking them for their permission.
For my 14th birthday, I got my navel pierced. Never really liked the idea much, but I got it anyway. My parents thought this would satisfy my thirst for piercings, but it didn't. So it shouldn't surprise you that not long after I was searching BME for another piercing idea. Of course I loved lip piercing, and nostril piercings, but as soon as my parents saw them, they would be furious and demand I take them out. I was about to abandon my quest for a new piercing when I stumbled upon the tongue web. And that, my friend, is where the troubles began.
Soon after I found it I started plotting. When I was going to do it, where, with what, etc. I went to the mall the next day to get a barbell for it. When I told the girl at the till I was doing it myself, she gave me a worried look and told me I should get it professionally done. I didn't listen to her, of course.
When I got home, I found that nobody was home. What a perfect time to do it, I thought. So I whipped out a sewing needle and I put it in boiling water for ten minutes while I cleaned the barbell.
Finally it was time (by this point I was pretty nervous, might I add). I sat down in front of my mirror and pin pointed a good spot for the piercing. I counted to three, and shoved the needle through. It didn't hurt the first time. So I took the needle out and tried to insert the barbell, and it didn't fit. I think that I pierced the same spot at least five times before I was able to push the barbell through. And THAT hurt. I smiled at my success when I finally got the barbell in. But what did I know? I was then faced with an even MORE complicated task.
Putting the ball on the barbell is VERY VERY difficult. Not only do you have limited space to work with, you drool a lot, making everything a whole lot worse. So there I was trying to cram both hands in my mouth, unable to keep the saliva in my mouth, JUST trying to screw on a tiny metal ball. Well I dropped that damn thing so many times, I finally lost it. Where it is now is unknown to me. Luckily, I whipped out my tin of body jewelery, and selected a ball which was a bit larger but was made for the same size barbell. With a lot of effort, I finally got the ball on. This was hours later. As in like three or four hours later. So obviously my web was extremely swollen by this time. Not to mention, the whole underside of my tongue was aching.
I couldn't eat, I could hardly talk, and lets face it, it just sucked.
I decided it was getting late, and I may as well head off to bed, so thats what I did. Well, I woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat with my tongue aching like hell. I decided then that it wasn't worth keeping the piercing, so I just took it out then and there.
While I missed it being there when I woke up, and even for a couple of the days that followed, I'm glad I took it out. I realize now that something bad may have happened had I not removed it that night. However, I do miss it. It IS quite a cool piercing. But now, all I have left of it is an upraised white dot to mark my foolishness.
I do still quite like the tongue web piercing. It's pretty uncommon, it's interesting, and not to mention is REALLY easy to hide from your folks. On the downside, it can get infected pretty easily and has to be cleaned on a regular basis, even though I did not leave mine in long enough to find this out for myself.
In addition to all of this, and as far as the tongue web does (especially DIY), I would highly recommend thinking this piercing over, which I regrettably did not before proceeding with such an unwise and hasty decision.
Good luck and happy piercing.