I am not your stereotypical chick with a pierced tongue. Heck, I don't even know what the stereotype is, it's just that every picture that I've found online of a girl with a tongue ring has black hair and pale skin. I work in a very professional environment (when I have a job *read on*)and I'm a girly girl. (with a pink cell phone and everything!)
At A Glance Author Michelle Contact Michelle@bme.anon When N/A Studio CopASet-X Location West Virginia Where to start...
I am going through a lot right now. I just filed for divorce from my abusive husband of three years, our house has a decent bid on it, but it is in the process of being repossessed, my favorite cousin of my whole life told me that I could live with him as long as I wanted (he lives alone in a four bedroom house *ahem* we never cross paths) but suddenly after ONE WEEK couldn't stand having a room mate and asked me to hurry up and move out,(guess I cleaned too much) I had a crush on a friend, and he felt the same, and relocated to be with me, but THE NIGHT he moved he just HAD to see his ex, and I caught them together, and we broke up, and to top everything off...
I got FIRED a week ago!!!
Well not fired actually, more like downsized. "We need to cut back. Fire the newest hire," said the owner. The "newest hire" being me of course. Oh, and did I mention that the crush I mentioned before was hired ten minutes before me? So if his cheating butt had stayed where he came from, I WOULD STILL HAVE A JOB!!!!
*sigh*
Therefore, I needed something...anything...to get my mind off of my LIFE!
So I decided to finally get my tongue pierced. I have wanted a tongue piercing ever since I saw my old boyfriend playing with his between his lips. That was seven years ago. Unfortunately, I have always had a job, and I thought it was very unprofessional to not be able to talk for a week, when my job is to talk to people. But now, I don't have a job to rush back to, so that gives me some healing time before putting in applications. My mom and dad are not going to approve, so I am staying with my best friend for a few nights, until I can talk again.
I figured the physical pain, added to the constant responsibility of this piercing, would help keep my mind occupied. When I reread that paragraph about my life, it looks like NO ONE WANTS ME. But my mom and dad are thrilled to have me living just down the road, and my two best friends still love and support me, and every customer that I have ever had is calling me all the time to check on me (sorry, I just had to remind myself that I am loved...because I really am.)
So anyhoo, today at 2p.m. I made an appointment to get my tongue pierced at 6p.m. I decided Sunday that I was going to have it done, since I'm not working, but yesterday was Labor Day, so I had to wait. After making my appointment, I spent the day with my best friend and her baby. At 5:30, I decided that I was starving...but then I decided that I better not eat so close to getting something in my mouth pierced.
That and I didn't have time to eat.
^_^ Note to person getting pierced: Be sure you eat before you get it done. You don't want to be starving fifteen minutes after you put a hole in your mouth.
I rushed right over to the piercer, who was so experienced that she really didn't want to give more information than necessary...BUT I HAD QUESTIONS! So I asked...while I filled out paperwork that I didn't even read.
^_^ Note to person getting pierced: Read what you're signing.
I was nervous. I have a very high threshold for pain, but I was nervous.
I learned a LONG TIME AGO that if you STAY C-A-L-M that it doesn't hurt nearly as bad.
STAY CALM
STAY CALM
STAY CALM
^_^ Note to person getting pierced: STAY CALM
Easier said than done, I know.
So I kept reminding myself that this girl was a professional, who's MOM owned the place, so she'd been around this stuff her whole life, plus she was very friendly, so that helped, and heck, if I hated the piercing, I could take it out and it would heal right up! I just kept getting nervous, and had to keep reminding myself that it would only hurt for a second.
I asked her if I could use a plastic barbell, because it's been my experience that stainless steel causes me to get infected.
She said that I had to use metal because:
1. It's harder for the balls to unscrew, and
2. The balls won't break if you accidentally chew them...your teeth will...~*eep
^_^ Note to person getting pierced: You have to use metal for the initial tongue ring, because of aforementioned 1 and 2.
HOWEVER, she said she could give me a plastic one for later. I opted for a pink one...less noticeable, but still pretty. ~girly girl remember~ She said I could put it in after three days if the swelling was down.
(Quite frankly, I am not the least bit swollen ~*knock on wood~* I am just uncomfortable. I talk a lot more than I realized.)
She sat me on the chair, and since she is 7 months pregnant, I didn't sit in it traditionally, I sat with my legs dangling over the side.
She handed me a cup of Rite Aid brand mouth wash, and told me to swish until she told me to spit.
So I swished. She told me to spit, and I spit in a little cup. She told me to swish again. I swished. She told me to spit, and I spit in a little cup...but when I spit this time, I spit too hard, and mouthwash bounced out of the cup, and got on my clothes.
^_^ Note to person getting pierced: Spit softly, so you don't get mouthwash on your clothes.
She then had me stick out my tongue, and she looked at it. She said that I have thick webbing, and that it would make healing more painful.
Well, I wasn't going to back out NOW!
I told her to go ahead with it.
She took a paper towel, and dried my tongue, and then clamped it. She didn't draw any dots on it, just inspected it closer, then got the huge needle and stuck in in from the bottom up. If I had known that I would get pierced from the bottom up, it might not have scared me so bad. Something about someone stabbing a needle down through my tongue made it scary. But stabbing UP through wasn't as bad.
^_^ Note to person getting pierced: They pierce from the bottom of your tongue up.
I drooled all over the place! No one told me that I would drool!
^_^ Note to person getting pierced: You will drool during the procedure.
I tried to paper towel the drool off of my chin, but she told me not to worry about it, that she had put paper towels in my lap to catch it...I thought she put those paper towels there to soak up the mouth wash I had spit all over myself. Nope, drool catchers.
Now to the big question: No, it didn't hurt. It pinched the bottom of my tongue for half a second, then it was over. No big whoop.
She put in the ring, and I was ready to go. She said to buy off brand Listerine, because it worked best. I asked about it's alcohol content, since everything I've read online said ABSOLUTELY NO ALCOHOL, but she said it was what worked best for her and her customers.
So off I went...to Kroger's...to buy a new soft tooth brush, sensitive toothpaste, Kroger brand Listerine, pudding, and ice cream
But my stupid butt forgot to buy REAL FOOD!!!
^_^ Note to person getting pierced: Get you some cold mashed potatoes, and Level 2 Baby Food Meat!
Warm food isn't comfortable to eat. Chilled food is more comfortable. Tuna, potted meat, canned chicken, and ham salad actually have chunks in them that you have to chew :( You can't chew, because that new ball on your tongue feels like a bit of food, and you will try to chew it up...even if you are veeeery careful.
^_^ Note to person getting pierced: You can't chew for a while after you get pierced.
So at 11p.m. I was starving, and pudding was not doing it for me. So I went to Wal-Mart to get some baby food and mashed potatoes.
Eating was very very very hard. I was hungry. I had to eat Gerber brand flavorless beef! It was hard, because I had to stick out my tongue, put the spoon near the opening of my throat, rake it off on the back of my tongue, rubbing it over the bar of the tongue ring, and swallow the food.
I could hardly taste anything, because the good taste buds were inaccessible :( My tongue ring was in the way!
^_^ Note to person getting pierced: If you salt baby food, it tastes better.
So since I didn't know how to eat, I got online to research eating with this new toy in my mouth, and I stumbled across this site, where I read about a girl who went partying the same night as she got her tongue ring, and was eating hot food within 72 hours. Not me!
My tongue ring is so LONG that it takes up every inch of my mouth. I can't talk! It's uncomfortable to talk! The piercer said that my tongue ring right now is an inch long, and that standard ones are 1/4 inch? All I know is it is uncomfortable, and I am HUNGRY.
So I am off to figure out how to eat, before I starve to death, and I hope that my little tale of affliction sheds some light on some finer points of getting a tongue pierced that even after years of research, I didn't know. I didn't like being surprised, and I am sure that if you've found this post, you don't want to be surprised either!!!
So GOOD LUCK! I'm going to need it!
^_^ Note to person getting pierced: I really wanted it, so I think it's worth it :)
-Michelle