I had a needle phobia, so getting my tongue pierced was a huge step for me. Out of all the piercings there are, the thought of getting my tongue pierced freaked me out the most. But it was also the one I wanted the most, so I knew I'd have to just suck it up and go for it.
At A Glance Author Mandi Contact Mandi@bme.anon When Three months ago Artist Jack Studio Ink Stainz Location Mississippi I had been going with my fiance to Ink Stainz and felt pretty comfortable there, so that's where I decided to have it done. The place is clean and neat and I knew they did good work from looking at my fiance's tattoos he'd gotten there. I went alone. Man oh man, I was nervous as hell on the drive to the studio and nothing changed while I was walking into the place. My hands were shaking as I filled out the forms and paid the lady behind the counter. My mind was full of horrible thoughts of passing out or else just completely losing it and having a panic attack.
Thankfully, there wasn't much of a wait. As soon as I had the paperwork done Jack came out from the back of the place with a little cup of blue stuff. He told me to rinse for a full minute, then spit. He waited outside the bathroom while I did this, then it was on to the room where Jack does his work.
Jack told me to sit on the bench, so I sat. I told him how nervous I was and rather than saying "It's ok, just calm down, breathe" he was very cool and calm about the whole thing, like it was no big deal, and that relaxed me some. He told me exactly what he was going to do. I asked him if he would tell me just before he actually put the needle through so I wouldn't jump, but he said no - he was just going to do it so it would be over with before I knew it. I told him that I thought I would be okay as long as I could close my eyes and not look at the needle going through my tongue, but he said not to even worry about that because I wouldn't be able to see it if I tried to look.
He had me dry off my tongue, then he marked it with ink and let me look. It looked perfect to me. Then it was time to do the actual piercing. He'd told me ahead of time that I would feel the clamp more than anything else, but it didn't hurt when he put that on. He warned me not to put my tongue back in my mouth until he said it was okay, and then the proceeded.
When the needle went through it wasn't anything like I expected. I just felt a little prick under my tongue, some pressure, and then it was over. He put the barbell in before I even knew what was going on, then let me put my tongue back in my mouth. All in all, the piercing smarted but it wasn't bad at all. Biting my tongue hurts worse! He put the balls on and then that was it. I finally had my tongue piercing. I had an adrenaline rush from hell and was lightheaded, but otherwise okay.
He told me how to take care of it, then gave me more blue stuff to rinse with. When I was in the bathroom I looked at it more closely. It had bled some but not a lot and it rinsed away with the mouthwash. And it was sore, but not bad at all. I was so proud of myself!
The first day it didn't swell too much, though it felt weird to talk. I kept feeling the bar slide in and out. Eating and talking took a lot of getting used to. I found that if I wasn't careful I would bite the bar and it hurt my tongue. That night it started to swell, but it went away after a couple of days.
The healing process wasn't bad. I used a saline rinse that I bought at the studio. I drank lots of ice water to keep the swelling down and ate soft stuff until I thought I could chew, which was only about two days after the piercing. On day three I started to play with it a little and after a week it looked normal again, but still a little sore. After two weeks it felt fine.
Now, three months later, I'm loving it and I'm so glad I had it done! Jack did a wonderful job, it looks perfect and it has never given me any problems at all. I would recommend it to anyone who wants it done. It does hurt but not nearly as bad as you'd think. It's really nothing to be afraid of!