My Tongue ring story starts about a year before I got it. @ other friends and I decided to get it on the same day. It was planned that we would have it done and then stay for 2 weeks at my friend's house while her parents were away on holiday. The kink in the plan came when her parents had a huge fight and landed up canceling the holiday and seeing as my parents were never going to let me leave it in if they caught me with it , unless I had alternative accommodation for the healing period, I wouldn't be able to go through with it. So matric came and went and I was packing my bags to fly to Israel for a year.
At A Glance Author LadyRaven Contact LadyRaven@bme.anon IAM LadyRaven When Five years ago Location Afula , Israel The tongue ring kind of slipped my mind in all the excitement (my other 2 friends have much more "cool" parents who didn't mind so much about the piercings so they went ahead and got them).I went away and during the Passover holidays my group and I went to Eilat...then everyone went for a piercing, some for 2 and I happened to be lucky enough NOT to have the money for it. Turned out I was lucky because 5 out of the 6 of them got serious infections and 3 of them eventually had to take the tongue rings out.
The year went on and finally in October of 2002 an opportunity arose. A friend of mine on the kibbutz offered to take me to Afula to get it done. Now some people who don't know Afula that well might have thought I had more luck with the guy down in Eilat but you would be wrong.
A small trip to the supermarket to get baby food and soft stuff and off to the piercer we went. The shop was small but very very clean. You had 1 guy getting a tattoo in the back and myself and my entourage. (The friend from the kibbutz and 2 friends of mine from the group).
My one friend came in with me to hold my hand. I was petrified. Excited but PETREFIED. I had heard stories from everyone else about the amount of blood that comes flooding out. About various experiences with pain. About having to not smoke at all until it healed. I also had seen what happened to some of the other people and how a few months down the line their tongues were still swollen or how many of them had chipped teeth or swallowed balls. Then there was the thought of what my parents would do, would they make me waste my money and take it out, would they disown me (which was a completely irrational thought). I was being very pessimistic but I was there and there was no changing my mind.
So the steps went on. Stick my tongue out to see if it was piercable (this was the scariest moment because I really really wanted one and was going to cry if I couldn't have one). Yes it was , excellent, next step. So he drew the dots the needle and piercing sterilising so long. Clamped my tongue . The needle was still a little hot and it was sore when it pierced but not when it went through and the bar was sore when it first touch but not when it went through. There was very little blood and I didn't even squeeze gently on my friends hand. The only pain I felt through the whole process was the 2 pricks and a strange sensation of pins and needles on my tongue.
Feeding myself was like feeding a baby because my tongue was so swollen but it was funny and it made everyone else laugh. I followed the aftercare to a T , washing my mouth after each and every cigarette, bite, sip to make sure that I wouldn't have any infections.
I was eating solid food by the next week and could speak with barely any lisp unless I was very tired. I discovered that you push your tongue forward when you cough in a very painful way but otherwise 1 month later the swelling was completely down and I could change my ring to a smaller one , just in time to see my family. I just had to control playing with it. Changing to a smaller bar helped with curtailing how much I played with it but it took a few month for me to, I suppose, get bored of playing with it all the time. It became a good warning flag for when I was drunk or flirting I would play with it.
I don't regret it , not for minute. I love it. It is a part of me now and if it ever migrates I will re-pierce. When I take it out every now and again I really feel like a piece of me is missing, like a tooth has fallen out or a piece of my tongue is missing.