Ah, where to begin? I suppose I will start with an introduction of myself. I am a 21 year old, white male and the piercing/s I wish to relate to you is my tongue piercings. The first was a single, done some where in Bowling Green, Kentucky, the next a triple preformed in Flagler Beach, Florida at the Inflicting Beauty Studio by Draven. To the date of this article I have had it for a little more than a year now and still love it. First I will go over my original tongue piercing and then the triple tongue piercing I had preformed two years later.
At A Glance Author Thesonofsam Contact Thesonofsam@bme.anon When A year ago Artist Draven Studio Inflicting Beauty Location Flaglar Beach, FL My first piercing was a single tongue piercing, done almost three and a half years ago in Bowling Green, Kentucky. I had known for years I wanted my tongue pierced, though I honestly couldn't tell you why. I know very few people with one, and look up to none of them. Neither was it a sexual enhancement as I was extremely sexually inexperienced at the age of 14, the first time I can remember actually wanting one. Perhaps it was youthful rebellion in the face of my parents' complete and total rejection of the idea.
Regardless of the "why" I found myself at the age 18 free from their control, several hundred miles away in college. At this point I had no piercings, modifications or tattoos; not even my ear lobes. A few weeks after arriving I had a few dollars in my hands at the moment and someone brought up a local tattoo parlor. I had a free afternoon and decided to tag along to get my tongue finally pierced. I do not now remember the name of the shop, but that will probably better for them. I was astounded by how quickly the whole process was over. Very simply: I paid, signed a wavier and consent form and was pierced in a manor of ten minutes. Aftercare was explained to me, and I left. I discovered several weeks later, by my fault or the piercer's, the piercing was crooked. The angle was tilted toward the front of my mouth and to the left a little. I would rate the pain as something akin to a shot on the shoulder. Not severe enough to cause a grunt, but enough to make you tense for a moment. I would rate my own pain tolerance as somewhere between moderate and high. Meaning, I tolerate pain better than most people, or so I think.
Aftercare was the hardest part for me. Most difficult was my inability to use my tongue to move food around in my mouth for the first three days. I lived off apple sauce, slightly melted ice cream and popsicles during this period. Normally I am a very, very fast eater. I couldn't tell you why, I just always have been. I've actually been asked on several occasions how long I was "in," referring to prison. So this was agonizing for me. I found myself just sort of snacking all day, as I am just too damn impatient to try and eat apple sauce for longer than 20 minutes at a time. I periodically washed my mouth with a diluted mouthwash mixture for the next week, and continued to do so three times a day for the next week.
Over the period of the next few months I gradually gauged it out to an 8 gauge. I could easily slide a tooth pick through the hole (which I did often at work, the effect on some people was amusing to say the least) at this point.
A few months later, I took a job which didn't allow facial piercings, including tongue piercings. After several months of taking it out and putting it back in each day and occasionally losing the barbell, I took it out once and for all. Over the next few weeks it gradually closed.
Fast forward two years and I had a new job that didn't care about that sort of thing. In the time since passed, I had gotten a small tattoo at Inflicting Beauty, on Flagler Beach and purchased several replacement barbells. I decided it was time to get it repierced. The thing with me, is that I can't seem to ever do anything the "normal" way. If I was going to go through that god-awful healing process all over again, I might as well get it done more than once, at the same time and be done with it. I can remember asking Draven, Inflicting Beauty's resident piercer (and a really cool guy) how many times he was comfortable piercing a tongue. He told me "Dude, I can pierce it as many times as you can take it." I decided on three and we got started. He carefully marked my tongue about where I specified and we debated the exact placement for a moment. He wanted to know exactly where the first piercing had been so he'd know when he'd need to go through scar tissue.
The first pierce felt much the same as the one I'd gotten two years ago. Moderate but very tolerable pain; much akin to a shot in the shoulder at the doctor's office. With that I got an adrenaline rush. This had gone through scar tissue, though it seemed no different to me. Draven proceeded right into the next one, working from back to front in a straight line down my tongue. After a few tries, he got the clamps in the right spot and did the second one. WHAM! My adrenaline shot through the roof! The feeling was amazing though. The piercing was painful, but the rush, elating. I clearly remember my vision tinting an almost golden color for a few seconds at this point. Draven, I suppose alarmed by my reaction, asked me if I was going to pass out. I remember smiling and saying something along the lines of "No, keep going man. I'm good." Draven had a much harder time getting the clamps in place this time. I had to concentrate very, very hard to hold my tongue still because of the adrenaline. Eventually he got them placed and finished the job. Pain wise, this time was worse than the first. Not because the needles hurt more this time, but the clamp on my tongue was painfully tight and directly next to the fresh piercings. Honestly the clamp hurt more than the needle.
Aftercare was the same as the last time, for the most part. I rinsed with a mouth wash mix, but this time also rinsed with a sea salt mixture. I'm not sure if this works for everyone, but this time, my aftercare was much, much, much less problematic (and with two new piercings to boot.) Swelling went down much sooner and I had a much easier time with eating this time.
I have had the piercings about a year and a half now. I wear an acrylic ball in the top back and bottom front to help prevent damage to my teeth. I love my piercings and would do it all again in a heart beat.