Yes, ever since I had seen the pictures of tongue webs a few years ago, I knew that I definitely wanted mine done. There was just something about it that made it seem even cooler than a tongue piercing...maybe it was the fact that it was a little bit rarer, maybe it was the fact that it's completely non-visible unless you want it to be, I don't know, all I knew was that I really wanted it. I thought about it, and almost tried piercing it once about a year ago, but at that point I was definitely not experienced enough in piercing to even know how to do it safely, and thank God, I didn't do it.
At A Glance Author Rusch_19 Contact Rusch_19@bme.anon When A month ago Artist me Studio my bathroom I'm not going to say I forgot about it, because I most certainly did not, but I just figured that it would be something that I would get done eventually--by a professional. Then, one day, there I was, sitting in my algebra II class, staring into space, when I heard the girls in front of me going, "ewww! Why would you pierce that!" to another girl, and I looked over just in time to see her lift up her tongue to show to the others. I normally do not talk to this group of people, but I made sure to put in my two cents, and I told the girl how cool I thought it was. She agreed with me, and I do not know if it was her having it and knowing that she did it herself, or if it was how gross everyone else thought it was, or if it was just seeing it, but I knew that I wanted it--soon. I told myself in my mind that I was going to do it that weekend, but I did not know if my plans would actually happen. I mean, come on, this was, after all, the first piercing I had done that was NOT in my ears. I had to march in the parade that weekend for band, and I knew it would probably hurt if I did it right before that, so I went to the parade fully prepared to do the piercing as soon as I got home. After the parade, when my friends asked what I was going to do for the rest of the day, I said I was going to go home and pierce my tongue webbing--and I almost could not believe the words coming out of my mouth.
But enough of my life story.
I got home and prepared myself to do it. This piercing was quite hard to do, but only because it is very hard to keep your tongue suctioned to the roof of your mouth for any more than a minute. Trust me--I thought it would be easy, but it was the hardest part. The hardest part other than the spit, that is. When you do this, your mouth is going to produce saliva like no other, so what I did was took a couple small balls of wadded up toilet paper and stuck them in my cheeks in order to keep the spit from making things slippery--and it worked very very well. Once I got everything ready and sterilized--by the way, I used hydrogen peroxide and a match to sterilize the needle and jewelry, as well as washing my hands with soap and water before I touched ANYTHING that was going in my mouth. These are not the best things to use, and I would suggest some kind of a saline solution with no additives for sterilization for anyone who is going to do this--I put the needle to my tongue webbing. Be warned, when you put the needle up against the webbing, it feels like it is going to hurt HORRIBLY, but the piercing really is not that bad once you get the needle through the entrance hole. I poked the needle up against the edge of the webbing and thought to myself once more, "am I really going to do this?" After that, I did. It's pretty hard to do without any kind of clamp, because the skin stretches like crazy, so you will have to make sure that both your hands are very very clean, and somehow hold the skin in one place while you shove the needle through--at least that is what I did, and it worked. Now, people will tell you that when you do this piercing you are going to feel a "pop," and that is very true, because I did, and after the pop, there is basically no more pain. The thing that you need to be very cautious of is that once you get the needle through, the skin is going to stretch very easily, so you have to try to hold the needle in one place.
After I got the needle through, I knew the piercing would not be ready for jewelry right away, so I went to my room and tried to keep myself entertained on the internet for a while. But, I really really REALLY wanted to get the jewelry in so I could say I was done, so I FOOLISHLY went back to the bathroom only about 15 minutes after and took the needle out. Well guess what, the hole practically closed up, and I basically had to re-pierce it on one side. This happened twice, and was by far the most painful part of the whole procedure. What I would strongly suggest to you is to wait at least a half an hour before putting the jewelry in. It may seem like a long time, but you will thank me when you only have to try once.
Once I got the jewelry in, the piercing was VERY easy to get used to. I could talk normally right away, and it was VERY easy to hide from my parents. The only problem with it was that it got quite sore if I talked a lot, and it was very hard to get used to eating "normal" foods for a few days. Yes, for a few days I lived off liquids, which were preferably frozen. Of course, that makes sense, because when you talk or chew your food, your tongue moves around A LOT, and when it moves, it is basically ripping the hole. It helped me to take ibuprofen if it got really sore, and of course, as I said, to eat frozen things...or at least cold things. This only lasted a week, however, and since then it has been just fine.
I have come to absolutely LOVE this piercing in the month and a half that I have had it--I do not think I could stress that any more. The reason I am writing this is to make a statement--and that is that anyone who wants this piercing (and knows VERY WELL of what they are doing) should go ahead and do it. I've heard horror stories, and I've heard good stories, but from personal experience, I have found that this is one of the most painless and by far one of the easiest piercings I have ever done--and I've done quite a few since/before the tongue web. It is quite dangerous to pierce your tongue on your own, but because of how thin the tongue webbing is, I found it very easy to pick the place I was going to piercing and feel around it a bit, just to make sure I wasn't about to poke it through any veins or nerves. Be aware, if you do this piercing wrong, you most certainly COULD end up in the emergency room, and that is VERY IMPORTANT for people to know. Make sure you know the vital signs of something like this, such as--massive headaches (which are a sign of a damaged nerve), bad swelling, massive bleeding, any kind of weird numbness in your tongue or face, or any kind of veins popping out of your tongue or anywhere in your face (and trust me, it happens). Make absolutely sure that you sterilize everything very well, and rinse your mouth out with at least water after eating or drinking anything--try to avoid using mouthwash unless you dilute it with water, because the alcohol in it is too strong for a fresh piercing, and will slow healing time. In all actuality, it is quite hard for a piercing in your mouth to get infected, because your saliva has certain properties that will prevent infection, but if it does happen, you may want to seek professional help. The most important thing you can do in the case of an infection is to make sure you DO NOT take the jewelry out, as the infection will get caught inside the skin when it closes and you will most likely form a strange abscess underneath your tongue (and who wants that??). You should also be aware that migration and rejection are HIGHLY common with these piercings, so you cannot be too disappointed if it happens. I do not know if this is true at all, but from what I have heard, it helps if you try not to move/stretch your tongue too much during the healing process, which I think makes sense, but again, I do not know if it is true.
I am not going to say not to pierce yourself, but I am going to say that if you do, it is going to be very stupid if you do not know what you are doing. This piercing is relatively safe, but if something does go wrong, you must know how to correct it. Feel free to email me with any questions you may have--I would be very happy to help!! Be safe and happy piercing!