I have had my tongue pierced before but decided to do it again. I am new in town (Crossville) but everyone I asked said to go to Cookeville (30 miles away) to Alley Cat Studio because they were the best and cleanest. I heard some things about the other shops but I was not impressed. I called to get their hours of operation and decided on a day to go. They said I wouldn't need an appointment for a piercing that I could just come in whenever I was ready. Finally the day came. I picked Tuesday because I would have a couple of days off from work and that might give me enough time to let my tongue rest after getting it pierced. The first time I had it pierced it was sore and swollen for over a week and I was hoping it would not be that bad this time. The day finally came and I was off to get my tongue pierced. When I got to the shop it was pretty busy but they said they would get to me in a minute. Which was cool because a couple of other people get some piercings and that somehow made me feel better. I used my time to check out the artists portfolios they had out and the tattoo work was better than I expected from a small town shop. Also they had a tv with a movie playing so I could watch that if I got bored. While I was looking around I noticed the health department inspections were posted on the wall and they all had 100 on them. This made me feel a lot better. Where I was from I do not think the health department ever inspected the tattoo and piercing shops so it was good to know that in Tennessee they cared enough to check them out. Anyway after they took care of the people in front of me it was my turn. I had a few questions first so I asked questions about marking and veins and stuff and they said that most piercings are marked to make sure they are straight that they did not need to with the tongue because something to do with the forceps. They said that the bigger veins usually run along the sides of the tongue and they would be piercing in between the two muscles and any veins on the surface there would be visible and avoided. But he also said there are some veins running deeper in the tongue that no one would be able to see no matter what but it was rarely a problem. He told me that he does at least 1000 tongue piercings per year since '98 and has yet to have anyone bleed out of control. He said some people bleed a bit and some don't at all...everyone is different.
At A Glance Author arch stanton Contact exael99@hotmail.com When N/A Artist chuck Studio alley cat Location cookeville tn I also had jewelry from before and was told that it would need to be sterilized in a autoclave and it also would have to be a certain size/length but the jewelry was included in the price (25.00) so I didn't need it. But if I wanted to use my own and it was the right size then I would have to leave it overnight so they could sterilize it in a autoclave. I decided not to bother since I would have to wait and the jewelry was included in the price of the piercing.
Anyway I filled out the paperwork got an aftercare sheet with everything I needed to know on it. He had me follow him back to the piercing area. The shop was laid out so that the lobby area was completely seperate from the piercing and tattoo areas. A big counter ran the width of shop and behind that each area was again seperated by a 1/2 wall. There were 3 tattoo areas and one piercing area.
Once I got back to the piercing area everything was laid out in sterile bags for me to see. Then he had me rinse my mouth with mouthwash while he got everything out of the bags and ready. Then he had me stick my tongue out as far as I could while he used the forceps to hold my tongue. He would check the top and bottom then move the forceps around a bit then checked the bottom again and when he got it all lined up it was done within seconds. The piercing wasn't as bad as the first time...I think it was too far back the first time. I had some soreness and swelling for a few days just like they said I might but I followed the directions on the care sheet and now it is just fine and straight which is more than I can say for the first time. The whole healing process was way better than before. I highly recommend these guys...they seem pretty serious about what they do and doing it right.