Well, let's start with a bit of background. I have always loved piercings and tattoos since I was little kid. I've always thought they were beautiful and allowed you to be yourself, an individual in a sea of sheep. After about the age of 12 I started getting ear piercings here and there, and then it was my belly and tongue. My love and fascination with body modification has grown and grown over the years and I have found that my body has become quite pierced. Here are my mods
At A Glance Author stabby Contact stabby@bme.anon When It just happened Artist self done Studio the bathroom Location sydney, australia Standard belly
inverse belly
Surface belly
both hips
double nape
double centre tongue
venoms
snake bites
smiley
right ear
2 cartilage
3 lobe – 8mm, 6mm and 5mm
conch
tragus
left ear
double industrial
lobe orbital
orbital around industrials
2 lobes – 9mm and 5mm
Double tragus
conch
Retired double rook
Well a few weeks ago I was looking through BME and found some cute pictures of stretched tongues. I had never really like stretched tongues with those ugly Teflon bars but my views were changed by how beautiful the thick metal bars looked. I decided that night that I wanted to stretch my tongue to 4ga.
I currently have 4 tongue piercings and decided that the one closet to the tip of my tongue should be stretched. That night I took out a 2mm bar I had from my stretching my ears and pushed it through my tongue. Strangely enough it slid straight through without any pain or discomfort. This was probably because I play with this piercing a lot and it was loose.
So a few days later, I took the 2mm bar out and wrapped it twice with Teflon tape (after cleaning it with listerine). When I tried pushing the newly wrapped bar through my tongue and it was surprisingly painful. It felt like the sharp pain you feel when getting your tongue pierced. I pushed the top part of my tongue down and used my thumb to push the bar up. OUCH! Stretching your tongue is not fun! [Tip - I have found that the bottom of your tongue is the most resistant to stretching so stretching from bottom to top is the best way to go]
I continued with the double wraps until I could fit the 3mm bar I bought from the net, it turned out I went further then 3mm and my 4mm bar could fit in easily (this was after about a week of wraps). I cleaned my 4mm bar and slowly pushed it through. This was a bit painful, but nothing compared to what came next.
So I left the 4mm bar in for about a week then I wrapped the bar in Teflon and tried to push it through. It seemed that all my previous wraps were too quick in succession and my tongue has not had enough time to heal but what did I care? I was almost at 5mm! Seeing as I don't have any 5mm tapers and I was only one tiny millimetre away from my goal, I decided I would use the same method to get to 5mm as I did with my ears. I got a 5mm straw, folded it and pushed it through my tongue, easy enough. I tried to pull the rest of the unfolded straw though but the pain was unbearable. It was sharp and didn't dull or stop until I stopped pulling and only then did it ever so slowly dull. I knew that I couldn't get to 5mm anytime soon so I left the folded straw in for a few days
After the straw started feeling a bit better I took it out and put in my wrapped 4mm bar. This worked well enough but by now my tongue was extremely sore and a bit bloody. The wrapped 4mm bar stayed in for about a day then the next night I took it out and it slid right through. I took this as a sign that I could probably get my 5mm bar through. I tried again with the straw as a taper but nope not quite yet, so I thought if I wrapped the bar again and let it heal my 5mm bar should slide through easy.
That night I cleaned my 4mm bar and wrapped it 4 times with the Teflon. Pushing the bar through was a total bitch. After about ten minutes of pushing and drooling it was finally in. Mind you, this stretching all occurred within 3weeks. Not good! I should have known to take it slower and be patient but being the person that I am I couldn't help myself.
The next morning I woke up to find my tongue so swollen and sore I could hardly move it. Panic, panic, panic!! I didn't know what to do. Every time I moved my tongue it stung like crazy. So I decided that I was done. The way in which I was stretching my tongue was not working. I took all my jewellery and straw to the bathroom. I poked my tongue out and man was it massive!! I pulled out the wrapped 4mm bar, which was bloody and covered in lymph. I noticed that the piercing was very loose so I tried, as a last attempt, to get the 5mm bar through. No luck.
Ok so the 5mm bar wouldn't fit, the 4mm wasn't long enough to handle the swelling and the only thing I had left was the 3mm bar. I cleaned that and slid it through my bloody and incredibly sore tongue, this was a bit painful. The balls were screwed on and I was left with a messed up stretch
So now I'm at my computer early in the morning and upset that I'm all the way back at 3mm. I guess I've learnt a lesson. TAKE IT EASY!! I should have known to listen to my body but impatience is a very strong part of my personality. I have decided, the 3mm bar stays in for two weeks to heal and loosen. Then comes the wraps but with a minimum of one week between each wrap. After I get to 4mm it will be at least 2 weeks between each wrap. I'm just very upset about loosing so much time. I even tried to get the 4mm bar back in after I sucked on some ice but it wouldn't fit. For a person who has a lot of experience with stretched ears, I seem to be a bit stupid. I had trouble when I stretched my ears but I always listened to my body and backtracked to let my ears heal but since the tongue heals so fast I guess I thought it would all be alright. Wrong!
The lesson here kids, Take it slow. Your body needs to heal. For those who are thinking about stretching their tongues. I advise you not to use Teflon, tapers are a lot less troublesome but probably more painful. I used Teflon because the tape is very thin and I thought it might have been quicker and easier than stretching with tapers. I'll let you all know what happens with my tongue, that is, if I ever get to 5mm!
Well happy stretching and piercing kids!