So I've been wanting to get my tongue pierced for some time now.
At A Glance Author xJonathan Contact xJonathan@bme.anon IAM xjonathan When A week ago Location Sydney, Australia I'm no stranger to oral piercings with a monroe, a tongue web and retired vertical labret. But there's something about a needle cutting through my tongue that's held me back.
After Christmas and New Years I found myself with leftover money for once. And I had a whole week free with nothing planned. So I decided it would be the perfect time to finally get it done. Plus I had recently retired my finger surface piercing so I needed something to fill the void.
That night I was talking to my friend about it. And she said she wanted to get her septum pierced. So we made a date to head down to the local piercing studio the next day.
By the time I woke up the nerves had started to kick in. Bad. The last thing I wanted to think about was food. So I got ready and we were off. The car ride felt like the longest ride of my life. When in reality it's only 15 minutes down town. I guess nerves do that to you.
We walked in and I shakily told our piercer what we wanted. She laughed and gave us the paperwork. We Filled out all the forms and everything. I was probably rambling on about something. I tend to get like that when I'm nervous. I chose a 14ga steel bar with 5mm balls, And my friend picked out a 14ga circular barbell for her septum. Then we got told to sit down while they autoclaved the jewelry. I read through the tattoo magazines looking through all the products and all the nice suspensions and stuff. That seemed to keep my mind off of things.
Belinda came back out. And we had already decided that I would go first. To be honest I wasn't all that nervous anymore. I find something... almost calming about being pierced. I talked to Belinda while she was setting up everything. Then she gave me a cup of listerine and told me to rinse my mouth for 20 seconds. MAN does that stuff sting. That was probably the worst part. Then I got all marked out and ready to go. Keeping my tongue out was pretty difficult. Then came the clamps. I really don't see why everyone thinks they're so painful. I guess they're somewhat restricting. But that's it!
She told me to close my eyes (I didn't. I like watching what's going on. Plus it's not every day you see a 14ga needle through your tongue :p) then with a quick sharp pain it was all over and done with. She got the jewelry in no big problem. I love the feeling after being pierced. It's almost a feeling of accomplishment. Putting my tongue back was strange with such a huge bar. I could talk and everything from the start. No problems there. She went through the aftercare briefly again. I think she knows I know my aftercare routine by now :D. I went to the mirror and it looked great. A bit strange with the purple marks all over my tongue. But other than that, great.
Thankfully the marks did come off eventually.
My friend decided to get EMLA cream for her septum so we had half an hour to kill and we decided to go to the mall to get some food. After all I hadn't eaten all day.
It swelled pretty bad within the hour. I tried to eat sushi with no luck. It takes some getting used to at first. And it can be pretty uncomfortable too. I thought I'd be able to eat (I was fine after my tongue web) but that was not the case this time. Mash potatoes and Slurpees will be your best friend for the next week. I had a slight lisp while my tongue was swollen. And the bar kept hitting my bottom teeth. The swelling went down completely within 4 days and I'll be going back to get the bar changed down tomorrow.
It was probably one of my easiest piercings yet. The actual procedure is nothing that bad. The first week healing is tough. But after a week and a few days, mine feels just about healed. Obviously it's not. But I can eat and talk and everything else just fine. It will be a lot easier once I get the bar changed down so I won't have to worry about the long bar hitting my teeth all the time. I haven't bitten the balls or anything like that *yet*.
Overall if you're thinking of getting it done, I say go for it.
I did. And I don't regret any of it. Just be prepared to give up solid food for the first few days :D