During my junior year of college, I got an urge to get pierced again. Up until then, I had only my earlobes done. I was looking for something different to try. Almost on a whim, I thought "heck why not a tongue piercing?" A few of my female friends had tongue piercings, and they raved about how much they liked it. I badgered them for awhile to determine how painful, how long the healing process was, etc. The general impression I got was that the pain was different for everyone, and so was the healing time. I was initially very "wigged" out by the thought of having a needle going through my tongue.
At A Glance Author the fox When A year ago Artist not sure Studio Crazy Cameleon Location Pittsfield, MA Fast forward now a few weeks, and I decide to get it. My boyfriend and I drove to the shop, and of course I was nervous as hell. I kept questioning why I was doing this, but I still really wanted to get it done. I think I was have motivated by the fact I spent most of my life being a "goody-goody" and I definitely yearned to do something "bad!" ha-ha.
I got to the shop and filled out the paper work etc. I ended up getting pierced by a nice woman who went through all the steps of the procedure as well as the aftercare. Waiting in the chair was the worst. Finally she was ready to pierce my tongue. It was done in two seconds. I didn't initially feel any pain. The second I tried to talk however, I could barely speak! I left the shop with a swollen tongue and a beautiful bar bell in my mouth.
The pain afterwards, was almost unbearable. I could barely talk, and my tongue was huge! I followed the aftercare procedure, and kept my tongue clean without over cleaning. Honestly, it was terrible. I couldn't eat anything for almost a week! My mouth was salivating with increasing vigor. I seriously wondered why the hell I had done this to myself. I felt even a little sick because of the trauma. I was not prepared for the pain of this piercing. My tongue felt rock hard, and I was worried.
However, two weeks later things were getting better. I was learning how to talk with the barbell, and I could eat slowly. My tongue was still rock hard. This is what concerned me the most, because I didn't want a rock hard tongue! I got a number of compliments, but at that point I didn't give a shit.
I noticed almost immediately that the barbell was scrapping against the roof of my mouth. I knew that couldn't be good. I went back to the shop and down sized the jewelry. This made a noticeable difference. I left the shop feeling much better because it didn't feel like a metal spike was in my mouth.
After a month, I had gotten relatively used to the piercing. I started playing with it obsessively. It looked like I was chewing on something all the time. I changed the original metal ball for a plastic one, thinking that would save my teeth some. I kept breaking them. I ate one of them.
Even after all this shit, I still wanted badly to keep it. The roof of my mouth was irritated constantly. It hurt so bad sometimes. I knew before I got this piercing that I had a small mouth, but now it was obvious that I couldn't keep this piercing. I even started to have dreams about taking it out. My dentist was a total dick and treated me badly because I had it. I had had an enough.
So after 4 months, I took it out. I was disappointed that it hadn't worked out, but I knew I did the right thing. It wasn't until after I removed the barbell did my tongue start to "soften." It took several months afterwards for the hard lump in tongue to go away, but eventually it did, (thank god!)
I learned a lot from this experience. I couldn't have a piercing that I could play with constantly. This was a problem for me. I couldn't have any piercings in or near my mouth because of how small my mouth actually is. Last but not least, I learned to listen to my body. If it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. Honestly, I would not recommend this piercing for many people. If you will play with the jewelry, don't risk it. There is a serious potential to damage your teeth. Your mouth is an amazingly important thing! If you have an unusually small mouth, don't do it either! I do not believe that this piercing should be a long term piercing. Increased salivation will cause the enamel on your teeth to break down. This is not good! In conclusion, this piercing sucked!