At A Glance Author Molly Contact Molly@bme.anon When A year ago Artist Angelo Studio Total Ten Studios Location Kamloops, BC It felt like I had been waiting forever to pierce my tongue. Really it had only been 3 years and 7 months. Close enough to forever for a teenage girl.
After about a year of contemplation and waiting and trying to figure out how to convince my dad to let me get my tongue pierced I finally decided it had to be done. Even if dad said no.
I was 14 when I had decided to get my tongue pierced, but my dad had given me a definite and absolute "NO", so I went to my mom. She's cool about piercings and tattoos and since my dad had said "no" it seemed like a good idea to her she offered to take me into the city where I could get it pierced. The original plan was for my sister, who was taking her "N" driving test that day to get her "N" and then drive us into town (as my mom had kind of...lost...her driver's license,) but that backfired when my sister failed the test.
To prevent my eternity of whining (I had saved up money and EVERYTHING!) my mom decided that she would drive me the hour and a half into Kamloops in the rickety about-to-break-down truck she had at the time.
I figured "screw the law! I want my tongue pierced!" So we went.
On the drive I thought about the stories I had read, on BME of course, and wondered how much it would swell, what the exact price would be, if it would hurt really bad, if I would honestly talk really thickly forever and ever after getting my tongue pierced; you know, the usual.
My appointment was for around 3 pm, but I was so excited I made my mom take me to the studio at 2 o clock. The secretaries thought we were demented, but I was excited, and didn't want to spend my money on something else and not have enough to pay for the piercing. After 15 minutes of waiting the secretaries told us to go grab a quick bite to eat because I probably wouldn't feel much like eating after the piercing. I believed them, so we went to the McDonald's a few blocks up and I had my favorite, the oreo McFlurry. In retrospect it might be a better idea to eat SOLID food, as fake ice cream doesn't stay filling for long.
At last, 2:45 rolled around and that was close enough to 3 for me, so back to Total Ten we went. Total Ten is primarily a hair salon, and the piercing room (which I had been to once before when my sister had her nose done and I got my spur-of-the-moment eyebrow ring) was located at the back of the building.
Soon after we got back to the Total Ten waiting area Angelo came out to see who was up, it was my turn!
We followed him back to his little gray (and very shiny) piercing room. On the wall was a giant KISS tongue sculpture, which of course had a ring in it. At this point I was starting to wonder if I could chicken out, but we had come all this way and I had saved up the money and everything, so there was no backing out now.
My mom was being the typical concerned parent, asking questions, and once she was over parent mode went on to talking about other weird things, and how cool Hippies are. After I cleared my throat a few times the attention was back on me and my stomach felt like it was going to jump out my bellybutton. I reminded myself of my little "physical pain is temporary and it will recover" motto I had thought of the last time I had something pierced, and listened as good as possible to Angelo about the procedure and cleaning.
I asked if it would swell up, and he said there was a 50/50 chance; some people do, some people don't. That didn't ease my nerves at all. Then he looked at my tongue to make sure it was suitable to be pierced (this was possibly the scariest moment of my life, I wanted it so bad I didn't want to be refused this piercing!) and found out it was all good.
Angelo then directed me to the small bathroom down the hall where I rinsed my mouth (twice, but it seemed like a million times) with some mouthwash. Following this he sat me down and marked my tongue, it looked good to me, so he picked up the needle and clamps while my stomach was doing flips and wanting to projectile vomit that McFlurry at him and the impending pain.
The clamps were on, my tongue got dried off and yanked way far out of my mouth (which is a very odd sensation...), I was holding my mom's hand, and he said to hold VERY VERY still, so I tried as hard as I could. Holding still was difficult because I was nervous, and my tongue just doesn't stay still all that well...but before I knew it the needle was in there, and my mom looked ready to faint. It had BARELY hurt. A little bit of pressure, a little pinch, and a squelchy sound are all I remember of the actual piercing.
Soon I had the jewelry (which felt way too big) in and was all set to go home. Then I remembered I had to pay, $80, it turns out was the exact price. Good thing I had saved my money! Angelo had advised I go buy some mouthwash and get a bit of ice to suck on for the ride home, so we did. We went back to McDonalds for a cup of ice, and my mom proceeded to tell all of the employees about how I had just got my tongue pierced and how brave I was, and all the girls raved about how COOL it was; after all I had gone through and such little pain I felt great, I had finally done it!
Talking on the ride home was weird, as there was a big hunk of metal now living in the center of my tongue, and I had to not talk as much as I wanted to because it was starting to hurt. The ice helped a bit, but nothing could have prepared me for the next day.
Turns out I was part of the 50% that swells. And the barbell that I thought was way too big was just big enough to fit while my tongue was all fat and weird looking. It was also odd to have a hunk of metal hanging about on my tongue, and getting used to foreign objects in my mouth was another strange experience, but it was wroth it. After about 4 days the swelling went down and I could talk like a real human again, and I was so happy with my piercing, and for being brave enough to actually do something I had wanted.
Tongue rings are also such great piercings because they're not "in your face" ... although technically they are IN your face. Unless I stick my tongue out, most people have no clue I even have anything other than teeth and regular mouthparts inside my mouth, which definitely helps for getting jobs and for conservative anti-piercing grandparents.
I would recommend this piercing to anyone who wants a easily hide-able piercing, which has a minimal amount of pain, and a relatively brief swelling time (during the four days Ibuprofen and ice were a good friend of mine). I've had my tongue ring for a year and 5 months now, and I don't think I'll ever get rid of it. It's a part of me, just like my arms and legs are.