Before my self-done piercing story is told, I would like to share with you a small amount of information about myself..
At A Glance Author Kass When A month ago My name is Kasandra, but everyone calls me Kass. I am 14 years old, currently living in Toronto. I have long brown hair which I recently dyed black, big brown eyes and crazy self-done front bangs. I would like to assume that I am a rebel. I have trouble following rules and I'm constantly searching for a new high. Since I can remember, piercings have always fascinated me. My parents claim I've called it permanent jewelry in my kindergarten days but I don't know what to blame my piercing obsession on. Nonetheless, since my first ear piercing experience at age three, I have been determined to believe that I am invincible. Moving on to the actual story...
I have always found beauty in all types of piercings but for whatever reason, a center tongue piercing has always caught my attention more then any other. The idea of opening my mouth and sticking my tongue out to reveal a silver treasure lights fireworks for me. Okay! So I have decided I want this tongue piercing more then anything in the world! It's my golden ticket! But oh...my parents say no. This isn't fun! "But it's not fair Mom! Why?" (Sigh) I'll have to resort to a fake ID, or perhaps, another family member will sign the papers. Nope and nope. Desperately seeking an alternative way, I wait months before finally deciding to...
DO IT MYSELF! Possessing the knowledge and experience of piercings of a plastic bag, I spend days researching and watching clips of piercing artists performing a common center tongue piercing. I study the cleaning methods and with what they pierced the tongues with. I spend Saturday buying the required supplies such as mouthwash, and then return home. I choose a quiet Sunday to carry-out my long anticipated plans when my parents are visiting friends and I have the house to myself. I sit myself in front of a mirror, nervous and still shocked the moment has finally come. Neatly is all the supplies seated before me, I gargle a large mouthful of mouthwash and nearly swallow it! I then spit it out, take a deep breath and pick-up the needle...
Slowly...I lower the needle towards the mark I made with a Sharpie marker earlier. Then, I pierce the tongue, pushing it through with immense pain...AND MORE THEN IT SHOULD! I look closely, and realize I had pushed the needle too far, and it has entered the bottom roof of my mouth below my tongue. Wanting to scream and sob, I pull it out, my eyes watering, pick up the barbell and slide it in while removing the needle. Ow! But I did it, I actually have a piercing. I rinse with mouthwash once more, and dab the area in which I wasn't supposed to penetrate...which is bleeding. After calming down, I examine my tongue in the mirror, happy with the final outcome but unhappy with my blood spilling everywhere and staining my favorite shirt. I suppose it was stupid to wear it.
The first week was hell! Eating caused pain, brushing my teeth caused pain, even just moving my tongue caused pain. I was more fearful of the pain I would experience when my parents discovered my piercing. The second week went better but a strange tingling sensation was still there when touched. The third week was when the sensation was nearly completely gone and by the four weeks mark, it was back to normal. My parents still hadn't realized my embellished tongue, I had been trying to say as little to them as possible as of course I sounded a little different. I had ben practicing talking with no lisp for hours in front of the mirror. Every minute I stressed having them find-out and force me to remove it, if that were to occur, all my effort and pain would be for nothing. Every single time they looked at me I would wonder if they knew, even when I slept. Finally, unable to continue my secrecy, I revealed to my parents my tongue piercing and explained myself. For the first minute, they just sat there...blinking. Then they exploded, yelling louder than a rock concert. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, perhaps they had a right to be mad but their tantrum wasn't helping.
Sent to my room. Yes, what a surprise. There I sat for the rest of the day, on my bed, no phone, no television, no computer, just me myself and my tongue piercing, (which I played with that whole time) Eventually, my mother entered my room and apologized for re-acting so...dramatically. She informed me that I would be grounded for two weeks and would go to school, and then report back home. A tantrum of my own caused an extension on my punishment, but after three weeks, my parents had come to terms with my self-done tongue and finally accepted it.
Even though my self-done center tongue piercing was accompanied by many sour events, the final outcome is certainly worth it all. I have a hole in my tongue, and a piece of jewelry in that hole, and I couldn't be happier about that. However, self-piercing is a bad idea. Waiting until I was older or until my parents gave me permission would have been the right choice and self-piercings are very dangerous, as confirmed by my experience.
Yours Truly,
Kass