My most recent piercing before this double center tongue piercing was done 8 years ago, so I was relying on advice of friends in the area about who to go to. I currently live in Michigan and came back to Rochester (my hometown) to go to Jason at Primitive Impressions, and I am so happy that I did. I had a very positive experience that was made even better by feeling like I could put my trust in this piercer and his studio, which is really important to me.
At A Glance Author mali Contact mali@bme.anon When It just happened Artist Jason Morningstar Studio Primitive Impressions Location Rochester, NY I was even more impressed with the general atmosphere and attitude of the studio than my experience with the piercing itself. The studio itself is an interesting and welcoming space (decorated as a Mayan temple) and I'm sure the setting did a great deal to soothe my nerves. I spent about a half hour in there beforehand, explaining to Jason what I was interested in and finding out what was possible. He is seriously the most calm, soothing person I have ever dealt with. I had started to get cold feet about this piercing before going in, and his manner totally banished my nerves (to my surprise!). Although I was still apprehensive about the act of making new holes in my tongue, Jason was so reassuring and kind that I really wasn't afraid of it. He had a great manner not only before the piercing, but during the process as well. I found him to be a really kind, calm, and professional person, and he really engaged with me in planning out what I wanted to do and how we would do it. He explained every step of the process to me, including measuring the barbells and choosing ball size, talking about the possibility of stretching later, and which order we'd do the piercing in.
Unlike others I know who have had their tongues pierced by the very same person, mine actually hurt significantly. It wasn't an unbearable pain, but I've heard others say that they didn't even realize he'd done it until it was over. I was expecting a pinch, but I got a lot more than that. My point is not that everyone who has sworn it doesn't hurt is lying - just that everyone's experience seems to be a little different. For me, the pain was worth it. After all, I wanted to put two new holes in my tongue. Of course it is going to hurt! We pierced the back one first, and actually had to redo it because the needle hadn't been matched up with the barbell all the way. This doesn't seem like the norm, and in fact the front one (which hurt a little more) was done in only a few seconds. I think my perception of it being painful might be exaggerated by the fact that we had to redo the back one, and before deciding this, Jason spent almost a minute trying to get the barbell to go through. Talk about ow, and also about feeling like you're going to drown in your own drool. That was a first. Happily, it was all drool - I was freaked out that my mouth might be filling with blood, but it turns out I didn't bleed at all. A nice surprise for me, who hates, hates the taste of blood.
As for the piercing itself, I had a double center piercing, with both barbells 14 gauge (the front slightly shorter than the back). They're about half a finger's width apart, pretty far back on my tongue, which is great as I was apprehensive about the front barbell rubbing against my gums and causing gum loss. They ended up being far enough back that it isn't even a possibility. I am planning to stretch the back piercing to a 12 or 10 gauge in the future. I looked at many photos online to get some ideas before going in, and I felt like doing my homework really paid off. I had a great discussion with Jason about what would be feasible, what would look best, and what was closest to my ideal of what I wanted. When marking my tongue he did several different markings to see which would work the best and checked it all with me first. The whole experience was really collaborative and I felt like I was playing an active part in determining what the piercing would be, instead of just leaving it up to someone else - as I think it should be!
I am writing this only a few hours after having it done, so I can't give any info about the swelling/healing period, but fingers crossed it won't be that bad. I'm drinking lots of cold water and trying to figure out what will and won't be feasible to eat. By the way, I had prepared for this by buying some soft foods that had some reasonable nutrition. I am vegan, so I thought soy yogurt would be a great idea. Turns out this is not cool - I can't eat anything with live yeast! So just a tip for those you are planning to get a tongue piercing - you can't live off yogurt, oops. My plan is now revised to be silken tofu and a bit of soy sauce, ginger, and sesame oil put into the blender, and lots of potato soup that comes in those aseptic packages. Cold, of course.
Overall, I would highly recommend this studio and piercer, and if you're interested in this piercing and you can put up with some pain and discomfort for a while, go for it. But think it through first and research your options, so you can be prepared to take an active part in planning out the piercing itself. Don't go through pain and swelling for something you're not in love with!