OWIE-but what a fancy tongue I have now!

At A Glance Author Rebekah Contact VWgrll@alloymail.com Artist Bink Studio Advanced Tattoo Studio/ Body Piercing by Bink Location Tallahassee, Fl.

Hello! My name is Rebekah, I am a 19 year old college Sophomore. I am now a pierced college Sophomore. I pierced my tongue the other day and I am STOKED! Here's how it happened, from the first thought to the actual piercing day.......(Dream Sequence).........

I was watching The Real World (London)and the episode where Jacinda got her tongue pierced came on. Immediately, I was hooked on the idea. That was three years ago. Since then, I have pierced my ears (for a total of three holes in each), my belly button, and I got two tattoos. These are all things I'm happy with, but what I really wanted was to have my tongue pierced. Kind of like when you want to eat a certain food, but it's bad for you and you say you aren't going to eat that certain food, and you end up eating everything in the house until you finally eat that certain food because it's what you really wanted in the first place. Well, it makes sense to me! Sorry.

Anyway, this summer I was at home working and it seemed as if all of my friends had their tongues pierced, too! They were all playing with them, clicking the balls, etc. and I just decided that I really had to have my tongue pierced afterall.

So, I waited until I came back to Tallahassee to get my tongue pierced because my parents would shoot me in the face if they knew.(I don't know WHAT I'm going to do when I have to go home.) My friends all wanted to get something done, too, so we looked all around Tallahassee for a reputable piercing establishment. There were a few crap holes that looked like you might get a disease, and then, there was Advanced Tattoo Studio, the godsend of all Tattoo/Piercing Studios. This place was plush! There was a waiting room, hardwood floors, nice couches, and the actual piercing/tattoo areas were closed off!

We decided that this would be the place. I would pierce my tongue, Robin, her nose; Denise, her bellybutton; and Jessica would get a tattoo. My best friend Amanda would hold my hand because I am a puss. First, we would eat. We had kind of a "Last Supper" well, at least for me. We also wanted to make sure we had something in us to keep our blood sugar up so no one would pass out. So, Bennigan's holds a special place in our hearts now. God bless chicken fried chicken and garlic mashed potatoes-YUMMY! Back to Advanced Studio.....

The piercing area was immaculate! That was where I met Bink, my piercer. He took plenty of time to educate me about the piercing process, the preparation, and the aftercare. I signed some forms, and he looked at my tongue(to make sure it was pierceable). I paid my $65.00 (that's with the student discount)and then, we chose my jewelry. I chose a 14 gauge silver barbell with small balls. then we went into the piercing area and got to work.

Bink sat me down and explained the whole process to me. I watched as he put on a fresh pair of latex gloves took out all the tools from their sterile wrappers. He then unwrapped my jewelry and put it in some stuff to soak. after that, I had to rinse with this antiseptic cleansing stuff to make my mouth germ free. I used a bit of "mind over matter" and made myself believe that it was numbing my tongue-IT WORKED!!

After I rinsed, Bink marked my tongue and let me look in the mirror to see if I liked it. I did, and we proceeded with......The Needle.

Now, I never really saw The Needle because I clamped my eyes shut after he clamped my tongue. Amanda was with me holding my hand and she explained it all to me afterwards. He aligned The Needle with the mark on my tongue and put a cork underneath my tongue to stop The Needle after it passes through. I took three deep breaths and on the third I felt it go through, from top to bottom. I swear to God, it did NOT HURT!!!!!

Oh, 30 seconds later when my beautifully pierced tongue was back in my mouth it hurt, but not the actual piercing. So, he pierced my tongue and put the barbell in and gave me my tongue back. It felt wierd. I was like, this is cool! but it came out,"dish ish coo."

I was stoked! I tipped Bink because I was so happy with my new and improved tongue and then I scampered back to the awesome waiting room to show all of my friends.

After the piercing SUCKS!!!!! Well, only like the first two days. You have to rinse after ANYthing goes in your mouth and that gets old! I was on ice water and Advil for the first day and night and all food, even pudding and yogurt- even my beloved Camel Lights- were put on the back burner. Man, my tongue HURT! If you are hurtin', just know this, it gets better! Don't take out your jewelry! Keep drinking ice water, keep your head above your heart when you're lying down, and don't play with the barbell. Also, Quit Talking!!!

It's been 5 days now, and my tongue is still sore. It's a combination of things, I think. 1. Eating shrimp the day after I was pierced-TONGUE NOT READY! 2. Smoking 3. Playing with barbell. So, I'm off to rinse for the bazillionth time today. Good Luck to all who pierce, keep reading the BME stories, they really helped me prepare for my piercing, I think that's why it didn't hurt so bad, I knew what to expect. That, and my psychological mouthwash. BME RAWKS!