The healing is taking forever!!!

At A Glance Author Marco Contact Marco@bme.anon Artist Jason Studio Alias's Location Turkey

Two weeks ago I sent in a story about how I chickened out of getting my tongue pierced and got my navel done instead. Well let me say that my navel is healing just fine and looks great. Let me also say that I have near 100 hours of ink, so I'm not stranger to pain.

However, there must have been a reason why I didn't do my tongue at the time. Anyhow, I got my tongue done 6 days ago and I'm still not as happy a camper as most of the stories I read on BME.

The Day:

Got the piercing done at noon. Standard procedure. It didn't really hurt, just a strange kind of pressure. Didn't drool at all! Used a 7/8 inch 14 gauge barbell with Lucite balls. It swelled up within a few hours. Had a few popsicles, some Naprosyn, and a bunch of ice water. That night I had yogurt and mash potatoes. It hurt so bad to eat my eys watered. Popped more pain pills before bed. Did the magic rinse after everything I ate.

Day 1:

Woke up and thought I would die. My tongue felt like it had razor blades in it and was huge. I drank a bunch of cold water, took some Advil and did the rinse. It hurt all day. I didn't eat much. The tip of my tongue was really in pain. It felt like from the tip underneath to the little thing that holds your tongue on was going to rip and had pins in it. I knew that the first few days were supposed to be rough so I just delt with it.

Day 2:

Same as day one. Not better at all. If anything it was worse. Still didn't eat much. Took lots of pain meds, gargled, took some zinc and sat around in pain. Went and played flag football for a while to take my mind off of it. I put a band-aid over my navel to keep it safe. That worked fine.

Day 3:

The mornings suck big time!!! Still have razors in the tip and my glands are swollen. I'm swallowing a gallon of spit every minute. Now the sides hurt from where my teeth are bitting off the sides of my tongue. I tried to stick out my tongue and can't get it close to the back of my teeth. The pain gets worse whenever I move it at all. Talked to the piercer, he said it looks normal, no sign of infection and is just taking a little longer than normal to heal and for the swelling to go down. Hmmm. I sound like an idiot when I talk and I have to go back to work tomorrow. Lucky me. I can't belileve I did this! How am I suppose to use this for fun when I can't move my tongue?! I know, relax and take it slow, it will get better.

Day 4:

I think the swelling has gone done a micro amount. Now my tongue is yellow and my breath is nasty. Some friends said to alternate between Listerine and Salt Water. That seems to help. Tip is still sore and now the underside where the ball is resting is getting irritated. Boy are we having fun yet?! Deep breaths... I can eat better though. It's an art in itself but I am managing. Chew slow and keep the food in the back. Follow all food with something cold. YooHoo drink works great. That feels really good. I can move my tongue more. I got the ball to touch the back of my teeth. That's a start. I know, don't play with it, that's impossible. I think it's angled to far back. Though I've been told it just looks that way due to the swelling. How can I use it if it's too far back?! I'll be pissed after all this!!

Day 5:

Same as day four. I can move it a little more so I know the swelling is going down, but not a lot. It's taking some seriously sweet long time. When I extend my tongue the tip still hurts, but not too bad when I leave it still. I hope it's getting better. My speech isn't perfect but it's a lot better than a few days ago. I think now the bar is just in the way when I talk. I'll get a shorter bar soon I guess.

Day 6 (today):

Slowly but surely I guess. It's still swollen some and the tip thing is really getting to be a pain. I talked to the piercer. He said give it another week and if it's not fine by then to get rid of it. I hope it heals. I don't want to have to get rid of it after all this. I asked if the Lucite balls could be the problem and he said probably not. There's no sign of irritation where the balls touch the skin. I still think I may change to steel in a few days.

Well that's it for now. I hope it get better soon. If anyone out there has any advise or has had a similar experience, please email me and let me know. Thanks.