When it comes to body modification, I am a fanatic. I always have been. Great right? Wrong. In my family it is completely taboo to have anything done to your body except for ear piercings. Well I guess I'm the outlaw of the family. You see, I have just received my induction into the piercing club. I have my tongue pierced. I have wanted to get a tongue piercing since I was about 10 or 11 years old. Of course my parents disagreed with this insane idea, but I didn't care. I was going to get it done no matter what they thought. In fact, on many occasions I had tried to pierce my tongue myself. But I just couldn't seem to push the needle through. I had failed at my own attempts so it was up to a professional to do it. I had to wait until I turned 18 but I was sure it was worth the wait.
At A Glance Author Zaidee Contact firefreak_myassiches@hotmail.com Artist Desta Studio Adorn Body Art Location Portland, OR When I turned 16 I was still asking nonstop about the possibility of my mom coming down to sign for me to get it done before I turned 18. For 6 months she disagreed to this. She finally noticed how much I actually wanted to get my tongue pierced and she agreed to go sign for me. I was excited beyond believe. After 5 or 6 years of begging and pleading I was finally going to get it done. We decided upon October 12th as the piercing date. But one problem: I got permission to do it, I was just scared out of my mind. I heard many horror stories about tongue piercings gone wrong. I really didn't want my tongue to rot and fall off because I was a bit on the wild side. There was still the fact that I had wanted it for so long. The only choice I was willing to give myself was to suck it up and get it done. I confided in two of my friends along with my mom to join me on my journey.
We arrived at the piercing studio and I began to feel even more scared then before. I met the girl who was going to stab my tongue. Her name was Desta. She was very calm, friendly, and from all the research I had done, she knew what she was talking about. A twinge of relieve went through my body when I realized it wasn't going to be as bad as I thought it was going to be. My mom and I were sat down to sign a form and read through a sheet of rules and how to clean my piercing. I could tell my mom was more nervous then I was and told her she didn't have to watch if she felt uncomfortable about it. She finished reading the paper and walked outside to wait for me. Desta showed me the barbell and had me pick out a ball to put on top of it. I sifted through a pile of balls and chose a dark blue ball with sparkles in it. I gave one last look and decided this was my best choice. The forms were signed and I was as ready as I was ever going to be.
The time had come. I made my walk into a purple room and sat down into the chair. Desta could tell I was scared out of my wits so she told me to meditate for a bit to help calm me down. It in fact worked. She told me to gargle a disinfectant and to try and keep meditating. I was told to stick out my tongue as far as possible and she marked the bottom of my tongue and then the top. The marks were uneven so she had to remark the top of my tongue to get it straight. Then came the clamp. I had heard many times that the clamp is the worst part. Needless to say, it really wasn't. I hardly felt it at all. I had my eyes closed the whole time because I was still trying to calm myself down. She told me to relax and breathe in and out slowly. On my outward breath I felt the needle slice through my tongue. But the odd part was it didn't hurt. A sigh of relief came through my body. But I wasn't done yet. She still had to place the barbell in and remove the clamp. When all was done I just sat bewildered. I had just been pierced and it was great! Desta brought me some water and told me a few tips and I was on my way home.
I'm normally a wuss when it comes to pain. But my ear piercings turned out to hurt worse then my tongue did. The healing process when considerably well and I am fully satisfied with the final product. This is quite possibly the best thing I could have ever done in my life. I recommend it to any who is willing to do something a little taboo.