Hello my name's Stephie. This is the last thing I could ever imagine myself doing--writing about a tongue piercing. Judging from the way I look, one would never really expect me to get something pierced. I don't even have my ears pierced! But I'm certainly glad I did the tongue thing!
At A Glance Author Stephie Contact Stephie@bme.anon When N/A Studio the Asylum Location Ames, Iowa It all started about a year ago. I met a guy who had his tongue pierced. It was the first "up close" experience I'd had with that type of piercing. It fascinated me! I really wanted to get one done. I knew thou, that my parents would hate it and would never let me do it, so I had to wait til I was 18. After I turned 18 in Feb. of this year, my friends and I planned exactly how and when we could get it done. One of my other friends wanted her belly button pierced at the same time. I couldn't get my tongue pierced during school because I played flute in the band, and there were many competitions coming up. So we planned an after graduation piercing party in May. I researched on the 'net all about tongue piercings, healing times, problems, infection, etc etc. I also talked to several people who had them. No one had had any problems, and that gave me comfort. Unfortunately, the weekend we planned to drive to Ames, I got sick. So it was postponed a bit.
The day we actually went, I told my parents we were driving to a nearby town to do some shopping. I'm evil, I know. We tried not to think about it too much. Once we got there, my friend Kim (getting her bellybutton done) and I were both quite nervous. The Asylum looked like a fairly decent place, and alot of people had recommended it. We "signed our lives away" and I paid $25 and Kim went first. It was amazingly short for her. She was very brave--I could barely watch, which was a bad thing, since I was next! Kim stood on the side as I sat in the dentist like chair and swished with Listerene. That shit is nasty! It brought tears to my eyes more than the actual piercing! Out of nowhere, our friend Morgan popped her head in and said she wanted to watch. So the guy did all the typical stuff--put on the gloves, dried my tongue, marked it,had me ok the mark and then set to clamping. I had shut my eyes, because the mirrors there scared me some. He kept yanking my tongue back out. I magine that, I was afraid to leave it out...Kim and Morgan nervously laughed on the sideline, trying to be calming I guess.
After much whimpering on my part, he went ahead. The strangest part was not the pain,which was not that bad, but the feeling of the pressure--pushing a bit harder the get thru the bottom and top layers of skin. Then, he started to screw on the barbell balls... and he dropped one. There I was, sniffling like a big baby and he had to go get another ball. It seemed to last forever. It only took him a sec to screw it on. Then, I couldn't get my tongue back in; it swelled immediately,but it didn't bleed. The metal felt sooo heavy! He asked me if I was feeling light-headed. I said no, I was doing ok, but then Kim standing on the side whispers "But I am" Morgan grabs her arm and Kim starts to go down to the floor. The guy runs to get a chair and the nearby garbage can. He puts a wet paper towel on her neck and blows a fan on her. I was laughing on the inside, but hadn't figured out how to make the sounds yet. How odd that I get pierced and she faints because of it! Then, Kim pukes. Poor Morgan was holding the trash for her... and I couldn't talk or anything.
We hang around the room alone for awhile, feeling pretty wussy... Afterwards, he talks about cleaning and such. We get a paper and a number to call in case of problems. The ride home was fun, as Kim called everyone to tell them about her puking while I'm nursing a bag of ice.
The healing process for me was short. It took about 2 days for me to get used to eating and about 5 for the swelling to go down all the way. I changed the piercing to a shorter barbell in about a week and a half. I prefer 1/2" barbells (I think I have a thin tongue or something!). I used Biotene mouthwash after every meal. Since then, I've loved this piercing! May have gotten in alot of trouble with the parents, but oh well. I just recently had to remove it for wisdom teeth surgery. The hole grew closed on the bottom,so I just pushed hard to get it thru..luckily my tongue was still numb! It's fine now thou;didn't realize it grows closed so quickly! All in all, I love it to death and am very glad I did it. :-) Makes me want to pierce something else...