Ok, first of all, I want to say this: I'm a wimp. Yes, w-i-m-p. I hate blood, I am deathly afraid of needles and hyperventilate at the doctor's office, and guys with long hair and so many tattoos that their skin is no longer visible scare the crap out of me.
At A Glance Author ravaflava Contact ravaflava@bme.anon When A week ago Artist Richard Baldwin Studio Baldwin's Body Art Location Evansville, WI The only things I had pierced before my tongue were my ears, and they constantly gave me trouble, whether it'd be tearing, infection, or whatever. A bunch of my friends had their tongues pierced, and I thought it was the coolest looking thing I'd ever seen. My parents were always saying I only wanted mine done because "everyone else had theirs pierced". But that had nothing to do with it. I wanted mine done because I thought it looked amazing and I wanted my tongue to look like that too. I tried doing it myself once (stupid thing to do, NEVER do it). I had my friend Crystal use a needle, and I sat around for hours with the needle in my mouth trying to stretch it out enough to get the barbell in. No such luck, my tongue hurt way too bad from being yanked and tugged, so I took it out. I guess I would just have to wait.
So, after military school, I came to live with my boyfriend in Janesville. He had his eyebrow pierced, which I liked, but decided to wait on. We were sitting around one day, when I got a call from his 23-year-old married sister Tiff. Tiff wanted her tongue pierced and finally got enough courage to go through with it. She didn't want to go alone, however, so I jumped on this perfect opportunity and went with her. We drove 20 minutes away to Evansville to a place called Baldwin's Body Art. It was where her husband, Greg, had gotten both his eyebrow piercings and all of his tatoos. Greg had told Tiff he would never go anywhere else but Baldwin's. So we went up to the door, but they had closed for the day. Disappointed, we drove back home. I called the number on the business card and left a message, making an appt. for that following Wednesday.
It was hard waiting for Wednesday to come, but it finally did. We got to the place, and Tiff went first. She filled out the paperwork, and rinsed her mouth out with a cup of listerine that Richard gave her. She went into the room, but shut the curtain. As I sat and picked out which tattoo I wanted for the future, I tried listening for a scream, shout, anything. About 5 minutes later, Tiff comes out and I ask, "You're done?" She says, "Yeah, it was nothin'." I was amazed. Then it was my turn.
I filled out the paperwork, rinsed my mouth out. The Listerine kind of burned, but I assumed it meant it was working. I sat on the chair, and Richard pulled down the armrest so I'd have something to grip (I was expecting the worst). He told me what would happen, and asked if I was ready. I couldn't have been readier, and said "Yep." He placed a paper towel (like the kind you get clipped onto you at the dentist) across my lap, and said most people tend to drool while their tongues are out. I thought to myself, "Yay, I get to drool and be all disgusting." He then got up, washed his hands, and snapped on a pair of latex gloves. He had me stick out my tongue, looked over it, then put a purple dot on the bottom, where the needle would go in, and a dot on the top, where it would come out. He said that my barbell would be about a millimeter off because of my short tongue and where my tendon was located. I was fine with that, and we proceeded.
Now, most people told me the clamp was what hurt, but I barely noticed it was there. He took the clamp out of the sterile liquid and jar it was in. He only put it on to hold out my tongue, and to guide the needle through. Then I got the question. "Are you ready?" I replied a somewhat coherent "Uh-huh", shut my eyes, and winced, waiting for the immeasurable pain I was expecting. All of a sudden, I felt...pressure. Then a sort of release of pressure when the needle came through the top. I opened my eyes in astonishment and thought, "Huh, that was nothing! It hurts worse to bite my damn tongue!" He took off the clamp, and picked up the barbell, and as he removed the needle, fed the barbell through. He then screwed on the ball, and said, "That's it!" I jumped up and looked in the mirror. No blood, no grody stuff, nothing. I was in shock. And it looked AWESOME!
I went out into the room and showed Tiff. Then Richard came out, gave us our care sheets, and explained them thoroughly. We paid our $40 each, thanked him, and went home. We were talking funny for a little while, but only because we weren't used to something being in our mouths.
The first week is the only trouble you may have. It's REALLY weird to eat at first because you never realize how much your tongue turns, and you'll most likely chomp the barbell a few times. However, it doesn't hurt your tongue, it hurts your teeth. Take tiny bites, push them to the cheek and back of your mouth, and chew slowly. After 2-3 days, you'll be used to it and eating normal again. During the first week, you may have swelling and a little soreness. But after a week, I guarantee you won't barely notice you have it anymore.
For 2 weeks you need to rinse with Listerine or any oral ANTISEPTIC mouth rinse after you eat or drink anything other than purified water. You'll begin to really hate Listerine, but it keeps your piercing clean and disinfected. And hey, you'll be minty fresh 24-7.
You may get a tiny amount of pus-like goo around the holes, but this is just your tongue's scab, so don't pick it it or wipe it away. It goes away after 5 day or so. You also may notice you get a small indentation on your tongue and/or the roof of your mouth from where the ball sits when your mouth is closed. This is completely normal and shouldn't hurt.
If you're like me, you'll love your new piercing so much and won't be able to wait to get new barbells for it. My boyfriend liked it so much, he went and got his done (it was funny, while I didn't drool one drop, he flowed like the Niagara). Make sure your piercer is someone you can be comfortable with, make sure it's a sterile place and process, and most importantly, make sure you take good care of your new piercing as per your aftercare instructions. I'll send my picture soon!