I've thought about getting a tongue piercing for over a year. Last summer I had an appointment but chickened out the day of! The last few weeks I decided that this is the perfect time for me to get one, so I started researching on the internet. By Monday I was really psyched up to go and get a tongue ring, but when I looked around, none of the studios in my area were opened on Monday!
At A Glance Author anonymous When It just happened Artist Lisa Studio Artistic Impressions Location St. Catharines A friend of mine who has quite a few piercings recommended Artistic Impressions in St. Catharines that was open from noon until 8pm. Perfect! My boyfriend and I drove the hour to the piercing studio and walked in. It was a clean place and there was already a girl inside getting a tattoo which was fun to watch. I filled out the forms, and was given the aftercare sheet and it was at that point I started getting really nervous. I even forgot my postal code. Lisa took me into a room at the back and told me to stick out my tongue. She wiped it off with gauze, drew a dot on it and then put on the clamp. She handed me paper towel to hold under my mouth incase I drooled and before I knew it I had a bar through my tongue! It was so quick!
It didn't hurt at all getting the piercing. I have two tattoos and 8 earrings including a tragus piercing, and this was by far the least painful yet. There was a weird popping feeling and it was finished! At least it didn't make a popping NOISE like with my tragus piercing. She told me all about the aftercare, and then it was over! Lisa also told me that I couldn't change the piercing barbell until at least 3 weeks had gone by. That kind of surprised me because I had read online about people changing their jewelry after a week! Right now it's kind of necessary to have such a long bar though because my tongue definitely is using the space.
I spent the rest of the day drinking cold water and sucking on ice. I tried to eat some pizza for supper cut up into really, really small pieces but it took me an hour each slice. I had to put the pizza right on my molar before I could chew it. It kept on moving to the front of my mouth where it hurt to chew. After that I decided to go grocery shopping and bought soup, popsicles and other squishy stuff to get me through the next few days. You use your tongue A LOT to eat.
Today is the second day and I found I could chew a bit better. My tongue has swollen up but the biggest thing I notice is the dull ache in my tongue. I can't lick my lips yet, and I can't whistle, but I'm sure I will be able to soon. The original Listerine is really nasty tasting and I'm also taking some Advil to relieve the swelling a bit. My boyfriend is making fun of me because I can't talk properly yet. He really gets a good laugh...especially if I try and tell him off for making fun of me. It's definitely not the same if you can't pronounce half of what you're trying to say. If I really concentrate on pronouncing words then I can, but I can't pronounce some letters without my tongue letting me know it's not happy with me.
It's one of the most interesting piercing's I have had done, and probably one of the most uncomfortable simply because I never realized how often you use your tongue until after you have something like this done! You always read the stories about people who have completely healed, but not really about the first few days and I think people should know it's not a totally fun or easy experience. Especially if you're someone who likes to eat or talk a lot.
I would recommend doing it to anyone that is interested in getting their tongues pierced. It's really cool to feel the little ball in your mouth but it is going to take some getting used to talking and eating again. It's like learning how to use your tongue all over again! My boyfriend is looking forward to when it's finally healed, and I'm interested in hearing how it changes the feel of things. But I think I am most looking forward to being able to eat properly again and to have a shorter barbell put in instead of a really long one. I've already got the bar caught between my teeth and it's only been a day!
Good luck to everyone that is interested in getting a tongue piercing! And enjoy!