I'd always thought tongue piercings looked really cool but seemed too painful and I didn't think that I'd ever get one. Well that was until I was 15, I don't know what inspired me to get it done, I just wanted to. So I planned that whilst on holiday in England I would get it done. Then I heard all these nasty stories that it wrecks your teeth and stuff like that, so my England trip ended up free from piercings. Then again when I was 17, I was determined to get it done, I didn't care about all those myths, I just wanted a cool, funky hole in my tongue and that was that.
At A Glance Author Adelaide Contact smartieezz@aol.com When A month ago Artist I didn't get his name Studio Industrial Strength Location Newtown, Sydney Well time went by, and my tongue was still its plain boring self. I had everything I needed for the piercing, the bar, the mouthwash, the painkillers and the after care instructions; they just sat there in my 'tongue piercing box'. I even did heaps of research on the Internet, including this BME site.
Finally I decided it's time to get it done. It was 3 weeks before my year 12 formal and since I go to a conservative private school, it would be cool to finish off my schooling life with something that no one else has and that probably isn't allowed.
So me and a friend (who has wanted to get her tongue pierced as long as me) hopped on a train and headed to Polymorph body piercing studio in Newtown to get it done one Friday afternoon when my mum had gone away for the weekend. (My mum doesn't really care, she just would have just gone on about it not being allowed at school and she doesn't want me getting into trouble this close to finishing...yady-yady-yah)Anyway, when we got there, they were all booked up for the day, so headed down the street to another place we knew of.
So there I was, standing in the foyer of Industrial Strength asking for my tongue to be pierced (feeling nervous as). We showed ID and filled out all the papers then headed upstairs to 'the piercing room'. I decided to go first and I wanted my friend to come and hold my hand, so she came into the hospital smelling room with me. I had to swish some of that gross tasting mouthwash around for a bit, then I sat down in the dentist-like chair. Here goes...the piercer asked me to poke out my tongue, he inspects it and puts a dot in the right spot, he passed me a mirror and I agreed it was a pretty good spot and so did my friend. He put the clamp on my tongue, they were a bit uncomfortable, but not painful. He tells me to take a deep breath then let it go slowly, I close my eyes, hold my friend's hand really tightly, and BAM! Next thing I know, my piercer is screwing on the ball. No big deal! To me it just felt like I had bitten my tongue.
So now that I had a bit of metal in my tongue, it was time for me to watch my friend get some in hers. After that, the piercer explained to us the after care instructions and gave us a sheet about it all, handed us some mouth-wash stuff and we arranged to come back to get it downsized. We payed for everything, thanked him heaps and rushed down to 7eleven to get a slushy. My tongue at this stage wasn't feeling too painful, more just strange because I had a foreign object in it.
When we got home I was sooo excited, I couldn't stop looking at it in the mirror. I had previously bought some ice cream, ice blocks and soup (aren't I prepared) so I was all set up for the weekend. I took a few painkillers, sucked on some ice and sat and watched a movie with my friend.
The next day I woke up with a swollen tongue. It wasn't too bad; I just found it hard to eat. The next couple of days were fine and I was gradually able to eat more solid foods. After about 2 weeks I went back to get my bar downsized, which was good because the bar was becoming annoying. Ever since then it's been a great novelty and I'm totally wrapped that I finally got it done!
I totally recommend a tongue piercing to anyone, it's no big deal and it's a great noveltiy to have. If you're worried about you're parents, don't worry too much, stay over a friends for the first night and after that it should be cool. I had no speech problems at all, and I went out to dinner with my dad the day after I got it done.
So all I have to say is - If you want it - do it!