I've never been into facial piercings with the exception of ear piercings. After ten piercings in my left ear and eight in my right ear (I did them myself) and a small yellow rose (yellow rose of Texas) on my outer left ankle I decided it was time for something totally unlike me.
At A Glance Author Allison Contact Allison@bme.anon When A week ago Artist i never got his name Studio Hookae Bar Location Houston, TX Friday night, after attending a school musical-play (Godspell- how ironic the theme of the musical would be later in the night) with my best friend we decided the night was still young. We headed to Jack in the Box first to satisfy hunger and then out to the Hookae Bar. (The Hookae Bar is a local hang out that serves a unique Egyptian herb; yes it is legal, in an elaborate water pipe.) Just recently they opened a smoke shop a few stores down in the same strip center in which they are located. In the smoke shop there is a back room, which is used for piercing and tattooing. Originally, we had stopped by to talk to the artist about having some color touch-up on my tattoo and to smoke Hookae. However, when we stopped in the shop, we learned the artist who originally did my tattoo had left after getting into a fight with the owner of the Hookae Bar and now there was a new artist. He told me he could do the color touch up for $40, but having only paid $35 for the tattoo I decided to have the color touch-up done at a later date when I had more cash.
We decided to just browse for a while and that's when I knew it was my tongue I wanted pierced. I called the artist back over and he quoted me a price of $40, having only $37 with me I attempted to decline the piercing, but only $3 short my best friend laughed at me handed me the cash I needed and the next thing I knew I was seated in the back room having my tongue dried off. He took a sharpie and marked the top and then had me lift my tongue so he could examine the underside. After a bit of probing he found I had a vein running down the center of my tongue and that I would have to have it angled so that it was center on top and off center underneath. After viewing the markings in a mirror and approving, came the needle. I won't lie, the bitch hurt. Then the jewelry, the artist had some trouble with the bottom ball falling off and I began to whimper in pain. The only things I remember is squeezing the hell out of my best friend's hand and whimpering followed by the a rtist trying to calm me by repeating-ly saying, "I'm sorry baby, shh, we're almost done." After all was done, we walked over to the Hookae Bar and my best friend paid to smoke Hookae while I sat with a cup of ice babying my poor, abused tongue.
The next morning, Saturday, I awoke to a swollen tongue. I had some ice and Spagettioes and then went to work. After not being able to talk to customers clearly enough (I'm a checker at a grocery store) I was sent home early. I came home, had some more ice and then went back to bed. The second day, Sunday, my tongue was still swollen and I was so frustrated I wanted to take the barbell out, but after reading all the stories and talking to people I knew the frustration would soon be gone and I would be left with a really cool piercing. Monday, day three, my tongue was still swollen and then I had to go to school, which was kind of crappy because it hurt so much to talk. Also everybody wanted to see it and sticking out my tongue began to irritate me. Then on top of all of that, I had to go back to work. I was somewhat able to talk to customers, but it was still very difficult and all of my co-workers/friends couldn't help but laugh at my terrible lisp. Especially my service manager who thinks my new piercing is incredibly cool, but also couldn't help but laugh at my lisp. It's now Tuesday, day four, and the swelling has gone down tremendously however I am still having trouble with particular words, especially ones with th's and l's.
The best part is that I live with my father who is totally oblivious to my life and hasn't even noticed yet, that or he had chosen to not say anything. To any one out there who wants a tongue piercing, I say go for it, it's totally cool, and even though you may want to rip your tongue out, be patient because the end result is killer!
HAPPY PIERCING AND BEST OF LUCK!